|
MEDIA RELEASE
Koori challenges Murri as the AHMRC Mindaribba Warriors play their Queensland rivals to see who will be Australia’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander rugby league champions.
30 January 2012 – Sydney:
The Aboriginal Health and Medical Research Council of New South Wales (AH&MRC) and the Mindaribba Warriors, winners of the 2011 NSW Aboriginal Rugby League Knockout, are teaming up to raise awareness about Aboriginal Health as part of the 2012 Indigenous All Stars Festival.
To be held on the eve of the 2012 Harvey Norman Rugby League All Stars match at Skilled Park, the 2012 Indigenous All Stars Festival will celebrate Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander participation in Rugby League with an all-day event held at Miami, Gold Coast on February 3, culminating in the best Indigenous Club players coming together for the inaugural National Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation -NACCHO Deadly Choices Interstate Challenge.
The NACCHO Deadly Choices Interstate Challenge will see the AH&MRC-sponsored Mindaribba Warriors play their counterparts from Queensland, the Queensland Aboriginal and Islander Health Council (QAIHC) Southern Dingoes at 7.30pm on February 3 at Burleigh Bears' Bob Singh Oval, with the winning team to be crowned Australia’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander champions.
The festival commences at 10am and will feature family entertainment including stage-led activities, performances and storytelling, music, street theatre, local Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander art, and junior league clinics. A number of health organisations, including the AH&MRC, will also be on hand to provide health awareness information.
“Sports like rugby league have an important role to play in promoting positive messages about Aboriginal health, leading to a better quality of life and longer life expectancy for Aboriginal people,” said Rodger Williams, Chief Operations Officer of the AH&MRC.
This is a view shared by Ronald Griffiths, coach of the AHMRC Mindaribba Warriors.
“The life expectancy gap between Aboriginal and non Aboriginal people will not decrease if we don’t take matters into our own hands, regular health checks through your local AMS in conjunction with a healthy lifestyle can help increase our life expectancy. The health checks also set a good example for our elders and children and raise awareness amongst the wider Aboriginal community to be healthy be deadly”.
The NACCHO Deadly Choices Interstate Challenge brings together the two winning teams from the New South Wales (Koori) and Queensland (Murri) Indigenous Knockout carnivals held in October and September 2011 respectively. Eighty-two teams from around NSW played in the competition, which was held over days in October 2011 at Carrington Park in Bathurst, with the Maitland-based AHMRC Mindaribba Warriors emerging as the victors.
This year’s Indigenous All Stars team consists of local and national Rugby League stars voted by over 15,000 fans who cast their ballots online. Captain Johnathan Thurston from the Queensland Cowboys will be joined by NRL superstars including Greg Inglis (Rabbitohs) and Justin Hodges (Broncos), as well as young guns Chris Sandow (Eels), Nathan Peats (Rabbitohs) and Andrew Fifita (Sharks), who will be making their debut in an exciting Indigenous All Stars line-up that features 10 players with Test experience.
The NACCHO Deadly Choices Interstate Challenge will be televised nationally on NITV at 7:30pm on February 3.
Tickets for the game are available through Ticketek.
For more information about the AH&MRC please visit our website at www.ahmrc.org.au or contact Matthew Rodgers, Media and Communications Officer, at
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
or (02) 9212 4777
For more information on the AHMRC Mindaribba Warriors please contact Ronald Griffiths (Coach) on (02) 4015 1134 |
