30 teams battle it out at Lismore’s Aboriginal Rugby League Knockout

Hundreds of people are travelling to the northern New South Wales town of Lismore for its annual Rugby League Knockout competition.

Transcript

00:00Well, it's a beautiful start to three days of footy action here in the northern rivers

00:06of New South Wales.

00:07We're here in Lismore at the Lismore Aboriginal Rugby League Knockout Tournament.

00:12Behind us, you can see the first day of competition taking place at Oakes Field.

00:17Interestingly enough, this field in the grandstand behind it was rebuilt after the 2022 floods.

00:22It's really one of the first times that we've seen it in action.

00:26And as you can see behind us, the games are already underway.

00:30We started at nine o'clock this morning and we're running throughout the day with the

00:33women's draw.

00:35We'll see the men taking place tomorrow and then obviously the big dance on Sunday afternoon

00:41for both the men and women.

00:43A highly competitive showing from some of these teams.

00:45We're seeing all 13 clans of the Bundjalung Nation represented today from all across northern

00:51New South Wales.

00:52And earlier, speaking to organisers and spectators, it's clear that this is about a lot more than

00:58just rugby league.

01:00This is a great gathering.

01:01All the communities are coming together, you've got 13 clan groups in the Bundjalung Nation.

01:05Every clan group's represented.

01:06Unbelievable.

01:07It's not just a footy game, it's not just about rugby league, it's about culture, and

01:12I think it's about cultural immersion.

01:14With Sunday's grand finals the big ticket item over the next three days, a lot of these

01:19teams are going to be looking till October with the Koorie Knockout taking place in Bathurst.