First Nations Artists
Proud Gamilaroi and Wiradjuri man of NSW, Sean Kinchela, has designed artworks for Steeden for the last five years after being the inaugural winner of the Steeden Draw to Score competition in 2021.
Scroll down to view past designs:
2026:
The artwork is titled "Biliir".
From the artist
"Biliir is the Gamilaroi word for Black Cockatoo. In the artwork you can see the dotted pattern symbolising rain and Biliir’s feather below to representing his connection to the rain. The yellow in the middle represents country. The artwork also forms the Aboriginal Flag colours.
Black Cockatoos are known to fly from the mountains towards the coast when rain is coming. Some of their favourite plants such as Casurina open in preparation to drop seeds and the bark on Banksia trees they like to chew on turns soft. As the old stories go, when we see Biliir the Black Cockatoo, we know the rain follows him."
From the artist
"This piece seeks to highlight that even though all our mobs come from all over the states and country we all share similar song lines, if not the same. We have more similarities than differences and that’s what we should focus on. When someone has the message stick it’s their turn to talk and everyone else’s to listen. Taking the time to listen helps build stronger relationships and leads to understanding and growth."
2025:
The artwork is titled "Ngiyani", which translates to "We All".
From the artist:
“I chose to use the Australian green and gold colours for this ball to be more inclusive for everybody in Australia, to represent Australia itself and how proud we should all be to live here.
I normally use this kind of dotting to represent the ocean or wide country however the dotting on this ball is more for decoration and to create an eye catching piece.
The kangaroo tracks represent the kangaroo crossing country.”
2024:
The artwork is titled "Burriin Protect" named after Burriin, which is the Gamilaroi word for shield and stands to protect our lands, waters and air.
From the artist:
"I wanted to create it to talk about the story of protecting what we have. Protecting our waterways, protecting our lands and really taking care of what we have and not taking it for granted.
I just really wanted to talk about protecting. Our lands, people, animals and culture.
The dotting represents the waterways. The red, black and yellow represent our culture, our lands. Obviously they are the aboriginal colours. On the section where the Steeden is, I have the stars to represent the Southern Cross and Australia. This represents Non-Indigenous people and Indigenous people."
2022 & 2023:
The artwork is titled "Ngami-Li" which means 'to watch'.
From the artist
"This artwork represents how rugby league unites people of all nations and clan groups of Australia."
