The Sydney Roosters will proudly wear specially designed boots this Friday in the NRL’s Indigenous Round, as the Club joins forces with the Cultural Choice Association for the Boots for Brighter Futures initiative.
Indigenous students from Tuggerah Lakes Secondary College and Belmont High School designed a total of 24 pairs of boots that will be a focal point on field when the Roosters take on the St George Illawarra Dragons at Netstrata Jubilee Oval.
Designed by Slayta Swadling, James Tedesco's boots feature red, white and green dot paintings to represent the captain's connection to his Italian heritage. The artwork also includes a meeting place, with footprints of humans, emus and kangaroos all coming together.
Boots for Brighter Futures Designs 2023
2/24
Designed by Ki Smith, Daniel Tupou's boots feature trees and the sun rising to represent new beginnings and connection to country as well as the winger's nickname 'Toops'.
Boots for Brighter Futures Designs 2023
3/24
Designed by Lara Humphries, Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii's boots incorporate her favourite colours as well as the Roosters' colours on the toe of the boots.
Boots for Brighter Futures Designs 2023
4/24
Designed by Amy Horne, Billy Smith's boots feature the traditional Red, White and Blue colours as well as green and purple.
Boots for Brighter Futures Designs 2023
5/24
Designed by Kyah Gow, Jaxson Paulo's boots feature the number 5 on the left boot, symbolising Jaxson's position as well as a red, white and blue dot painting on the right boot.
Boots for Brighter Futures Designs 2023
6/24
Designed by Kirralee McDonald, Joseph Manu's boots have purple, blue and white dot paintings on top of the Nike symbol as well as the word Māori to represent his connection to culture.
Boots for Brighter Futures Designs 2023
7/24
Designed by Josephine Lockyer, Luke Keary's boot artwork was inspired by the vice captain's leadership. Jo Jo has incorporated red, white and blue dot paintings on both boots to symbolise the Club is his home.
Boots for Brighter Futures Designs 2023
8/24
Designed by Allira Corkery, Sam Walker's boots feature the Aboriginal flag as well as a red, white and blue dot painting.
Boots for Brighter Futures Designs 2023
9/24
Designed by Lilliana Jarrett, Jared Waerea-Hargreaves' boots are extremely personal, incorporating the front-rowers cultural symbols as well as a Waratah and the sun to reflect his journey.
Boots for Brighter Futures Designs 2023
10/24
Designed by Blake Haskew, Brandon Smith's boots feature the Waiheke Rams logo to signify his junior club, as well as a block of cheese on the inside of the right shoe to represent his nickname 'Cheese'.
Boots for Brighter Futures Designs 2023
11/24
Designed by Ricki-Lee Hughes, Lindsay Collins' boot artwork incorporates Ricki-Lee's connection to her culture through Indigenous colours as well as Lindsay's connection to the Roosters with red, white and blue dot paintings.
Boots for Brighter Futures Designs 2023
12/24
Designed by Cohen Jones, Angus Crichton's boots feature goanna tracks as well as a dot painting of the letters FPP, paying tribute to Angus' foundation the First People Project.
Boots for Brighter Futures Designs 2023
13/24
Designed by Jett Wooley, Nat Butcher's boots feature the colours of the Aboriginal flag and a meeting place on the left boot to represent everyone coming together.
Boots for Brighter Futures Designs 2023
14/24
Designed by Jackson Bourke, Victor Radley's boots feature the Aboriginal and English flags and the lock's jersey number 13 as well as emu tracks to represent his connection to Australia and England.
Boots for Brighter Futures Designs 2023
15/24
Designed by Tama Parkes, Drew Hutchison's boots feature a white tip on the toe of the boot to represent his deadly on-field nature, like that of a white-tip spider. The design also incorporates Drew's initials and the Aboriginal flag.
Boots for Brighter Futures Designs 2023
16/24
Designed by Latifah Quinlan, Jake Turpin's boots tell a personal story about Latifah's late Nan who loved the Roosters and the colour green.
Boots for Brighter Futures Designs 2023
17/24
Designed by Cahn Sullivan, Sitili Tupouniua's boots reflect his Tongan heritage and connection to the Roosters with the use of red, white and blue dots as well as the Tongan flag.
Boots for Brighter Futures Designs 2023
18/24
Designed by Asher Cooper, Egan Butcher's boots feature a snake and a meeting place as well as specific symbols that represent his rugby league journey and connection to the Roosters.
Boots for Brighter Futures Designs 2023
19/24
Designed by Amelia Ridley, Fletcher Baker's boots feature the wedge tailed eagle, the totem of the Wonnarua mob, who are the traditional landowners of Muswellbrook. Amelia has also incorporated a meeting place to signify Fletcher's four immediate family members and his debut number #1198.
Boots for Brighter Futures Designs 2023
20/24
Designed by Raven Coady, Terrell May's boots incorporate the colours of the rainbow into the design on the toe of the boot, as well as a hidden message under the tongue for Terrell to see when he puts them on.
Boots for Brighter Futures Designs 2023
21/24
Designed by Zoe Pangas, Matt Lodge's boots represent the Aboriginal flag and the traditional Roosters' red, white and blue.
Boots for Brighter Futures Designs 2023
22/24
Designed by Kaitlin Guise, Nathan Brown's boots feature red, white and blue dot paintings to represent his connection to the Club.
Boots for Brighter Futures Designs 2023
23/24
Designed by Daniel Taylor, Dylan Napa's boots include a goanna track and the Aboriginal flag as well as bright and eye-catching Indigenous colours.
Boots for Brighter Futures Designs 2023
24/24
Designed by Kiara Wighton, Xavier Va'a's boots feature red, white and blue dot paintings as well as a meeting place on the left boot to represent Xavier's connection to the Club through the Roosters' Academy.
Now in its fifth year, the initiative focuses on encouraging participants to destigmatise their feelings surrounding mental health while increasing their sense of culture and pride through building resilience.
The young artists are encouraged to share their stories and express their sense of pride and identity through their work on the boots. Many students elected to incorporate motifs that reflected players journeys to the NRL, as well as symbols that display their cultural heritage.
Blake Haskew designed New Zealand representative Brandon Smith’s boots, paying tribute to the hooker’s journey into the NRL.
“On Brandon’s boots I included the logo of his junior club the Waiheke Rams,” Haskew said.
“To make it more personal I also painted a block of cheese on the left boot because his nickname is the cheese.”
Belmont High School student Amelia Ridley was tasked with designing Fletcher Baker’s boots. Her artwork tells Baker’s story from growing up in Muswellbrook to debuting for the Roosters.
“When I was painting Fletcher’s boots I thought about his family and his connection to culture,” Ridley said.
“The bird on the side of the right boot is a wedge tailed eagle, which is the totem of the Wonnarua people, who are the traditional owners of Muswellbrook, where Fletcher grew up.
Amelia Ridley presents Fletcher Baker his boots following a smoking ceremony on Monday afternoon.
“In my research I also found that Fletcher has four immediate family members, so I included them at a meeting place on the side of the boot to signify everyone coming together.”
The Sydney Roosters will wear the boots this week when they face the St George Illawarra Dragons at Netstrata Jubilee Oval in the NRL’s Indigenous Round. The boots will be auctioned through the Cultural Choice Association, who will invest all the proceeds into the program.
Sydney Roosters respect and honour the Traditional Custodians of the land and pay our respects to their Elders past, present and future. We acknowledge the stories, traditions and living cultures of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples on the lands we meet, gather and play on.
