Culture and community were on show for all to see in the inaugural Deadly Cup

THE Deadly Cup successfully captivated audiences from around Australia with its show of culture and pride through rugby league

Tyrone Nona playing with pride in the Indigenous All Stars side. Picture: Glenn Campbell

THE Deadly Cup successfully captivated audiences from around Australia with its show of culture and pride.

With 2000 attending the event and up to 15,000 from across Australia and even New Zealand having watched the streams as of Tuesday night, the NRL NT gala day was a big success.

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Deadly Enterprises director Shaun Tatipata was overwhelmed by the positive reception to the Cup and already has his eyes on making the 2021 edition bigger and better.

“It was deadly, proper deadly. The amount of people that came out to support was just amazing,” Tatipata told the NT News.

“To have all of the players participate in the opening ceremony was really heartwarming and we’ve had a lot of good feedback from people humbled to take part.

“We couldn’t have done any of this without the NRL NT particularly Darren Manaway and Nigel Roy who ensured we could have games to the standard that we did.

“The positivity in the air was amazing and we achieved what we set out to do with some deadly games, paying homage to one of the oldest cultures and bringing all parts of the community together.”

The Indigenous All Stars won the senior women’s competition with Kirra Muggeridge, Bianca Stokes and Tishara Cahill-Davern all standing out.

And it was the Territory All Stars led by Litchfield captain Luke Mahood and Brothers coach Leon Cleal who won the senior men’s round robin against their Indigenous and Pacific foes.

David Jacobson, Matt Goodfellow, Cooper Segeyaro and Aidan Singleton were among the tryscorers from the three sides who all played with pride and passion.

“We knew there were be a lot of pride and passion but we were still surprised by hard people were going in those games,” Tatipata said.

“The games were next level and we’re proud to see that the pride and respect in culture came across in how close each game was.

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“And then there was the haka from the Pacific All Stars which was incredible. It was an opportunity for them to show their culture to us and next year we want to weave in as much culture as possible.”