Wallaroos fullback Mahalia Murphy has spoken about her pride in the creation of a an historic indigenous Wallaroos jersey, and revealed she was a judge to pick the winning design.
Murphy, a First Nations dual international from western Sydney, expressed her pride in the soon-to-be-created indigenous jersey for the Australian women’s rugby team; which will sit alongside the hugely popular Wallabies’ indigenous jersey.
The jersey is set to be worn at the 2021 Rugby World Cup - if not before - and just as Kurtley Beale was heavily involved in the men’s design, Murphy said she’d been tasked to helping to pick the winning submission from a long-list of 29 indigenous artists.
"We have seen the options,” Murphy said in Perth on Wednesday.
"We have the 29 entries and myself and (Wallaroos captain) Grace (Hamilton) had a view of them and had to send in scorecards.
"So we will crack down and see who has got the most points and go with that one.
"It was out of 15, basically. There were three sectors. The design, the power of the story and then the design onto a jersey, how we’d seen that out of 5.
"And then total up to 15 for the outcome.”
Were there any 15 out 15 scores?
"No but there were some that got very close,” Murphy said.
Murphy, a dangerous runner who not only currently plays sevens and XVs for Australia but also used to play for the rugby league Jillaroos, said the indigenous jersey was a hugely significant step for women’s rugby.
"It’s really awesome to have the design on our jersey because our culture is really strong to this land, and there is a beautiful connection between us and this land and the way we nurture the land we walk on,” Murphy said.
"I think it is really important because we are representing this country, not just a state. So to be able to share that, and wear that on the national jersey is very honourable.
"It’s been good to be able to see the boys get that (jersey) and in the pipeline I knew it was going to be a conversation that was going to be raised (in women’s rugby).
"And I said its very special to have that design on our jersey and will add pride to our jersey as well. Just being able to share culture and give our girls an understanding of the culture as well, it’s really good.”
Murphy spoke about the Wallaroos’ indigenous jersey on the day Rugby Australia announced it would invest more and “sharpen its focus” on the growth of rugby in First Nations communities.
In a statement, Rugby Australia said it would sign a new partnership and the Lloyd McDermott Rugby Development Team later this week that boosts its existing relationship, with “new pathway programs, community workshops and a boost in revenue.”
A First Nations Rugby Committee will also be formed, comprising members of Rugby Australia, the Lloydies Board and an Independent Chair.
Former Wallaby and Lloydies chair Gary Ella will sign an MOU prior to the Wallabies-All Blacks game on Saturday in Perth.
‘’We’re excited to work closer with Rugby Australia and help grow First Nations talent…it makes Aboriginal people very proud to see our next generation coming through and work their way to the top,’’ Ella said in a statement.
