The Warriors will proudly carry the memory of Quentin Pongia into Saturday night's match against the Broncos, with his club number 52 to feature on the players' Indigenous Round jerseys.
News of Pongia's passing last Saturday following a long battle with cancer was felt across the Telstra Premiership and hit particularly hard at the Warriors, with a number of the club's staff having played alongside him.
Pongia made 18 appearances for the Warriors in 1998 and left an enduring legacy.
"It was tough receiving the news," Warriors captain Roger Tuivasa-Sheck said.
"Our coaching staff were real close to 'Q' and played with him, and a lot of us boys looked up to him and the type of player he was.
"I wasn't watching league back then, but I have heard great things about 'Q' and coming into the system everyone had high respect for him."
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Designed by Elaine Chambers-Hegarty, the Broncos’ Indigenous Round jersey features eye-catching artwork which represents growth and new beginnings as 13 players unite as one at the gathering place of the Broncos’ home ground. All of the club’s current Indigenous players are represented through the illustration of their animal totem symbolising their connection to Indigenous culture.
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The theme and design of the Bulldogs’ Indigenous Round jersey is reconciliation, which is what Indigenous round is all about. Reconciliation promotes understanding, recognition and most importantly education. The jersey displays meeting places and tracks leading to each other and this represents what we are working towards as a community today - everyone being connected, working towards the same goal. The three hand prints represent the club’s Aboriginal players Adam Elliott, Chris Smith and Reimis Smith.
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The Raiders’ Indigenous jersey is a celebration of diversity and reconciliation. The artwork uses hand-prints to illustrate cultural diversity within the Ngunnawal region. Various artistic styles are demonstrated throughout the artwork, a result of community collaboration. By involving the community and Indigenous students engaged in the NRL School-to-Work program, artist Lynnice created a free flowing design. The path to reconciliation is a collaborative, accepting and an ongoing journey. This work aims to demonstrate how learning, interaction and respect work to create a free-flowing and engaged community.
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The meaning of the logo is about opportunity, relationships and respect. It’s about a world that has three hands and three lightning bolts. The hands represent respect for one another and life’s opportunities. The Storm bolts represent relationships and strong links to our community and cultural respect. The image represents power and determination to reach goals, to trust, to feel safe and fulfilled with positive connections. The logo in the middle represents the Melbourne Storm Rugby League Club, while the outer circles are the broader communities that Melbourne Storm are reaching through its various programs. The four colours represent the four seasons, representing diversity and change. The shields represent strength and resilience.
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Manly are honouring Sea Eagles great Cliff Lyons to celebrate Indigenous Round. The grey circles represent each team that Cliff has played for, from his first team as a junior, right up to playing for Australia. The lizard is very significant to the design. Down the back sides of the lizard there are blue stripes (representing his Origin for NSW) and on those stripes there are black dots, five on one side and six on the other as a representation for how many goals and field goals he kicked in his career with Manly. The lizard's back legs display 80 dots for the tries he scored, while the front legs feature 120 dots, Cliff's Hall of Fame number.
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The Knights’ Indigenous Round jersey was designed by past and present Knights players including Ashley Gordon, Owen Craigie, Timana Tahu and Connor Watson. Each player contributed a piece of their history to local Indigenous artist Elise Randell from non-for-profit agency Justiz, who painted the artwork that makes up the foundations of the jersey design. A backdrop of blue and green represents salt water and fresh water. The white raised dots are representative of family and community from their place of origin and local Aboriginal community ties. The top right represents Ashley Gordon, the bottom right represents Timana Tahu, the bottom left represents Owen Craigie and the top left represents Connor Watson.
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The winning design by Beau Pennefather Motlop from Cairns is titled ‘same but different’. The Torres Strait head dress and Aboriginal shield represent courage. The two hands, one black, one white, represent integrity and honesty. They are also a representation of unity and equality. The Torres Strait drum and Aboriginal didgeridoo represent our commitment to keeping Indigenous culture alive through traditional dance and music, as well as sharing our culture. The circle dot patterns represent meeting places and the U-Shapes surrounding them represent people meeting in unity.
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Designed by Parramatta players Josh Hoffman, Will Smith, Bevan French and Blake Ferguson, the jersey pays respect to the traditional owners of Parramatta and is a celebration of their rich heritage. The area of Parramatta was known by the Darug people as Burramatta - "Burra" meaning eel and "matta" meaning creek. The Eel in the background represents the ancestral spirit of the Parramatta jersey, and is a connection to the Aboriginal Ancestors who look over the land. The totem on the top left of the front of jersey represents Will Smith, the totem on the right sleeve represents Blake Ferguson, the totem on the left middle front of jersey represents Bevan French and the totem on the bottom right Josh Hoffman.
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"Stronger as one" is the theme of the Gold Coast Titans'' 2019 Indigenous jersey. The design, based on artwork titled "Korowa tarig" by rising Newcastle artist Tyler Smith, was chosen as the winner of the Gold Coast Titans Indigenous jersey design competition. "Korowa tarig means 'the sea coast' in the traditional language of the Awabakal people," Smith explains. "The illustration shows a school of fish swimming together as they are stronger as one. This also represents the essential teamwork needed to be a successful football team and organisation."
