'Multi-culturalism is in our DNA': The 63 nations represented across NRL

From Burundi to Cuba, Greece, Jamaica, Latvia, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Ukraine and Zimbabwe, the NRL is Australia’s most culturally diverse sporting code.

NRL CEO Andrew Abdo noted at the launch of this weekend’s Multi-Cultural Round that 153 players from the Telstra Premiership played for 13 of the 16 teams in last year’s World Cup - but that is only the tip of the iceberg.

In total, the NRL boasts players who are eligible to represent 63 nations, including those listed above, as well as the likes of Canada, Italy, Lebanon, Macedonia, Malta, Nigeria, Serbia, Spain, South Africa, Turkey and the United States.

Besides Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific nations have the largest representation, with 45 per cent of NRL players being of Pasifika heritage. A further 10 per cent have Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander heritage.

Almost a third of players (29 per cent) were born outside Australia and 51 per cent have at least one parent born overseas.

There are 161 NRL players who were born in New Zealand and more with Kiwi parents or grandparents.

A further 44 players were born in the Cook Islands, Fiji, Papua New Guinea, Samoa or Tonga.

Arguably, the player with the most diverse cultural background is Wests Tigers utility Alex Seyfarth, whose mother was born in England and has grandparents from Spain and Sri Lanka on one side of his family and Slovenia on the other.

Broncos playmaker Blake Mozer has English, Irish, Greek and Hungarian heritage, while team-mate Payne Haas and his brother Klese, who plays for the Titans, have grandparents born in Samoa, Switzerland and the Philippines.

Warriors winger Marcello Montoya was born in Fiji and has Chilean and Cuban grandparents, while Cowboys rookie Marly Bitungane was born in Tanzania but his mother and all four grandparents are from Burundi. 

Titans forward Jacob Alick, who represented Papua New Guinea at last year's World Cup, is also eligible for Jamaica, along with Knights winger Dom Young, who starred for England.

The NRLW playing group features 25 per cent of players born outside of Australia and 60 per cent with at least one parent born overseas. There are 32 different national heritages represented.

It is a similar picture at grassroots, where a third of players and volunteers have a parent born overseas.

“Multi-cultural round is just who we are in rugby league,” Abdo said. “It’s part of our DNA.

 “What I love about our sport is that we see so many different cultures celebrated, whether it in the stands, whether it is on the field on Saturday morning at grassroots footy or whether it is our players – both men and women.

“Often in society we congregate with people from similar backgrounds as us, or similar religions or similar genders, but sport forces us, in a way, to be able to see the benefits and the strength of multi-culturalism.

“Having many different cultures in the game is a strength and something we are really proud of.”

Among the clubs with the most diverse playing group is the Bulldogs, who will celebrate the 30th anniversary of the inaugural Multi-Cultural Day in 1993 when they host Wests Tigers at Belmore Sports Ground on Sunday.

Canterbury have players born in England, Fiji, Samoa, Tonga and Switzerland, as well as Australia and New Zealand, while Jacob Kiraz has Lebanese grandparents, Jayden Okunbor’s father is Nigerian and Jake Averillo has a grandparent from Zimbabwe.

Other Bulldogs players boast heritage from Canada, Cyprus, Greece, Ireland, Malta, Papua New Guinea, Scotland, Serbia, Spain and Wales.

“There is no greater club when it comes to multi-cultural diversity,” Canterbury CEO Aaron Warburton said.

It’s been like that for decades and we have got 10 different cultural backgrounds in our starting side.

“We have got people from all walks of life, they have joined the Bulldogs for a reason and we continue to be a leader in that space.

Bulldogs great Hazem El Masri, who was born in Tripoli and played eight Tests for his native Lebanon while also representing NSW and Australia, said the game was now more diverse than when he hung up his boots in 2009.

“I think we have come a long way with the increase of Polynesian players, the increase of Lebanese players and so many players of different nationalities,” El Masri said.

“If you look at the World Cup, it was so good to have Samoa doing so well and we had Jamaica playing, and so many other teams trying to qualify as well, so we have definitely come a long way.”

During Multicultural Round, members of the NRL community are encouraged to bring a flag or wear their cultural dress or colours to games.

Each NRL game across the round will celebrate multi-culturalism in ways that are unique to each home club and community, with players and fans having opportunities to show their colours and celebrate their cultures.