<P> In 1944, the first Aboriginal rugby league club was founded in Redfern, New South Wales the Redfern All Blacks . The first All Indigenous Australian National Rugby League team was named in 2009 . </P> <P> Arthur Beetson became the first indigenous Australian to captain the national team of any football code when in 1973 he was selected to lead the Australian rugby league team . </P> <P> The percentage of indigenous players in top - level rugby league premiership was reported to have fallen from 21% in the 1990s to 11% in 2009 . </P> <P> The popularity of soccer began to grow in the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities in the 2000s . One of the first Indigenous Australians to make the national team was John Kundereri Moriarty, who was supposed to tour with the team in 1961 but the national federation was unable to hold the tour as they were facing FIFA sanctions at the time . Other notable indigenous soccer players included Charlie Perkins who played and coached Pan-Hellenic and Harry Williams who was a member of the Australian team at the 1974 FIFA World Cup . </P>

What's the difference between afl and nrl