Indigenous All Stars debutant Selwyn Cobbo wants to be a poster boy like Latrell Mitchell

Rookie Selwyn Cobbo has already made history off the field, tonight he hopes to inspire a new generation with his deeds on the paddock.

To understand why Selwyn Cobbo wants to be a poster boy for his Indigenous people, you have to digest the bitter-sweet fusion of his own successes, laced with the hardships experienced by his forefathers.

The Broncos teenager has hit Queensland rugby league like a tsunami. He has been tagged Brisbane’s version of NSW Origin superstar Latrell Mitchell, a 190cm, 100kg strike weapon who might move across Suncorp Stadium like a gazelle, but has the brutality of a rampaging rhino to trample NRL rivals who dare enter his path.

Cobbo’s path to prominence is part-meteoric, part-historic. On Saturday night, he will play in the biggest game of his life thus far when he makes his senior representative debut in the Indigenous-Maori All Stars clash at Commbank Stadium in Sydney.

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The Broncos young gun will use the match to fly the flag for his people — just as he did two years ago when he made history off the field, becoming the first Indigenous school captain at Murgon State High.

In the school’s 75-year existence, no Indigenous boy had risen to the prestigious role. Then Cobbo, in his shy, reluctant, understated way, broke the mould. Since his ascension, two other Indigenous kids have followed suit.

At 19 years and 252 days, Cobbo is already The Trail Blazer.

Broncos rookie Selwyn Cobbo is bracing for the biggest game of his fledgling career in Saturday’s Indigenous-Maori All Stars clash.

“That achievement, becoming school captain, did a lot for me as a person,” says Cobbo, who hails from Cherbourg, just 6km from the Murgon town that produced the Broncos’ greatest tryscorer, Steve Renouf.

“I actually went for the sports captain, but everyone said I should put my hand up to be school captain.

“They said I had the ability and the leadership to do it, so I applied and I got it. It was a huge shock for me. I didn’t think I was good enough for that position, but I feel that role helped prepare me for life after school.

“I think sometimes Indigenous kids lack confidence or might feel some shame to go for things, but I’m trying to make a change for Aboriginal people.

“When I left the school, the next school captain was Aboriginal and this year just gone, another Aboriginal kid was school captain.

“That means a lot to me. I feel proud that I have been able to make a small change and now that I’m playing NRL, I want to be a good role model for Indigenous kids.”

Given his tender years in a more progressive world, Cobbo has been fortunate to avoid much of the shocking mistreatment generations of Indigenous people, including his own flesh and blood, were forced to confront.

The Broncos rookie’s family tree extends to Queensland cricket icon Eddie Gilbert, who is the great, great grandfather to Cobbo.

During his 23-game first-class career for Queensland, Gilbert famously dismissed Don Bradman for a duck in a Sheffield Shield game at the Gabba in 1931. Bradman described the five balls from Gilbert, who took 87 wickets at 28.97, as the fastest spell he faced in his decorated career.

Just seven kilometres away from the Gabba ghosts of Gilbert rests Suncorp Stadium, the home of the Broncos at which Cobbo played five of his seven NRL games last season.

The generational chasm of 80 years has made Cobbo largely oblivious to Gilbert’s struggles away from cricket.

Selwyn Cobbo has burst onto the scene at the Broncos. Picture: Liam Kidston

In the 1930s, the Aboriginal population was viewed as a “dying race”. Under the anachronistic Aborigines Protection Act, Gilbert needed written permission to travel from his Indigenous settlement in Cherbourg each time he played for Queensland in a first-class match.

The dark-skinned fast bowler was banned from rooming with his white teammates. Instead, he was made to sleep in a tent on a nearby practice pitch. Gilbert died at age 72, having battled alcoholism in his later years. There was a view he was driven to the demon drink as Gilbert struggled with being labelled a cheat over a suspect bowling action which led to his departure from cricket.

