Fly Guyula Fly - Yarrabah community’s story of resilience and rugby league

In 2025, the Yarrabah Seahawks celebrated their 25^th year of playing in the Far North Queensland Rugby League competition. This sporting milestone wasn’t just a celebration of pride and community spirit but a catalyst for the community to work with historian and Associate Professor Gary Osmond from UQ’s School of Human Movement and Nutrition Sciences to research and document the history of their club and community – resulting in the publication of Yarrabah Seahawks – Fly Guyula Fly: Our Teams, Our Club, Our Yarrabah Home.

What began as a commemorative project quickly expanded into a rich social history. It is a deeply collaborative community project that captures generations of stories through the lens of rugby league and beyond.

“The club asked if I would work with them to research their history, the development of rugby league in the community, and of sport, more broadly, in Yarrabah which began as a mission in 1892,” Dr Osmond explains.

“The focus of my research for the past several years has been on Indigenous sport history in Australia.

“I had previously spent time in Yarrabah, working with the community on their sport history, and was deeply honoured when Club leaders approached me to work on this project.”

Dr Osmond explains the research process included around 60 interviews with community members, conducted through individual conversations and group yarning sessions. 

“For me, the absolute highlight was working with community in planning this project,” Dr Osmond says. 

“I have worked with several Indigenous communities throughout Australia over the past 10 years, and the interaction with community members in telling their story with their input is very significant to me. 

“The interviews, and then researching the various topics raised in libraries, newspapers and archives, bring the story to life in a powerful way.”

While rugby league is central to the book, its significance runs deeper. This is a story of community pride, resilience and determination. 

“Rugby league is obviously central to this story but it is much broader that that,” Dr Osmond said. 

“To me it speaks to how self-empowered communities and community groups can create lasting opportunities for men, women and children across generations.”

Fly Guyula Fly stands as a record of more than just sporting success - it captures how sport acts as a unifying force and can build identity, strengthen relationships and offer pathways forward. 

The Seahawks’ journey also resonates strongly with the 2026 NAIDOC Week theme, “Fifty Years of Deadly”.

In the 1970s, Yarrabah community members began campaigning to join the regional rugby league competition. Despite repeated unsuccessful attempts over nearly three decades, they remained determined. Finally, in 1999, that perseverance paid off and the Seahawks were admitted to the League. 

Over the past 25 years, the club has not only sustained its place in the competition but excelled within it - a testament to the community’s enduring commitment.

“It’s a story of persistence, a story of community and how their determination never waned,” Dr Osmond said.

“It’s a deadly story.” 

As the Seahawks continue to compete and thrive, their history - now captured in print - remains a source of inspiration.

Acknowledgments

Yarrabah Seahawks – Fly Guyula Fly: Our Teams, Our Club, Our Yarrabah Home is as much about people as it is about sport, and its creation depended on strong local leadership.

The author would like to acknowledge the contributions of key figures, including book committee chair and former mayor Ross Andrews, senior club president Edward Prior Snr, junior club president Gillian Bann, and committee members Samuel Bann Snr, Roderick Griven, Fiona Prior, Lucresia Willett and Leon Yeatman.

The project also builds on earlier collaborations, including Osmond’s work with Auntie Lesley Williams and Professor Murray Phillips on the history of the Cherbourg Marching Girls in the 1950s and 1960s – documented in Marching with a Mission: Cherbourg’s Marching Girls, published in 2022.