RUGBY LEAGUE: For many league is fun, a way to keep fit and make friends, but when the Ngambri team play at the NSW PCYC's Nations of Origin event it will mean a whole lot more.
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Aboriginal youth program, Solid Young Sista's and Brotha's, will send 45 male and female players, coaches, managers and helpers to the Nations of Origin at Raymond Terrace in early July.
The Ngambri boys team, representing the Aboriginal people who live in and around Canberra, finished runners up in their first year of Nations of Origin in Dubbo, coach Lex Boyd said.
"We were actually the favourites to go in and win it last year, I'm very confident that this year we can be a dominant side," he said.
"We have a very handy footy team with a number of boys either in the Raiders development sides or NSW country or indigenous sides."
Besides gathering some of the state's best rugby league players to compete the main aim of the event is reconciliation, Boyd said.
"It's a great experience for [players], it's all about reconciliation, bridging the gap and bringing people together," he said.
Last year's tournament attracted about 700 participants from 23 Aboriginal nations across NSW and this year is set to be even bigger.
Participating teams consist of eight Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander and four non-Aboriginal players, and players have the opportunity to have their say in uniform design, provided the Ngambri totem, the eagle, is present.
