Why football star Nicho Hynes teamed up with Archibald Award winner Blake Douglas to tell his story of growing up Aboriginal

Rugby league star Nicho Hynes clearly remembers the day at school when he first saw his friend Bruce perform an Aboriginal dance.

“Me and my buddy Coop were leaving class and going to the end of the year talent show when we heard Bruce dancing, singing songs and playing the clamps,” Hynes says.

“I walked up to Bruce – it was like I was drawn to him. From that day on, Bruce and I bonded. I loved every part of what he was and how proud he was of who he was.

“I think it was a day that was destined to come.”

Hynes’ new picture book, Stand Proud – co-authored with broadcaster Marlee Silva and illustrated by Archibald Award winner Blake Douglas – tells the story of that day and how Hynes came to know and embrace his Aboriginal heritage.

Hynes never thought he would write a book, but he realized he had an important story to tell.

“Everyone goes on a different cultural journey to discover who they are and what their identity is,” he says.

“There are kids who may be going through something similar and realize that someone like me has gone down a similar path, and they can always figure out who they are if they want to go on that journey.

“Maybe he can spark something in their belly so they can educate themselves a little more.”

“Wait a minute, you have 60,000 years of ancestry.”

The 28-year-old Cronulla Sharks and Wiradjuri player has scaled the heights of his sport.

In 2022, he won rugby league’s greatest individual honor, the Dally M Medal.

He played for the New South Wales national team in his state of origin and also proudly represented his culture by playing in the Koori Knockout match and representing the Indigenous All Stars team.

But growing up on the sun-kissed New South Wales Central Coast, he knew nothing about his culture.

His mother was taken from her father when she was young and struggled with addiction and mental problems. It wasn’t until she was in prison, when Hynes was young, that she learned about her heritage.

When she returned home, they talked about their indigenous heritage for the first time.

This made Hynes proud, even if people often did not believe he was Aboriginal due to his light skin color.

Blak Douglas depicted Hynes’s growing connection to his culture in “Stand Proud” with vividly colored illustrations—including his signature flat-bottomed clouds and oval suns—at times revealing the growing fire in his belly.

The artist says working on the illustrations brought back memories of his own childhood in western Sydney.

“Growing up, I was just like Nicho,” Douglas says.

“If you didn’t have to identify (as Aboriginal), you didn’t do it. But there’s something inside that says, ‘Wait a minute, you have 60,000 years of ancestry.’

Douglas’s favorite scene in the book is when Hynes learns to love Aboriginal dancing.

Although his efforts to learn to dance did not go far – Arnhem Land dancers told him he “walked like a buffalo” – Douglas took up playing the didgeridoo and found that learning the instrument brought him closer to his culture.

Marlee Silva, who is from the Gamilaroi and Dunghutti tribes in New South Wales and co-hosts the podcast with Hynes, says the story will resonate with many Aboriginal people.

“Unfortunately, for many crowds the question becomes, ‘Are you Aboriginal enough?’ Are you black enough?’” he says.

“We feel like there is only one way to be Aboriginal or come from a certain background.”

Silva was raised by an Indigenous father and non-Indigenous mother who brought her culture to the forefront.

“Now, as an adult, I realize how privileged I was to be raised with a really clear understanding of what my identity meant,” she says.

“I was really lucky in that because a lot of my peers, even family members, grew up without it because of the Stolen Generations or any number of other reasons that can disconnect people from their identity and culture.”

Silva hopes that children who read this book will learn that “you don’t have to look a certain way” to accept your identity and culture.

Douglas claims that the book’s message is not only aimed at young readers.

“If a child is sitting with mum and dad reading a book, then parents who may have committed the offense of misidentifying light-skinned Aboriginal people will now have a better understanding of it.”

“I try to improve every year”

Hynes, a rugby league maniac, started playing at the age of just four.

He supported the North Queensland Cowboys because his hero, Jonathan Thurston, played for them.

After years of hard work, he became a full-time NRL starter in 2022.

As he rose to fame as a football player, Hynes decided to open up about the mental health challenges he faced.

“There are so many people who have gone through something similar, so I wanted to tell them that they have someone who has gone through it and made their dream come true,” he says.

“When I mentioned (mental health) a little bit, I felt like, ‘Oh, I think I’m talking too much now and it’s getting old. Everyone doesn’t want to listen to me anymore». But then you wake up and realize you’re helping people.”

Hynes doesn’t know if he’ll write another book, but he says learning about his Aboriginal culture will be a lifelong process.

“When you go camping with (Indigenous) stars, you learn a lot about other people’s journeys and storytelling,” he says.

She says she still loves dancing and has plans to learn to play the didgeridoo.

“I continue my journey, I continue to learn and try to improve every year.

“I hope this book will help me grow even more.”

Stand Proud is now available.