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The design of the 2019 Panthers Indigenous jersey is based on an artwork by Panthers Indigenous welfare officer Glen Liddiard. The art incorporates the Panthers colours and depicts the geography and people of the Darug nation - the home of the Panthers' community today. The jersey also features totems of the Wiradjuri, Guriwal and Biripi people, representing the club's Indigenous players past and present.
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The unique design for the Roosters’ 2019 Indigenous Round jersey was donated by KARI and created by artist Danielle Mate Sullivan. The design was made in consultation with the Roosters’ Indigenous players and incorporates the players’ hand prints, as well as the handprints of their children. The jersey will be on display when the Roosters face the in-form Knights at McDonald Jones Stadium on Friday night.
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Hailing from Bundjalung Nation and a Proud Wahlabul Man, Joe Walker has combined mastery, magic, creativity and culture to create a jersey that is inclusive and representative of the Rabbitohs’ six Indigenous players. Joe has designed a playing strip that incorporates the player's totems inside their own handprint. Among those featured are Kyle Turner (goanna), Braidon Burns )emu), Dane Gagai (shovelnose shark), Cody Walker (goanna), Alex Johnston (crocodile) and Greg Inglis (praying mantis). Beyond the totems, the jersey utilises lines which represent the players’ journey to the club.
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The front of the jersey – designed by local artist Lani Balzan – includes a whale (Birri Birri), which symbolises the Dharawal nation, the land on which St George Illawarra play their home games. The four red dots above the Red V signify the club’s four Indigenous players - Josh Kerr, Jai Field, Jonus Pearson and Tristan Sailor. Local artists Keiran Campbell and Koori Minto designed the back of the jersey. Their creation highlights the special relationship and respect local aboriginals have with the sea, highlighting the significance of the sea creatures which have provided local Aboriginal People a food source for thousands of generations.
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The jersey design pays respect to Māori - the indigenous people of New Zealand. The top half of the jersey represents mountains and waterways, while the triangle shapes symbolise mountains. The koru represents mist, clouds and swirling winds reaching up to the heavenly domain of Ranginui (the Sky Father). The waves break the shore below the mountains and rivers and lakes flow to the sea. The koru and kowhaiwhai represent growth, reaching upward toward the light, positivity, nurturing and protection. Also, they represent connection to the earthly domain of Papatuanuku (the Earth Mother). The design is placed on the front and back and represents the North Island and South Island. The colour of the jersey and the shades of grey represents the clouds.
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The Indigenous jersey was designed by Aunty Deanna Schreiber. The blue on the jersey represents the waters of Cronulla, many campsites and the elders gathering. The animal tracks and totems - Goanna, Black Snake and Echidna - represent the Sharks’ Indigenous players Wade Graham, Will Kennedy, Andrew Fifita, Braydon Trindall and the family of Jayson Bukuya. The colour pink represents the many shells that were scattered on the beaches at Cronulla for thousands of years.
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The Wests Tigers’ 2019 Indigenous Jersey is inspired by the traditional lands on which the club is based upon - lands of the Wangal, Gadigal and Tharawal people. The design uses topographical lines to form patterns that link pathways and meeting places as a way of uniting cultures to strengthen knowledge and understanding. The impressive artwork was produced by Vicki Golding and Dennis Golding.
Warriors trainer Ruben Wiki was especially close to Pongia, with the pair having joined the Canberra Raiders at the same time in 1993 before going on to form a fearsome combination in the forwards for the Kiwis between 1995-2000.
Warriors coach Stephen Kearney said Wiki paid an emotional tribute to Pongia this week, sharing memories with players and staff.
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Warriors serving Mangere East community at Life Soup Kitchen
"Rubes won a premiership with [Quentin] in Canberra, and Quentin took Rubes under his wing when they both first went to Canberra," Kearney said.
"Rubes spoke wonderfully well about it. He said what Quentin taught him is that you train how you play, and if you were on the end of a tackle shield and Quentin was tackling you, you soon moved out of the way.
"[Quentin] put the team first, whatever he could do to get the job done for the team and the jumper, whether that was a Raiders jumper, Warriors, and in particular the Kiwi jumper, he did it with all of his might."
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Warriors v Broncos - Round 11
The Warriors will also mark Indigenous Round from a Maori perspective on Saturday, with foundation captain Dean Bell set to lead them onto the field and present the Broncos with a gift pre-match.
The club has also temporarily changed the name of their home stadium to Rarotonga Mount Smart Stadium, recognising the original name of the area before European settlers arrived.
Kearney said it was pleasing to see Maori culture incorporated into the round.
"To be officially recognised is wonderful … I think the whole process has been a learning [opportunity] for the group," Kearney said.
"The NRL have done a wonderful job of recognising Indigenous Australia and now New Zealand.
"[Between] Australian Indigenous, New Zealand Indigenous and the Pacific Islands, I think we play a pretty significant part in the NRL competition in terms of the numbers that we have."
The New Zealand Warriors honour the mana of the Indigenous peoples of Aotearoa, Australia and the Pacific. We acknowledge the traditional kaitiaki of the lands, elders past and present, their stories, their traditions, their mamae and their mana motuhake.
