2012 Dally M medallist Ben Barba has been crowned the Player of the Tournament as his team, Walgett Aboriginal Connection, won the 52nd Koori Knockout.
Taking home back-to-back Koori Knockout titles, Walgett won by a dominant 34 points (46-12), with Brisbane Broncos recruit Latrell Siegwalt impressing in the match by scoring two tries and providing one try assist, with Jayden Connors being named Player of the Final.
The team also consisted of Cronulla Sharks fullback William Kennedy, former NRL forward George Rose and Barba, who was crowned 'Player of the Tournament' of the carnival.
During his time at theย Canterbury Bulldogsย (2008-13) in theย NRL, Barba was recognised as one of the premium elite players of the competition and would be honoured with the Dally M medal in just his fifth season.
Barba would then have stints with theย Brisbane Broncosย (2014) andย Cronulla Sharksย (2015-16) but struggled to reclaim his Dally M talents.
A member of the Sharks' maiden NRL premiership title, theย 31-year-old returned down under with the North Queensland Cowboysย in 2019 but was cut from the club before playing a game.
The fullback's history also includes a stint withย Super Leagueย side St Helens in 2018, where he won the Man of Steel Award as the competition's best player.
โI'm so proud of these boys, everyone stood up in the end,โ George Rose told NITV.
โThese young fellas put their hand up, did all the hard work and carried us through.โ
In the women's side of the tournament, the Redfern All Blacks defeated the Bourke Warriors in the grand final, avenging their loss to the Newcastle Yowies in last year's tournament.
Winning 22-4, the All Blacks scored four tries and three goals compared to their opponents' one try scored by Tiffany Stanley to open up the match.
"We got in the final last year, and went down in golden point, and I think the girls took that in their stride, and we used that as fuel leading into this time," Redfern captain Lavina O'Mealy said viaย ABC.com.
"At 40 years old, it's an unreal feeling, I didn't think my legs would last."
