Blakfella's Are Built For Survivor

Welcome to First things first, I'm brook Blert and my pronounce are she and huh.

I'm Maddie Meals. My pronouns are he and him. And before we get started, I'd like to acknowledge the custodians of the land on which we record, and for me it's the Gaddigal people of the eur.

Nation and for me it's a roundering people of the cooler nations. Let let's get into Well, we've got a special guest on today we do love like he's a huge Beyonce Disney Child's man. How's we've got Kobe Bentley in studio today?

Mob?

Yes, who's your mob? Where you're from?

Yamaji from Western Australia. I grew up in a cracking country. It's renowned as cracking country in Mount Barker Country.

Girl throw cracker country. Okay? Is this because there's a lot of white people?

That's funny?

No, so not about when the Cracker brothers that Yeah yeah, yeah yeah, I get canceled.

You can change it.

So if you don't know Kirby, which baffles me because I grew up having you. Majority of my life from when I was a little girl came from Canarvin moved to Perth. She's an afl W footballer or was is still playing? Right?

Oh?

God no, truly retired? Yeah, commentating at the moment, but yeah, yeah, we didn't talk.

About that, Brooks aage in twenty years you're still playing, right, I'm still playing.

I don't know. Do you sometimes feel like that as well? I guess when you watch games you're like, am I still yeah? Still playing? Mentally like what the fuck they're doing?

No?

But you were also on Survivor. I mean tell the people. I guess your progression of where where you're from obviously, but then also what you've done, because you've done a lot girl.

Yeah, yeah, so being a country girl. We grew up in white Australia, Black Australia. There were no other ethnicities, so for me, the American accent was just the movies. Like, I was pretty naive, right, So I grew up around racism. I started to hear it and experience it from both sides too, like, and it's uncomfortable because you start to think about who am I and where do I sort of sit with that? And I was very lucky that both parents are Aboriginal. Both the New Ya yamage and

So grateful for that.

But my fast track journey I started playing National League netball. I played netball when I was fourteen, made my first state team when I was fourteen in State Under seventeens, and then ended up making my National League netball team Perthoreols which is now West Coast Fever when I was sixteen. So I was year eleven twelve doing that all Australian throughout my entire netball career. And then two thousand and nine my mum sister taken from US domestic violence and

Most sides as well. Yeah, so I was pretty lucky.

Yeah, Kobe is a humble queen, but she doesn't realize how much of an impact she has had in AFL. I had played in this club called the Kobe Bentley Club, which a lot of the young Indigenous girls come through, and that's where sort of their footy careers first kind of like they get to play a part of a

I appreciate that, and I obviously I didn't know that. That's the impact that I have and had on people, because I want our women and our young girls to be who whoever they want to be, and I'm comfortable with who I am. Like I will always call somebody out or ask a question that is uncomfortable, that sounds silly, especially at training. I'd be like, oh, what do you mean when you're saying this, Like, even if I know the answer, I know that somebody doesn't.

And I don't want to be you know.

That know it all, but I need to empower others to be able to be in that place. But I am grateful that I have had that sort of impact on you and you're doing that now and I love that. And I love seeing our queens and our kings like drive those changes because that is all of Hawa.

I am.

Yeah, So I love that. I appreciate that.

Can I ask you, like, when you get to a certain level, you're obviously at the top level of your field. You know, like, if you've ticked it all off, does it feel like you think it's going to feel? Because for me, I feel like even the little things that I've achieved in my career and their success, I feel like it never feels how you think it's going to feel.

Is that the same for you?

What I've found in both netball and football, even if I was actually the best player, I was always brought down a notch for some reason and I wasn't sort of the accolades sort of didn't meet where I was at. And that's fine, that's so cool. But I've started to realize that not everyone wants you to excel. And I played the game because I love it. I played both games because I love it. And I always talk about walking in three worlds. So we live in the white world,

I would say one Kirby is one of the most elite afl W players, Like she played in all of these state matches, the exhibition when AFLW didn't even fucking exist, and she was the one that drove the comp And that's a lot to carry on your back, by the way, that's a lot, Like that is massive. Like Kirby's name was getting thrown out here, there and everywhere when I was younger, and it's only ever and it's still like,

Yeah, yeah, And that's that's what I love about our sport, like we are creative, we are talented, we actually work hard, but because we make things look effortless, that the stereotypical like opinion of us is that it's just natural that.

We don't work hard for it.

Like a lot of.

The work that I did was behind the scenes, Like I worked my ass off to be the most skillful player, and I was clean and everything that I did was perfected.

They literally say Kirby magic, black magic.

But it was.

It was so fun and that's what our girls do, and that's what I love. That's what I love with the Cob Bentley cuff. And I really don't understand why the AFL and the afl W and even Eagles and Fremantle don't go down and scout talent. I don't understand why they don't do that, because yes, the Irish girls, you know, they come and they bring something else.

But our girl, this is our game, like we're to play group.

