Image: Anaiwan Elder Uncle Steve Widders, flanked by players and officials, performed the Welcome to Country.
The fierce rivalry between Armidale’s Narwan Eels and the Moree Boomerangs finally came to head when the two teams met in the Group 19 Grand Final at UNE’s Bellevue Oval
While UNE is a longstanding sponsor of Narwan, and on occasion the Boomerangs, it was the first time the University hosted a Grand Final between the two teams on the grounds of its Armidale campus.
The teams, who have a long history of Koori knockouts between them, was cheered on by a capacity crowd in what was labelled “the game of the decade.”
Larissa Ahoy, daughter of Uncle Colin Ahoy UNE’s Elder in Residence, described the atmosphere as electric.
“Watching my two sons play and having both my mother and father, my first-born grandson Jaxon, and the rest of our family there, cheering for Narwan was something to remember forever,” Larissa said.
“My father, Colin Ahoy, was one of three original founding members of the Narwan Eels club. Dad worked tirelessly behind the scenes, attended group meetings, fought for the injustices that Narwan had to face as an Aboriginal Club within Group 19, and even helped his brother, Mitch Morris, write the Narwan Song that is still being sung today.”
“Watching our boys play their hearts out for the mighty blue and gold felt like somewhat of an initiation. They finally got to play with the ‘men’ and not the ‘boys’.
“We’ve waited years for this moment, and we finally made it. Our Dad made it. Our Dad got to see his grandsons not only play for Narwan, but win a grand final for Narwan.
“We never thought this would be possible, but it was a dream come true for all of us. We were all pumped up with excitement, with a little bit of nervousness. It was a tribal war. Narwan versus Boomerangs. The pressure was on both teams to bring it home for their community. Every player and spectator wore their heart on their sleeve, and the game was just wrought with emotion the entire 80 minutes.”
Narwan won the hard-fought match by two points with a final score of 22-20.