Thousands have descended on Bathurst in the state’s central west for the biggest tournament in the first nations rugby league calendar. The Koori Knockout sees upcoming talent play alongside a host of NRL stars.
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00:00What started as a rugby league tournament has become an opportunity to pass on knowledge
00:07and culture.
00:09The next generation of Indigenous stars and leaders.
00:12This is where all the boys started, and then virtually up to NRL.
00:17A lot of our boys are getting a lot older, so they're bringing their children now and
00:25they're going to be the next generation of footballers.
00:29The tournament in Bathurst this year is of particular significance.
00:33Two hundred years ago, martial law was declared in the region, with colonial soldiers deployed
00:37against the local Wiradjuri people.
00:40Many of them were massacred.
00:42We know it inherently, and it's been handed down through stories about the terrible stuff
00:49that happened to our people.
00:52It's an event that now brings together people from all over the country.
00:55When the Korean knockout first started in 1971, it involved just six teams.
01:00Half a century later, it sees some of the NRL's biggest stars in action.
01:04I look forward to these every single year.
01:06Obviously, being in the NRL, you always want to be playing grand final day, but if that's
01:13not the case, for whatever reason you don't make it that far, I always look forward to
01:17coming here and representing my people.
01:20More than 30,000 people are expected to attend the knockout across the long weekend.