Deadly talents get their time to shine at carnival
RUGBY league’s strong indigenous connections will be celebrated at the Townsville Sports Reserve from today with the annual Queensland Murri Carnival.
More than 50 teams from juniors through to open women and men will take the field in the first Queensland Murri Carnival to be held outside southeast Queensland.
The carnival is about more than just rugby league, as it also has a major focus on health and education through the Deadly Choices program and is a sugar, smoke, alcohol, and drug- free event.
Organiser Jenny Pryor has been involved with the Bindal Sharks All Blacks Carnival for more than 30 years and she said it was a dream come true for Townsville to host the state event.
Cowboys legend Matt Bowen has nominated a team after leading Centrals to the TDRL premiership last month and Pryor said it would be the perfect opportunity for local players to shine.
“A lot of our mob from up this way can’t get down to Brisbane and it opens the door for the raw talent that hasn’t been exposed,” Pryor said.
“Some teams are lucky enough to get NRL and state league players playing with them, but we’ve capped that to two per team to create that level playing field and most importantly for those players that don’t get any opportunity to shine.
“It’s about watching deadly football, but also getting together, forming those great friendships, and rekindling with family that they haven’t seen for a long time. It’s all about happy times.”
The Queensland Murri Carnival is supported by the Arthur Beetson Foundation, which honours the indigenous pioneer and rugby league Immortal. Beetson’s son and foundation director Brad described the carnival as a “modern day corroboree”.
“Everyone’s got family everywhere, so a lot of family teams as well as community teams and that’s also what the carnival is all about,” he said.
“It’s a get- together for our people and just celebrating rugby league and trying to improve health and education as part of that pathway as well.
“You go around to the indigenous communities and you see kids running around kicking a football or if you go to a funeral there’ll be football jerseys on the coffin.
“We’ve got a definite relationship with rugby league and we love the game and I hope the game loves us as well.”
The junior competitions kick off today at the Townsville Sports Reserve with the open women and open men in action from tomorrow, culminating in the carnival’s finals on Sunday.