Why footy star Nicho Hynes has teamed up with Archibald Prize winner Blak Douglas to tell his story about growing up Aboriginal

Rugby league star Nicho Hynes vividly remembers the day at school when he saw Aboriginal dancing for the first time, performed by his friend Bruce.

"Me and my mate Coop were leaving class and going to an end-of-year talent show, when we heard Bruce dancing, singing the songs and doing the clapsticks," Hynes says.

"I went over to Bruce — it was like I was drawn to him. From that day on, me and Bruce became connected. I loved every part of what he was about and how proud he was of who he is.

"I reckon it was a day that was meant to be."

Hynes's new picture book, Stand Proud — co-authored with broadcaster Marlee Silva and illustrated by Archibald Prize winner Blak Douglas — relates the tale of that day, and how Hynes went on to learn about and embrace his Aboriginal heritage.

Hynes never thought he'd write a book but he realised he had an important story to tell.

"Everyone goes on a different cultural journey to find who they are and their identity," he says.

"There are kids who maybe go through something similar and they can realise that someone like me has walked a similar path, and they can always find who they are if they want to go on the journey.

"It might be able to spark something in their belly to educate themselves a little bit more."

'Wait a minute, you've got 60,000 years of ancestry'

The 28-year-old Cronulla Sharks player and Wiradjuri man has risen to the highest heights of his sport.

He won rugby league's biggest individual honour, The Dally M Medal, in 2022.

He has played State of Origin for New South Wales and also proudly represented his culture, playing in the Koori Knockout and representing the Indigenous All Stars.

But when he was growing up on the sun-drenched Central Coast of New South Wales, he didn't know anything about his culture.

His mother had been taken away from her dad when she was young, and battled with addiction and mental health. It was only when she was in prison, when Hynes was young, that she learned about her own heritage.

When she came back home, it was the first time they had spoken about their Indigenous background.

It made Hynes proud, even if people often didn't believe he was Aboriginal because of his light skin colour.

Blak Douglas has depicted Hynes's burgeoning connection with his culture in Stand Proud with vividly coloured illustrations — including his trademark flat-bottomed clouds and oval suns — sometimes showing a growing fire in his belly.

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

"I was the same as Nicho growing up," Douglas says.

"If you didn't have to identify [as Aboriginal], you didn't. But there's something inside that says: 'Wait a minute, you've got 60,000 years of ancestry'."

Douglas's favourite scene in the book is when Hynes learns to love Aboriginal dance.

While his own efforts at learning to dance didn't go far — dancers in Arnhem Land told him he "stepped like a buffalo" — Douglas embraced the didgeridoo and found learning the instrument brought him closer to his culture.

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

"Unfortunately, for a lot of mob, there's a question of: 'Are you Aboriginal enough? Are you black enough?'," she says.

"We tend to feel like there's only one way to be an Aboriginal person, or to be from a particular background."

Silva was raised by an Indigenous father and non-Indigenous mother, who foregrounded her culture.

"I realise now, as an adult, how privileged I was to be raised with a really clear understanding of what my identity means," she says.

"I was really lucky in that because so many of my peers, even family members, grew up without that because of the Stolen Generations or many other reasons that can disconnect people from their identity and culture."

Silva hopes that children who read the book will learn that "you don't have to look a particular way" to embrace your identity and culture.

Douglas says the book's message isn't just for its young readers.

"If a kid is sitting there with Mum and Dad with the book, then those parents who might have engaged in the misdemeanour of misidentifying fair-skinned Aboriginal people will now have a better understanding."

'I'm trying to evolve every single year'

A rugby-league-mad kid, Hynes started playing at just four years old.

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

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

When he rose to prominence as a footballer, Hynes decided to talk openly about the mental health challenges he had faced.

"There are so many people out there who have gone through something similar and I wanted to let them know that they've got someone who went through it and went on to realise their dream," he says.

"When I spoke about [mental health] a fair bit, I started feeling like: 'Oh, I reckon 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 to yourself and realise 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.

"From going into camps with the [Indigenous] All-stars, you learn a lot about other people's journeys and the storytelling," he says.

He says he still loves dancing, and has plans to learn how to play the didgeridoo.

"I'm continuing my journey, still learning and trying to evolve every single year.

"Hopefully, with this book, I can continue to evolve even more."

Stand Proud is out now.