The Sydney Roosters have teamed up with the Institute for Urban Indigenous Health’s (IUIH) national preventative health promotion initiative Deadly Choices, in a partnership which pays homage to one of the Club’s Legends.
Arthur Beetson had a vision of ensuring the ongoing availability of quality health care for all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples of Australia. Importantly, it’s not lost on the Roosters nor Deadly Choices that Beetson’s own likeness, as portrayed by his niece Bianca Beetson, becomes the pivotal artwork featured as part of the inaugural Roosters Deadly Choices jersey.
The Roosters Deadly Choices jerseys are emblazoned with related artworks produced by Bianca, which will now be available as an incentive for any Indigenous person who undertakes a 715 health check at a participating community-controlled health clinic throughout Australia.
“We’re proud to partner with Deadly Choices and deliver on Arthur Beetson’s vision of ensuring Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples across Australia have access to quality health care,” said Roosters COO Jarrod Johnstone.
“Our past and present players are truly invested in the ideals of what Deadly Choices represents. We are committed to supporting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples to make healthy choices for themselves and their families and encourage regular health checks,” he added.
The unveiling of the Roosters Deadly Choices jersey featuring the image of one of the game’s most outstanding servants, represents a full-circle moment for IUIH CEO Adrian Carson.
“I’d really like to thank and acknowledge the support of the Roosters in making this arrangement a reality and we look forward to seeing where the partnership can take us with respect to making positive health impacts among communities right across Australia,” said Carson.
“Through Bianca’s artwork, this is a more than appropriate and outstanding nod to a man who advocated so strongly for our people, and who achieved so much on behalf of the Roosters and of course the national and international sporting arenas.
“He was our people’s first national captain of any sporting code and led the way for many more Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to follow.
“I recall delivering a speech at the launch of the inaugural Queensland Murri Carnival in 2011. It was the early days for Deadly Choices, and of all the people in attendance, it was Arthur Beetson who found me at the back of the room, and we yarned for the next hour.
“Not long after he had passed. The sadness that he died at the age which was the average, in terms of the gap between Indigenous and non-Indigenous men, he died at that age that we continue to try to close, so all that said to us the importance of what we’re doing,” he added.
