An Indigenous rugby league team made up of members of NSW Police has played its first match, as part of an initiative to strengthen ties between the police and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community.
The Trackers made their debut on Saturday, going down to the Royal Australian Navy 16-4 at Allianz Stadium, after being presented with jerseys last week by NSW Police Commissioner Mal Lanyon.
“Rugby league has always brought people together, in friendships and building trust,” said Edmond Atalla, Parliamentary Secretary for Police and Counter-terrorism.
“This team has the opportunity to build connections, inspire generations and to show that leadership is not just about what you say. It’s about how you carry yourself and how you treat others every day.
“This team reflects those values by strengthening relationships between the NSW police force and the community through culture.”
The Trackers is made up of 23 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander police officers and unsworn Indigenous staff, and led by Blacktown Aboriginal Community Liaison Officer and former Parramatta Eels playmaker Dennis Moran.
It’s a chance to bring cultures together and to bring changes together and a chance to work with community.
Relations between NSW Police and the Indigenous community have been strained for decades, with First Nations people overrepresented in the state’s prison system and the subject of 17 per cent of all searches despite representing just 3.4 per cent of the population, according to the Justice and Equity Centre.
About one in 23 Indigenous men are incarcerated, over a third of the prison population, and in 2025 12 died in custody in NSW – a record for the state.
In June police officer Benedict Bryant was ordered to serve 500 hours of community service work over the death of 16-year-old Sydney boy Jai Kalani Wright. Bryant was convicted of dangerous driving occasioning death after his unmarked police car collided with a stolen motorbike being ridden by Wright in 2022.
Moran said the Trackers team could help improve relations with the Indigenous community, adding: “[We’re here] to send a message out to the community, and to let them know that the police are here to support our community and want to be based in the community as well.
“As an Aboriginal person, for me to be a part of the police, it is important. We’ve always got a big part to play, to build that respect with each other.”
Commissioner Lanyon added: “Sport is something that brings the community together, the Australian community loves sport. [It is] a chance to bring cultures together and to bring changes together and a chance to work with community.
“This is about showing the lovely role models we have that work for the NSW police from the Indigenous community, making sure that those that follow have role models that they can see and aspire to.”
