In the Wonnarua language Wayila is the word for the black cockatoo and it's an apt name with the Hunter Wayilas the region's newest footy team planning to fly high at the long weekend's annual Koori Knockout.
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The new club will be joined by fellow Maitland and Hunter clubs Maitland United, Mindaribba Warriors, Newcastle Emus, Newcastle All Blacks and Newcastle Yowies.
In it's 49th year, the Koori Knockout is being hosted on the Central Coast from Friday and the logistics are staggering and the economic benefits for the community similarly so.
All up there will be 164 teams from across the state taking part in the competition and as many as 40,000 Aboriginal people travelling to watch and take part in the celebrations.
"Next year's 50 and that's part of the reason we decided to start our own club and really participate and celebrate 50 years of this carnival and what it does and what it means for our people," said former Kurri Kurri coach Ron Griffiths who is coach and founding member of the Wayila.
"What it does for their economy is huge but what it also does for our people is huge as well, it's something they will thrive off for the next 12 months. It's something communities really gain spiritual energy from. It's a fantastic event."
Griffiths said the Hunter Wayila provided a club for the many Aboriginal people who lived in the Hunter but had come from other areas.
"The Hunter has generally always been a transient population and a lot of our people or people playing in this team are from different areas," he said.
"Myself I'm a Gomeroi man from northern NSW and my wife is from north Queensland, we live in this area so that is why we adopted the local dialect to name our team after."
Back-rower/centre Cleveland McGhie fits the bill perfectly with the 23-year-old moving to Newcastle from the Illawarra this year to further his rugby league career with the Newcastle Knights Canterbury Cup team.
"I played in the Canberrra Raiders system until I was 19 and spent a couple of years playing local football," he said.
"I made a decision to chase it again and I was given the opportunity to play with the Newcastle Knights Caterbury Cup side for the pre-season and this playing season.
"I played six years with the Illawarra side in the Knockout. I haven't played at the Knockout for the last two or three years with injuries or other sporting commitments.
"Fourteen, turning 15 was my first game and it was a great experience playing next to my brother and community members I had known for a while.
"I guess committing to a new side is a bit different but I'm looking forward to it."
Griffiths only had to look to his family for one of the star of the women's team his niece Robyn Draper, who will be playing at her third Koori Knockout after winning with the Newcastle Yowie's last year.
Draper is a rising talent in the women's game playing with the Sydney Roosters in the Tarsha Gale Cup last year and this year the Newcastle CRL team.
"I grew up around rugby league, in my family it's all we've pretty much done. It's a big passion," she said. "I'm pretty excited to be playing with a new team this year under my uncle (Griffiths) just shaking things up a bit and see what it's like."
It's Brydie Forbes' first Knockout as a player.
"This is my first time playing full numbers, I've only played nines before with Greta Branxton, but I'm really looking forward to it."
The women's competition, 16s girls, 15 boys, 17 boys and 12s boys will kick off competition on Friday with knockout matches leaving the final four teams in each grouping to go through to the semi-finals and finals on Monday.
The men's competition start on Saturday with 64 teams in total to be reduced to 32 teams by Saturday afternoon, with games on Sunday to decide the final four.
"If you get through, you'll play one game on Saturday 20 minutes each way, three games on Sunday 20 minutes each way. The semi-final on Monday is 30 minutes each way and the final is 40 minutes each way," Griffiths said.
"It gets longer, it gets tougher. It's a real battle of attrition."
Griffiths said the competition had come a long way since the first Koori Knockout was held at Camdenville Oval and attracted just eight teams.
"It was a way to showcase the talent of Aboriginal players for Sydney club recruiters," he said.
"Those players could be seen in a different lights but also an opportunity for our people to come together and celebrate our culture and our history."
Griffiths thanked the club's sponsors for all their help in fielding a team for the first time at the Koori Knockout.