The North Queensland Toyota Cowboys will proudly wear a story of strength and unity, with the 2025 Indigenous Jersey representing culture, community and the values of family, integrity and resilience.
Get your 2025 Indigenous Jersey here.
This year's Jersey features the work of Torres Strait artist and NRL Cowboys House Parent Vinson Babia, entitled 'Tagai' - a great Torres Strait ancestral warrior and farmer.
The intricate design calls on his strength and knowledge while celebrating the unity and shared journeys of Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians.
For the first time in club history, both the Cowboys NRL and NRLW teams will take the field in the striking Indigenous Jersey, to be worn by both sides for the Indigenous Round double header on Sunday 17 August at Queensland Country Bank Stadium.
About the design:
Tagai is a powerful figure in Torres Strait Islander culture, revered as a provider of magic, a master hunter, and a skilled fisherman. He taught us how to plant, when to plant, how to navigate the seasons, and how to travel across land and sea. The story of Tagai has been passed down through generations, shaping who we are.
The four animals—shark, turtle, dugong, and Kaigus (shovel-nosed shark)—are totems for some Torres Strait Islander communities. The shark symbolises the dry season, while the turtle and dugong represent the hunting skills Tagai taught. Kaigus is the name for the Milky Way, where Tagai is believed to travel. Four Tituil (stars) in each corner represent constellations that help us navigate the night, while the eight-point stars symbolise Tagai’s sisters. The five-point stars honour the strength of our Cowboys players, linking their resilience to cultural pride.
Footprints across the Kaigus Eausul (Milky Way) symbolise the journey of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders moving forward together with non-Indigenous Australians. The dhoeri, a cultural symbol, is used to call upon the strength of ancestral warriors, while a woven mat at the bottom represents the knowledge passed down through generations to us. It weaves together our cultural values, stories, and songlines, keeping them alive.
The Zugubal, constellations from the western islands of the Torres Strait, once looked human while they in habited the island world, but were super-human in strength and performance. As stars, they guide us through the seasons, bringing rain, wind, and tides. Tagai, the leader of the Zugubal, possessed powers which enabled him to summon thunder, lightning, wind, and rain to aid the people, and he could control the moons of the sea. Tagai introduced the method of catching turtle with sucker-fish and imposed conditions on the habits and habitat of sea-creatures.
The Zugubal went up to the sky and became bright stars ( Zugubal Tituil) soon after humans appeared in the Torres Strait. As stars, the Zugubal ushered in season’s, and caused rain, wind, tides, and calm. When Tagai dived into the sea” (disappeared from the night sky for a time), he splashed up water which fell as rain. When he throws his spear into the sea, this water that splashes up is the first rain of the north-west season Kuki (North West Wind) and Zugubal Ari starts (Monsoon season).
In the night sky, we see Tagai, holding a branch in his right hand and a spear in his left (the Southern Cross). He stands on his canoe, guiding us from March to December, helping us through our planting, hunting, and navigating the sea. When we look up, we know he is telling us the seasons. Even as we face the challenges of today, like global warming, we remember that Tagai has always been there, guiding us like a heavenly clock that never stops. His teachings live on in us, just as they have for generations.
About the artist:
Vinson Babia
- Clan: Ait Koedal
- Island: Saibai
- Constellation: Star E
- Wind: Sagar
- Language: KKY
- Community: Seisia
I am a Torres Strait Islander Australian. I was born on Thursday Island and grew up in Seisia, in the Northern Peninsula Area. My family is from the eastern side of Saibai Island, where the Sagar wind blows, from underneath the Star E Constellation which can be seen before the morning star.
My art tells the stories from the seven clans of Saibai Island, though I mainly focus on my clan, the crocodile clan, Ait Koedal. Most of the people from Saibai are traditionally head hunters, we are a warrior culture. I use our peoples’ totems when telling our stories, whether in painting, carvings or in dance.
Our culture is passed down verbally through each generation, from our grandfathers, fathers and uncles in song, dance and through artwork. When I was small, I would sit with my father, grandfather and uncles and watch them carving and making apparatuses.
I loved to listen to them tell stories, sing songs and dance. I continue to tell our stories through my art and traditional dance.
