The Redfern All Blacks, also known as RABs or Redfern, are an Indigenous Australian semi-professional rugby league club based in Redfern, New South Wales, They are a part of the South Sydney District Junior Rugby Football League.
History Redfern All Blacks is the oldest Indigenous Australian rugby league club in Australia. It was co-founded in 1938 by Bill Onus and Wesley Simms, during the Great Depression. Some reports suggest that the club was officially established by a group of non-Aboriginal and Aboriginal people in 1944.
The club, often referred to as RABs or Redfern, was named after their black guernseys, part of the uniform provided by the South Sydney District Junior Rugby Football League in their first playing season. At the time the club was formed, Aboriginal Australians were denied rights afforded to other Australians. Socially, culturally and politically, the club was important to many Indigenous Australians in Redfern at the time, and the club today is central to the history of Aboriginal Redfern.
In 1969, Redfern's rugby team had already made a name for itself, and the team were invited to play in New Zealand against the local Māori team in 1971. The All Blacks left a significant impression on the Kiwis, defeating the Maori team in a number of games.
In 1971, the Redfern All Blacks became one of the founding member clubs that formed the inaugural NSW Koori Knockout in which seven teams participated.
Notable players
Matthew Allwood Josh Addo-Carr Andrew Dunemann Solomon Haumono Greg Inglis Bobby McLeod Nathan Merritt Anthony Mundine Tony Mundine Wes Patten Shane Phillips, CEO of Tribal Warrior Reece Robinson Travis Robinson Gorden Tallis Darrell Trindall Dean Widders Jonathan Wright
Honours and records South Sydney District Junior Rugby Football League (A Grade) Six: 1974, 1987, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018 NSW Koori Knockout Men Titles Eight: 1972, 1973, 1978, 1979, 1992, 1993, 2015, 2016 Koori vs. Murri Interstate Challenge One: 2017 NSWRL Women's Premiership Titles Two: 2005, 2017 NSW Koori Knockout Women Titles Five: 2010, 2011, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017
2018 A Grade Squad
See also
List of rugby league clubs in Australia List of senior rugby league clubs in New South Wales
References
Further reading Sportingpulse Redfern Oral History - RABs page Portrait of the Redfern All Blacks 1979 Portrait by Michael Riley Jackie Hartley, Black, White... And Red? The Redfern All Blacks Rugby League Club in the Early 1960s, Labour History, No. 83 (Nov., 2002), Australian Society for the Study of Labour History, Inc. John Lester, You can take the black kid out of Redfern but you can't take the Redfern out of the black kid!, presentation to Perspectives on Urban Life: Connections and Reconnections AIATSIS National Indigenous Studies Conference 2009.
External links