Nothing remains of the 2025 Koori Knockout in Tamworth save the memories of it.

And perhaps the most profound memory is of the Newcastle Yowies celebrating their win over the Bourke Warriors in the men's final. Unmoored from any semblance of restraint, it was a spectacular outpouring of emotion.

Among the heaving mass of bodies and the tears of joy stood a tall, athletic figure with a high-calibre and varied CV and a golden boot still aglow.

In Kyle Laybutt - whose NRL career was restricted to two NRL games for the Cowboys but who went on to captain the Papua New Guinea Kumuls (PNG) and play for the Indigenous All Stars - the Yowies had a debutant and a hero.

For it was the five-eighth's 78th-minute, long-range field goal that secured them a 25-24 win over the Warriors in an absorbin

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