Ashley Saltner Reflects on Walkabouts, All Blacks Football and a Legacy Built Through Community

In Episode 5 of the Bindal Sharks podcast, Ashley Saltner shares the stories, people and memories behind Walkabouts and reflects on the generations who helped shape Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander rugby league in Townsville.

For Ashley Saltner, the story of Walkabouts has never been about one person, one family or even just rugby league.

It is a story of community.

Sitting down for Episode 5 of the Bindal Sharks podcast, Ashley takes us back through the early years of Walkabouts and shares his memories of a time when Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander families across Townsville and North Queensland were building connections through football.

Before mobile phones and social media made organising a team as simple as sending a message, people relied on family, friendships, community connections and word of mouth.

Those relationships became part of the foundation on which Walkabouts was built.

Once a Walkabout, always a Walkabout

Throughout the conversation, Ashley continually returns to one idea: belonging.

While maintaining a team wasn’t always easy, the people who pulled on the Walkabouts jersey became part of something that extended beyond a single carnival or football season.

“Once a Walkabout, always a Walkabout” became a message reinforced at training and carnivals — a reminder that players and their families would always have somewhere they were welcome.

That philosophy remains important to Ashley today as conversations begin around younger generations taking greater responsibility for Walkabouts.

He wants that transition to remain inclusive, ensuring other families and community members understand that Walkabouts does not belong exclusively to one family.

The next generation should be able to put their hands up, become involved and continue building on what came before them.

Community rivalries that brought people together

Some of Ashley’s strongest memories are of the community match-ups that became such an important part of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander rugby league.

Yarrabah, Palm Island, Mount Isa and communities from across Queensland brought their own players, families, supporters and football styles to carnivals.

While there were fierce rivalries on the field, Ashley remembers the respect that existed alongside them.

For him, the excitement wasn’t necessarily about watching two individual players go head-to-head. It was seeing communities meet communities.

The football was tough, instinctive and often unpredictable — the kind of raw rugby league that continues to make All Blacks carnivals unique.

A Palm Island memory that has never left

Among decades of football memories, one game on Palm Island remains particularly significant for Ashley.

He recalls travelling across for what he believes was one of Walkabouts’ early trial games, with a huge crowd gathering around the field.

The ground was packed, supporters lined the fence and spilled back towards the hill, and the game itself delivered a finish worthy of the occasion.

Ashley remembers Walkabouts winning in the dying stages, with the late Philip scoring the decisive try.

It wasn’t simply the result that stayed with him.

It was the community, the atmosphere and the feeling surrounding the game.

Decades later, it remains one of the moments that reminds Ashley why those early years meant so much.

Football creating connections beyond the field

The Walkabouts story also took the team into spaces that went well beyond conventional club football.

Ashley recalls Walkabouts playing games against police and participating in matches involving inmates — experiences he believes helped create relationships and mutual respect.

These games reflected something that runs throughout his story: rugby league could create a meeting place for people who might otherwise never have shared the same space.

Football was the vehicle, but connection was often the result.

Remembering the foundations of All Blacks football in Townsville

Ashley also shares his recollections of the emergence of All Blacks carnivals in Townsville during the late 1980s.

He remembers smaller community competitions preceding what became larger carnivals and recalls the 1989 period as particularly significant in that development.

As the carnivals grew, so did their ability to provide a platform for players.

Young Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander footballers could represent their communities, play against quality opposition and create opportunities to be noticed beyond their local competitions.

Ashley has seen that impact continue through subsequent generations, including within his own family.

Today, the Bindal Sharks All Blacks Carnival continues that tradition of bringing communities together while providing another stage for emerging players.

The Elders beside the team

While the players may have been the ones wearing the jerseys, Ashley makes it clear that Walkabouts could never be understood without recognising the Elders and families surrounding them.

Their presence mattered.

Ashley speaks about the influence of his father and other Elders who stood beside the team, offering guidance simply through being there.

For younger players, having Elders alongside them created a connection between generations and reinforced that they were representing something bigger than themselves.

That intergenerational connection remains central to what community football represents.

Recognising the women behind the carnival

The conversation also turns to the enormous contribution women have made to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander rugby league.

For every game played and every carnival remembered, there were women working behind the scenes to make it happen.

They worked the gates and canteens, organised draws, kept score, coordinated families and took responsibility for countless jobs that spectators may never have noticed.

Their contribution is part of the history too.

The growth of carnivals such as the Bindal Sharks All Blacks Carnival rests not only on the football played on the field, but on generations of aunties, mothers, grandmothers, sisters and community members whose work helped hold everything together.

Culture carried into the next generation

Culture is another thread woven throughout Ashley’s story.

He reflects on his family’s involvement in cultural practices connected with the Bindal Sharks All Blacks Carnival and acknowledges the importance of respecting Bindal people and Country.

Today, that cultural connection can be seen continuing through younger generations — in community, through rugby league and on national stages.

For Ashley, seeing young people remain grounded in culture while pursuing football is part of the legacy created by the generations who came before them.

Passing the baton

Now, the conversation is beginning to turn towards what happens next.

Ashley speaks about younger family members and community members stepping forward and taking responsibility for Walkabouts.

His message to them is simple: keep the door open.

Walkabouts should remain somewhere people know they can belong.

That idea perhaps best captures the story Ashley shares throughout Episode 5.

Teams change. Players grow older. Carnivals become bigger. New generations take their place.

But the values underneath them can remain.

Family. Respect. Culture. Community. Belonging.

And, as Ashley says, once a Walkabout, always a Walkabout.

Watch Episode 5 of the Bindal Sharks podcast with Ashley Saltner to hear the full conversation and the stories behind an important chapter of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander rugby league in Townsville.