'I just love it': Bunyas foster special connection to culture

When Gav Hazel runs on to the field with Lyndon Davis' interpretation of a bunya nut on his jersey, he knows this game is an extra special one.

It will be his brothers, nephews and uncles coming together to represent Sunshine Coast Bunyas on Saturday at Kandanga's Jack Spicer Park in an NRL Masters carnival, coinciding with Queensland Rugby League's BMD Indigenous Round.

Hazel said it was a special feeling for the handful of carnivals they play together throughout the year.

"There's no words that can describe it and all the other boys, they love it too as well.

"When you run out there, it's an awesome feeling and I love it so much.

"The reason I started (Masters) is because a lot of the time they're all just too young and I'm getting old and I can't even move that fast anymore. So they just run rings around me.

"I just did it to really stay fit a bit, for my mental health plus I get to play with friends and old friends that I used to play against."

Hazel can't get enough footy between Masters and Sunshine Coast C grade, even beyond the Bunyas, although it's the sharing of knowledge of the Kabi Kabi/Gubbi Gubbi traditions of the area to the next generation where he gets most satisfaction.

Sunshine Coast Bunyas for many years have had under 14 and under 16 teams, who played last week at the Rees Orman City-Country Cultural Exchange at Coolum, and many of them will get acquainted with the culture at a camp in September ahead of the Queensland Murri Carnival.

"I love teaching them culture. We teach them dances too as well," he said.

"I also do little men's groups with them, get them to open up and talk to each other as a team.

"They love it and they love me too as well. They all call me Uncle Gammin, because I pretty much joke around with them a lot."

Sunshine Coast Bunyas president and QRL Indigenous Advisory Committee member Brad Beetson said the organisation came together for the inaugural Murri Carnival, and has since grown to 10 teams they will be entering at this year's QMC.

But it is much more than that, with a series of events held throughout the year to bring people together, with the support of the North Coast Aboriginal Corporation for Community Health.

An important part of the 'sign on' for the Bunyas is aligning to the values of the QMC, including greater than 90 per cent school attendance for children and compulsory health checks to close the gap in health outcomes between Indigenous and non-Indigenous people.

Dozens of Sunshine Coast Bunyas players attended a sign on at Nambour Crushers' grounds on Friday so they could access their required health checks, doubling as a fun school holiday event featuring children's activities and rugby league clinics.

"We're about rugby league but also trying to close the gap and encourage our own leaders for their future and stuff like that, so we have mentoring sessions and we run cultural awareness sessions ourselves for our coaches and our staff," Beetson said.

"A lot of kids don't know where they come from.

"So we encourage them to find that like heritage and stuff like that and then try and give them some understanding of the journey.

"We take them out to Cherbourg to the ration shed. If you ever want to really understand why there is some build-up of animosity and stuff like that around Indigenous issues, you go to the ration shed and watch the movie out there about some of the history of what Indigenous people were put through.

"We just try and make them understand and try to make them proud to be Indigenous.

"And obviously, I'm proud of my heritage and my father being the first Indigenous captain of an Australian sporting side and all that. So that's something I'm very proud of."

Main image: Gav Hazel in the Sunshine Coast Bunyas jersey, designed by Lyndon Davis