NRL Reconciliation Round Planning Committee Still Doesn’t Have a Single Blackfulla On It

SYDNEY – The NRL has confirmed its annual Indigenous Round planning meeting will once again be held without Indigenous input, after organisers decided the agenda was “already pretty sorted.”

“We’ve got the design brief, we’ve got the jersey concepts, we’ve got the commemorative scarves going to the club shops,” said a league operations executive. “Adding community voice at this stage would really slow things down.”

The Bulldogs and Eels – two clubs whose Western Sydney catchments include some of the largest urban First Nations populations in the country – have reportedly agreed to “do something nice” during halftime involving a smoking ceremony and a celebrity chef sausage roll giveaway.

A club welfare officer confirmed that all Indigenous players on both lists had been consulted, via group text, the day before kickoff.

The league’s Indigenous Advisory Board – which has not met since March 2024 – was unavailable for comment because it technically no longer exists.

The NRL’s Indigenous engagement strategy document is now in its eighth draft, having been circulated exclusively among non-Indigenous executives since 2019.