CLANCY OVERELL | Editor | CONTACT
The NRL’s biggest names gathered at the Royal Randwick Racecourse in Sydney overnight for the 2023 Dally M Awards.
Both the NRL and NRLW stars arrived in style ahead of the annual sporting ceremony, and hit the red carpet to show off their clobber.
As the cameras flashed, the long-suffering NRL wags were treated to a taste of the celebrity they’d hoped to be marrying into when they fired off that first DM.
And as the most multicultural domestic sporting code in Australia, there were some breathtaking displays of traditional attire on ‘rugby league’s night of nights’.
From Polynesian patterns to the Indigenous flag colours, to the tailored Arabic textiles of the game’s Middle Eastern players.
However, there was one footy star that decided to showcase the proud culture of his Gold Coast Titans fans,
Born and raised in Gympie, Queensland – Tino ‘Big Country’ Fa’asuamaleaui has previously opted for a more ‘Muster’ theme at the NRL awards ceremonies.
In his 2019 debut season, the rural uce made headlines for his stunning denim-on-denim ‘Gympie dinner suit’ – before gradually adopting a more metropolitan fashion sense.
However, this season after nearly three years playing on the Gold Coast – the Queensland and Australian rep star has well and truly adopted the ‘White Shoe Brigade’ uniform.
Fa’asuamaleaui wowed journalists and fellow players alike with his 1980s-style white and burgundy linen ensemble, channeling the iconic Cuban-American gangster movie Scarface.
Speaking to The Betoota Advocate from the red carpet, the 23-year-old says his new look is symbolic of the Gold Coast Titans efforts to foster a winning culture.
“First you get the linen” he told our reporters.
“Then when you’ve got the linen, you get the fans”
“Then when you’ve got the fans, you get the trophy”
When asked if he thought his club had a chance of making a grand final appearance in 2024, the Titans captain nodded – as a haunting but mellow scream of a Roland Jupiter-8 syntheziser grew louder in the background.
“I want the world, chico, and everything in it”
