Palm Island wins rugby league shield in honour of brave soldier
Richard Dinnen - Queensland Editor |
It’s one of Queensland rugby league’s most keenly contested trophies, and this year, the Palm Island Skipjacks got to take it home.
The Bill Coolburra Shield is named after a Palm Island Indigenous man who joined the Australian Army in 1964, serving in Borneo, Vietnam, Malaya, and Singapore.
In Vietnam, Bill was one of the legendary Tunnel Rats, specialist soldiers who cleared and destroyed enemy tunnel complexes.
In a documentary, his former commanding officer, Sandy McGregor, said Bill is fondly remembered.
“He was a morale booster in Vietnam. He used to do things that nobody else would do, and he was a good soldier as well.
“He was always involved in tunnel clearance. He would never hesitate. He was a brave guy.”
Bill spent a total of 16 years in the Army, eventually returning to Palm Island, where he was a highly respected supporter and mentor of Indigenous youth.
He encouraged youth participation in sport as a pathway to a healthy and purposeful life.
Each year since Bill died in 2009, the Australian Army North Queensland team and the Palm Island Skipjacks contest the Coolburra Shield.
They do it to remember Bill, and build relationships between the Defence Force and the Indigenous people of Townsville and Palm Island.
This year, the game returned to Palm Island, where the Skipjacks won the shield, beating the Army side 38 – 18 in front of about 500 excited local footy fans.
