Australian rugby lost one of it’s most special custodians yesterday, with the passing of Lloyd McDermott at the age of 79. A proud ‘Mununjali and Waka Waka’ man, he was the second Aboriginal player to represent the Wallabies, and went on to become the country’s first Indigenous lawyer.

The search to unearth the next Kurtley Beale, Mahalia Murphy or Maurice Longbottom has begun, with Rugby Australia’s High Performance team embarking this week on an Indigenous talent ID tour from Bathurst all the way up to Alice Springs.

The rugby community is again coming together to help those in need, with the announcement that Rugby Australia, the Queensland Rugby Union, the Australian Rugby Foundation, and the Classic Wallabies are combining their efforts to help support the game in the flood-ravaged areas of North Queensland.