Newcastle All Blacks have been crowned men's Koori Knockout champions after downing Walgett Aboriginal Connection 22-16 in the final in Bombaderry on Yuin country Monday afternoon.
The strong 60-team men's draw quickly showed NAB and Walgett as among the teams to beat over three gruelling days of competition.
A host of current and former NRL stars took to the field in the 50th iteration of Australia's largest First Nations sports carnival after two years of COVID-19 cancellations.
The likes of former Dally M Medallist Ben Barba, Latrell Mitchell, George Rose and Ben Jones featured ran out in the men's final.
Walgett knocked out hosts and 2019 winners South Coast Black Cockatoos in the first round before moving through the packed fixture to edge out Castlereagh 28-18 in the semis.
On Monday morning NAB just made it past Nanima Common Connections 26-22 to join them in the decider.
Earlier in the afternoon Dunghutti Connexions sealed the women's trophy against a lively Newcastle Yowies side.
Dunghutti controlled the early stages, though after defending their line through a frantic second half Newcastle finally scored make it a two-point margin with just moments remaining.
A last-ditch kick and chase from deep in their own half couldn't come together.
Dunghutti ran the ball out of touch to be crowned 2022 womens champions 8-6.
In the mens, a mistake fuelled start showed signs of early nerves.
Only a forward pass denied Walgett from opening the scoring on the left hand side ten minutes in.
Tensions almost boiled over before former Dally M medallist Ben Barba crossed over for Walgett to get first points on the board inside 14 minutes.
NAB quickly levelled things with a chip kick and high grab to score on their left edge before adding a second with a penalty kick in between to lead 12-6 a half time.
Walgett failed to make the most of their chances early in the second half before, scoring one without converting and wasting a second go at the line before NAB quickly replied to push the score out to 16-10.
Another bottled running chance down the left hand side left Walgett exhausted and still trailing in the contest.
A Ben Barba mistake saw Adrian Davis barge over the Walgett line before a simple conversion blew it out to 22-10.
Walgett's Ben Jones made things interesting to bring in back within a try with 90 seconds on the clock.
A late mistake ruined any chance of a late comeback forcing extra time as NAB celebrated their second climb to the top in four years to round out the carnival.
An emotional Scott Briggs spoke of the win, saying all his side wanted to do was come to Knockout and get the win for their late pop Bill Smith, and looked forward to defending the title.
"I don't have any words, I don't know what to say honestly," Briggs said.
"We worked hard for this, and it just shows that it's paid off for us.
"I'm just so proud of the young fellas we're bringing through our foundation.
"We have to defend it, for sure."
2022 Koori Knockout winners
U13 Boys - Blacktown Red Belly Warriors 40-10 La Perouse Panthers
U15 Girls - Waterloo Storm 42-0 Gadhu Sisters
U15 Boys - La Perouse Panthers 16-12 Blacktown Red Belly Warriors
U17 Girls - Cabbage Tree Island 16-8 South Taree RLFC
U17 Boys - Blacktown Red Belly Warriors 28-10 Combined Countries
Womens - Dunghutti 8-6 Newcastle Yowies
Mens - Newcastle All Blacks 22-16 Walgett Aboriginal Connection.