Thankfully, Cobbo will never experience segregation, but such tales are a motivating backdrop in his desire to be an Indigenous leader.

“I’m very proud of my culture and where I come from,” he says. “It’s a big part of me and who I am. I am very proud to represent my people.

“I can’t really believe I’m in this (Indigenous All Stars) camp. I never thought I would be here so soon. I look around at training and I see blokes like Josh Addo-Carr and Andrew Fifita who have won premierships and done it all in the game.

“It’s the biggest game of my career so far. I’m pretty stoked, but also very grateful.”

Selwyn Cobbo shares a laugh with Indigenous All Stars captain Josh Addo-Carr. Picture: Sam Ruttyn

Cobbo’s rise to the NRL is the fulfilment of a lifelong dream. When he was nine, his teacher in Cherbourg asked each kid to step up and write down their life ambition on the classroom whiteboard.

A young Cobbo grabbed the marker and wrote: “I want to play for the Broncos”.

It was a dream inspired by his first Indigenous sporting hero, former Queensland Origin skipper and Melbourne and South Sydney superstar Greg Inglis.

“I loved Greg Inglis growing up,” Cobbo says.

“I loved the way he played, he was just so fast and strong. He had incredible power and I always remember his left fend. He was just unstoppable.

“I would watch ‘GI’ and hope I could do what he did one day. I had that mindset where if I just believed in myself, maybe I can do it one day.

“I’ve actually never met Greg. I would love to meet him one day, it would be a dream come true to shake hands with Greg Inglis.”

He has already shaken hands with Mitchell, the other Indigenous footballing genius to whom Cobbo is already being compared.

It was a brutal welcome to first grade. In just his third NRL game — and first at Suncorp — the Broncos were flogged 46-0 by Mitchell’s Rabbitohs. Cobbo’s shift ended early when he was concussed after colliding with Mitchell’s shoulder.

Selwyn Cobbo was inspired by Greg Inglis to follow his dream of playing in the NRL. Picture: NRL Photos

While Mitchell has become a polarising figure in the game, particularly over the sickening shoulder charge last year which broke the cheekbone of Roosters rival Joey Manu, Cobbo wants to lead like Latrell.

“I would love to follow in the path of Latrell and do the things that he does for communities and Indigenous people,” he said. “He does a lot for our people, he is passionate for his people, and I would love to be like that at the Broncos.

“I played against him in my third NRL game.

“After the game, Latrell came up to me and it was pretty cool. He had a word to me. He said, ‘Congrats on your debut, keep working hard and do yourself and your family proud’.

“I actually feel honoured to be compared to a guy like Latrell. In saying that, I’m nowhere near as good as him. I’m determined to not let all that talk go to my head.

“I just let those words flow through my ears, I don’t take much of that (the comparisons) in.”

Mitchell’s former Souths teammate Adam Reynolds, now Cobbo’s captain at the Broncos, has been blown away by the Cherbourg flyer’s natural talent.

Selwyn Cobbo idolised Greg Inglis growing up, but has yet to meet the NRL great. Picture: Brett Costello

“Selwyn is an athlete,” he said. “He makes hard things look easy and at times it doesn’t look like he is trying, which shows how good he is.

“Selwyn just makes the game flow and there’s only a handful of players who can do that.

“I’ve met him at training and in the chats we’ve had he is humble, keen and willing to learn which is great.”

If Cobbo has a blinder on Saturday night, the Mitchell comparisons will intensify, but Brisbane’s backline dynamo will keep a level head, kept humble by the advice of his father Shamus, who once told his son: “There are a lot of cocky, big-noting fellas out there. Don’t be like those fellas. Just be yourself.”

“My family has kept me grounded,” Cobbo says.

“It’s all happened pretty quickly for me at the Broncos, but I have a long way to go.

“It just comes down to whether you really want to succeed or not and whether you are prepared to make the sacrifices.

“I’m prepared to make the sacrifices.”