It all started because Connor Watson just wanted to make a difference.
It's been over six years since his cousin, Parker, took his own life at age 16. In the aftermath of the tragedy, Watson wanted to do something to help, to use his status as an NRL star as a platform for real change.
Now Watson's Boots for a Brighter Future program will form part of the NRL's Indigenous Round for the sixth straight year with some of rugby league's biggest names to don boots decorated with Indigenous artwork by 43 youths across New South Wales and Queensland.
"That was the catalyst for this organisation starting, I just wanted to make a change," Watson said.
"When you look at the statistics for mental health issues across the world it's an issue, but particularly in Indigenous cultures and particularly here in Australia in rural communities across New South Wales and Australia.
"That's why we started, when we lost him and we looked at the statistics we could see it was a really big issue and we had to do what we could to help."
The numbers are beyond confronting — suicide is the number one killer for Indigenous youths between five and 17.
Watson's program is aimed at allowing young people to express themselves and their experience through the artwork on the boots, as well as fostering links between them, their culture and community, as well as destigmatising feelings around mental health.
"That's why it's important to push that and that's what the Boots for Brighter Futures program is all about, it's about bringing awareness to the issue and assisting the prevention of it any way we can," Watson said.
"We want to improve mental health outcomes for young Indigenous people through art."
This year the artists were drawn from Belmont High School, The Entrance High School, Kirinari Youth Hostel in Newcastle and Northern Peninsula Area State College in Bamaga, North Queensland.
A score of NRL stars, from both Indigenous and non-Indigenous backgrounds, including Cameron Munster, Harry Grant, Patrick Carrigan, Payne Haas and Josh Addo-Carr, as well as every one of Watson's Roosters teammates will wear the boots this weekend before they're auctioned off to raise funds for the program.
The Roosters were presented with their boots at a training session earlier this week with the artists revealing the inspiration behind their designs.
"We're trying to create an opportunity for kids to express themselves, express their culture, be really proud and connected to who they are and we find the outcomes we get from this program, the way [they] open up and the confidence they get from this program – it's pretty cool to see," Watson said.
"One of the girls from The Entrance high school, her teacher told us she was really quiet and only close with a couple of people.
"She attended this class with all the Indigenous kids where they can all connect because they have this mutual ground, they learn more about each other and their own culture.
"So there's this bond that connects them and it helped her go from being really quiet to a lot more confident and making friends with a lot of other girls.
"She's also gotten a job and done all these other things that came from the confidence she got from expressing herself and her own story and being connected to who she is.
"That's why we do it, we want to improve these kids' lives any way we can, we want to improve their mental health and art is a great driver for that.
"The clarity that comes with it, being able to focus on something, it helps us start these conversations and the programs we rung alongside it like Boots for Brighter Futures and the mental resilience and mental health workshops."
Boots for a Brighter Future is just one of a number of initiatives run by the Cultural Choice Association, an organisation run by Watson and his family with the goal of raising awareness and support around Indigenous youth suicide.
Watson hopes to expand the boots program to further afield in rural New South Wales and Queensland and aims to continue to use his own experiences to break down barriers around mental health conversations.
"I did a presentation up at Bamaga (in far North Queensland) and having younger people speak to this can help break the stigma around mental health conversations. There's a similarity there, they can see someone they look up to but also isn't too far ahead," Watson said.
"I can speak about my experience — I'm an NRL player and some people might put that on a pedestal and think we don't have these issues but we do and being able to express that to the kids that I've struggled myself.
"I have an injury at the moment and the start of that was really tough, I struggled for a couple of weeks there and it's about how do you deal with that adversity? How do you show the resilience to come through it?"
The auctions for the boots will open on Thursday. Bids can be placed on the Cultural Choice Association website here.
