Indigenous All-Stars

Indigenous All-Stars may refer to:

Indigenous All Stars (rugby league)

The Indigenous Australian rugby league team (also known as the Indigenous All Stars or Indigenous Dreamtime team) is a rugby league football team that represents Aboriginal Australians and Torres Strait Islanders. The team was first formed in 1973 and currently plays in an annual All Stars Match against a National Rugby League NRL All Stars team.

History

An Aboriginal v white Australian rugby league game was held in Barcaldine in Western Queensland in 1963. These 'Blacks v Whites' games continued annually until 1984.

The first Australian Aboriginal rugby league team was assembled in 1973 The Aboriginal team managed to win seven of its nine matches in just 10 days, The team consisted of 34 players – 19 from NSW, 13 from Queensland and two from the Northern Territory. They went on to win games against Kiwi premiers Wellington Petone, the only all-Maori team & Auckland club & Te Atatu, which the Aboriginal side won 17–13.

The side competed in the Pacific Cup in 1990, 1992 and 1994. During this period the team contained New South Wales Rugby League first grade players such as Ricky Walford, Graham Lyons, Ron Gibbs, Darrell Trindall, Paul Davis, Wayne Alberts, George Longbottom and Will Robinson.

Indigenous All-Stars (Australian rules football)

The Indigenous All-Stars (known as for sponsorship reasons Qantas Kickstart Indigenous All-Stars and formerly known as the Aboriginal All-Stars) are an Australian rules football team composed purely of Indigenous Australians. The team has also represented Australia (in 2013) in the International Rules Series.

The team was first formed in 1983 to compete in a once-off post-season exhibition match in Mildura, and another once-off game was played in 1994. Since 2003, the team has played a regular biennial pre-season match against an Australian Football League (AFL) club; the only exception was in 2011, when the scheduled match was cancelled due to inclement weather. The matches are usually played in the Northern Territory, either at Marrara Oval in Darwin or Traeger Park in Alice Springs.

The team was formerly selected from the best available players from several leagues around Australia, however since 2007 no player from outside the AFL competition has been selected in the squad. The AFL promotes the concept as recognition of the indigenous Australians contribution to the national competition, with approximately one in ten AFL players identifying as an Indigenous Australian.