This weekend sees the NRL Indigenous Round, highlighting the contribution of Indigenous Rugby League players have had on the game on and off the field, a fitting mark of respect given how many great indigenous players have been involved in the game.
Some of our favourite rugby league players of all time have been Indigenous Rugby League Players, so we thought we’d share our 7 Favourite Past Indigenous Rugby League Players with the first of our soon to be regular sporting lists – The Magnificent Seven.
This list isn’t necessarily the best Indigenous Rugby League Players of All Time, or the best of the current players in the NRL, but in keeping with our tradition of celebrating the forgotten, this is a list of our very favourite Indigenous Rugby League Players from recent history that we still remember fondly.
So enjoy Magnificent Seven – Favourite Past Indigenous Rugby League Players.
Dale Shearer
A very underrated rugby league player, he held the State of Origin try scoring record for some time before being overtaken by Greg Inglis and Darius Boyd. Shearer played for Australia over 20 times, represented Queensland 26 times in many positions, and chalked up 72 tries in 180 games for Manly, Broncos, Gold Coast, South Queensland Crushers, Roosters, and Cowboys.
He was being part of the infamous 1995 Queensland Origin team whose 3-0 series win was the most unlikely in the history of State of Origin. And always seemed to make himself available to play more.
But our most treasured memory of Dale Shearer is the infamous State of Origin Kicking Duel. A lost art in modern day life, like the Drum solo in music, the contested scrum, and Two Up in the Treasury Casino . Here it is, enjoy.
Joe Kilroy
Maybe it was just the right time of life to remember great rugby league players, but looking back on Joe Kilroy’s stats, he wasn’t at the top for long, but his speed, and giant moustache are still etched into the memory.
He only played 5 games for Queensland in State of Origin, and just 31 games for the Broncos from 1988 to 1991, where he still managed to rack up 12 tries. His best work was done in the pre-Broncos era, when the local Brisbane competition was still able to compete with the Sydney comp. Can still remember his work for the Brothers as a broken hearted young Redcliffe fan from the 1987 Brisbane Grand Final.
He had the great nickname of Smoking Joe, which has led to any decent rugby league prospect with the first name of Joe being dubbed Smoking.
Ewan McGrady
Has there been a player who had such a purple patch of form and disappeared as quickly as the former Bulldogs and Wests player.
McGrady played between 1990 and 1994, and in 1991 was the player of the season in the NSWRL, winning the Rothmans Medal. So unexpected was the win that he had to be given a police escort to the event to collect the award, as he was at home when the presentation was starting.
He disappeared after 1994, but we were lucky enough to see the man in action in a Warwick v St George Old Boys charity match earlier in the decade in Warwick, and despite the years since his prime, he still showed plenty of the skills that made him Australia’s best rugby league player for a year.
Nathan Merritt
A very underrated winger was the man who mainly played for the South Sydney Rabbitohs, and a few seasons at the Sharks.
He played 237 NRL games in all, scoring a whopping 154 tries. He also once topped the try scoring charts despite South Sydney finishing dead last, coincidentally Brendan Fevola did the same for Carlton in the AFL the same year.
Merritt only managed one game for NSW, and a couple for City against Country, but was a part of the initial Indigenous All Stars.
He had speed to burn, and always gave his best for some ordinary Souths sides. He was also a master of the intercept, so even in defence you just had a feeling there could a try just around the corner.
George Rose
The Magnificent Seven of our favourite Indigenous Rugby League Players of all time have been heavily weighted towards the backline so far, so time to include one forward, and who better than George Rose.
George Rose was a larger than life figure, loved by many rugby league fans in his time in the NRL, and probably because he was something different to the modern footballer.
George played 151 games from 2004 to 2015 for the Roosters, Storm, Dragons, and mainly Manly, being a rarity of a Manly players that most actually liked. He played 127 games for the Sea Eagles, and the Storm weren’t able to apply the magic they have to so many very good rugby league players. Like Sam Kasiano and Josh Addo Carr of recent years. Still, we love Goerge.
Darrell Trindall
The man known as Tricky was a mainstay for the Rabbitohs throughout the 1990’s, and indeed only moved on when the Rabbitohs were kicked out the competition. He was a tremendously skilled half who scored 44 tries in his 150 game stint with Souths.
Trindall has an less successful short stint in the UK, then came back to play for a couple of seasons for the Bulldogs, who made the finals with Trindall in the halves. It didn’t last, and he played the last of his 171 games in 2002. He will always be fondly remembered for being a shining light in many a dark day as a South Sydney fan in the 1990’s.
Ricky Walford
For some reason, we can only picture Ricky Walford being called the Saturday afternoon call of the ABC, a great memory in itself when rugby league was in a simpler time.
What we also love is a great Goal Kicking winger, and Ricky Walford was certainly a fine one of these, especially in a time where the ball was more rock like than today.
Walford played in 232 games in the NSWRL / NRL, all but 25 of them for the St George Dragons. In that time he scored 116 tries and kicked 253 goals, at a percentage that looks modest by today’s comparison, but it was a different era. Like another winger lsited above, he managed to get the one game for NSW Origin, palying his only game in 1990.
All stats provided by the Rugby League Encyclopedia that is the Rugby League Project.
