Why it took 50 years for this Australian team to be given their rightful jerseys

Geoff Thorne was named in the inaugural 34-man Aboriginal All Stars squad, which was set to embark on a landmark tour of New Zealand.

But before a single foot was put on the plane, the players and organisers faced a number of frustrating obstacles.

The touring team was first denied the use of the green and gold colours by ARFL Board of Control, the precursor to the Australian Rugby League.

The ARFL argued that the colours could only be used by "official" Australian touring teams.

The ARFL would also refuse to fund the tour, meaning sponsors helped pay some of the costs, while players also had to dip into their own pockets.

But thankfully when touring New Zealand, the Aboriginal team received half of the gate-takings to help cover the costs.

Thorne, who would later move to Bathurst in 1975, said the New Zealand community embraced the Aboriginal team.

"We had a great time," he said.

"They treated us like family over there in New Zealand.

"Here, we couldn't get the jumpers because of the Australian Rugby League.

"They were just more accepting of us over there. It was a great tour."

The Aboriginal All Stars team was forced to wear shirts featuring both maroon and blue, the state colours of Queensland and NSW respectively.

Australian rugby league teams originally wore maroon and blue in the early days, before the embracing the current green and gold colours in 1928.

At the 2023 Koori Knockout at Tuggerah on the October long weekend, Thorne, alongside the rest of his surviving teammates, was finally given the recognition he deserved.

At the annual Indigenous rugby league competition, he and his teammates were presented with retrospective green and gold jerseys.

"I didn't know anything about it until I went to the knockout," he said.

"I hadn't been for the past four or five years but I ended up there. I got a text message saying they wanted to see all of us at the officials' tent."

Thorne originally grew up in Walgett and played for his town in Group 14.

He would make the switch to Coonamble, where he won a premiership in 1974, before heading south to join Bathurst Charlestons a year later.

He was only meant to play in Bathurst for one year, but he ultimately stayed and won a premiership in 1979, a 11-9 win over Cowra to secure Charlestons' one and only first grade premierships.

The year later he was wearing the red and green of Railway and went on to win back-to-back premierships with his new club in 1980 and 1981, before he gave the sport away.

You can now find Thorne playing lawn bowls for Bathurst City at the Greens on William.

Bob Morgan, originally from Walgett too, was one of the men behind the creation of the Koori Knockout.

The idea of an Aboriginal All Stars tour of New Zealand originally spawned from the knockout.

He was also an organiser of the Aboriginal All Stars' tour of New Zealand.

The tour highlighted the exceptional skill and talent the players possessed and Morgan is confident that any of those players on tour could've gone on to play at a high level.

"Most of the players had the ability to play at any level of rugby league," he said.

"Geoff Thorne was of course one of the standout players on the tour. In fact, I think most players would agree that he was the star of the tour."

Some of the NSW-based players went on to enjoy impressive careers after the tour.

That included Les Drew, who represented NSW Country, while enjoying club success in Maitland and Port Macquarie.

Tom Briggs went on to play for Newtown, Terry Wickey with Penrith and Tommy Moylan played for South Sydney.

Neil Appo was a star in the north Queensland competition, as was Wally Tallis, the father of former NRL star Gorden Tallis.

Phil de la Cruz was one of two players in the squad not from NSW and Queensland. He was an established star in the Darwin rugby league competition.

The Aboriginal All Stars team played a mix of opponents in New Zealand but there's one player that stands out to both Thorne and Morgan - Dennis Williams.

Williams would represent New Zealand 31 times from 1971 to 1981.

The talented five-eighth is still recognised as one of New Zealand's best ever players and he was inducted into New Zealand Rugby League's inaugural Legends of League in 1995.

But when the All Stars boys faced him, it was against his Te Atatu Roosters team and the team from Australian scored an unforgettable 17-13 win.

"We got over them by about four points and it was probably the best game of rugby league I've ever seen," Morgan said.

"It was a tight game but those blokes just did enough."

The All Stars also played a match against an all-Maori team, which they won 24-22, with Thorne one of the team's standouts.

New Zealand champions Wellington Petone were also defeated, as well as an Auckland representative team.