Coached by Rod Frail, with Seaun Stanley one of his assistants, the Australian Indigenous Nines squad featured three players originally from Wellington (Aidan Ryan, Corey Stanley and Justin Toomey-White) as well as current Cowboy Ali Beale and Brock Dunn, originally from Dubbo.

Also in the side was former NRL player Yileen Gordon as well as Santoi Thaiday, cousin of Brisbane Broncos captain and representative player Sam Thaiday.

Thaiday was one of seven Queensland players in the squad and joined it from Yam Island in the Torres Strait region.

In round one of the competition, Corey Stanley scored two tries as the Indigenous side accounted for Balmain 26-10.

Their second round contest was against Penrith Brothers, which they won 24-10 courtesy of four different try scorers.

That win put the Indigenous side into the quarter-finals, where they faced Auburn.

Rockhampton-based centre Ashley Kris crossed the line twice while Beale again got among the points as the Indigenous side accounted for Auburn 22-18 in a tight contest.

The side’s semi-final against Mounties featured arguably the best display of attacking football in the competition, with the Indigenous side scoring six tries as they accounted for yet another Sydney side, this time by 36-24.

Another Rockhampton player, Hughie Stanley, bagged a double while Toomey-White was also able to cross for a four-pointer.

That win put the Indigenous side into the grand final, where they were pitted against another side with a tendency to throw the ball around in the form of Vanuatu.

Kris scored another two tries but it was a field goal to Beale and a late try which proved the difference as the Indigenous side came away with a tight 17-12 victory.

After his double in the final, Kris walked away from the carnival as the Indigenous side’s leading tryscorer with seven, while Hughie Stanley was the top pointscorer, his five tries and seven goals giving him a haul of 34 points.