Yeah, that's what AFL came from. Mark, do your work, do your history. It's not Gaelic yet.

I want to ask you because you said you know, you're not afraid to speak up, and you're somebody who will you know who educate, you know, and not in a way that's like I know everything, but maybe ask someone a question to explain something. Was that always your approach, even when you were younger starting out in the game. Were you always someone who would you know share you know that that side of yourself or was it pressure to keep that sort of under wraps.

I think as I've gotten older, and they might sound a little bit manipulative, which sort of ties into maybe survivor. But I always stay true to who I am and the way I've worked in male dominated industries. I have a shot firing background, I worked in mining seven years, came across the construction so I've been surrounded by men. But I need them to feel like they're in control all the time. And the way that I would do that is I love what you do. You're amazing at

Yeah, let's let's go across the Survivor now that you've sort of placed us in that manipulative headspace.

But it's you know what, it's powerful.

It's a strategy that you know that you've used to obviously get to where you're at, and you've obviously tested the waters and it works.

But in terms.

Of Survivor versus A in that corporate space of white men CEOs.

What was harder?

Like playing the system of AFL or playing the players of Survivor.

Well, at least in Survivor, you sort of know what you're getting, so you're sort of expecting it, so we're all you know, that is very different ball game. But the world of AFL is political and the decisions are made. It's not it's who you know in that space. So it doesn't matter how good your ideas are and what that looks like, or how good even you are. If somebody else is putting somebody else's name for it and they've got a contact in there, like it just it

I spoke to someone yesterday about the AFL and they described it as like basically an old wooden ship, that it's stiff, it takes a lot of moving parts to get it going, and.

That kind of blood could take.

And then you know, we're talking about the sport they're involved in, which is like the NBL, where it's like a jet skis like zip zips it. We're doing things fast, fast, fast. I would love for the AFL to be like a jet ski per se to get shit done. And I think, but I know in a world because how long it's been going for that it is like a wooden old ship.

Oh do you.

Feel the same, Like like you look at the silly Sunday or whatever they did the.

Other day, like mad Monday, the bad Monday.

Right, So if we're if we're looking at respecting of women, inclusion, all of that, we've got sisters and brothers, the same amount of teams playing in this, and then we've got our brothers dressing up as a convicted rapist and taking this blow up toy to a bad Monday. That why do you think the bowls expects volumes to the disrespect and the culture that we're allowing in the AFL.

Exactly.

I think if anyone disrespects women or has any sort of charges or any anything towards derogatory, their contract should be terminated.

And they shouldn't play again.

They shouldn't play again.

Not they should never be paid to play at that level, because what it does is allows it to be accepted and allows our young boys and young girls to say, well, they can do it.

They're a role model.

They're still playing and they're still getting paid to do this, and their female teammates are expected to just accept it and to sort of keep tight lipped. And I know how the AFL club sort of work. They don't want that negative media. At the same time, don't disrespect your female teammates, Like, don't be that.

Who allowed that? That's the thing. And also why is a coach not like stepping up and being like bro, that's not it that a leaders you would never you would never. But anyways, talking about survival.

Go back to I just want to say something. I think that in the culture of football, you look at when it comes to First Nations discrimination and racism, it takes a few people from the boys club to speak up and say that we're not going to accept this, you know. And I think that the men need to take accountability and if their teammates are doing this these fucked up things, they need to step up and they need to say mate like and speak out against them.

They should be fined. They should be fined a lot of that. They should be on probation, they shouldn't be allowed to play.

And they should apologize and they should apologize.

And they also that money that they get fined that should be going back into programs that are fighting.

You know. So where are the brothers like stand up if you see something, say something. I know it's like putting it a neck out on the line, but it's about creating change.

And if you know, if the people, the powers that be aren't going to do it. You're going to have to do it as teammates, like exactly, they need to stand up surely.

Well, speaking of cowards, let's go to Survivors.

Back to Survivor. But you know we're talking about this stuff and there's there's also a hint of like politics in it, right, and you would never think, like AFL sport, Why why does it have to be political, Like you know, we're playing a sport, but because like that level, yes, it does get a lot of money, a lot of sponsorship, a lot of politics. But innately as well, I feel like as blackfellows, we talk about this a lot. We are political. We do you know, we have to be

The game is really organic, like it's it's not produced.

Yeah.

Yeah, So we go out and we play and we literally what you see is what you get it.

So there's no producer saying to you should do this.

No, wow, No, I love that because it allows you to be creative to know people and work people. And that's the whole reason why I sort of applied because I was at a stage in my life where I'd gone through a breakup.

I had fallen into a bit of depression.

So it's not just from the breakup, but being over here, being by myself as.

Well, away from home, way from country.

Yeah, yeah, and I just I just felt really alone and I started to get out of that. And then once I applied, I actually didn't. I've never watched it. I've only ever watched our season.

See, so I had heard.

I've been watching every country and how.

These motherfuckers get through this, I don't know.

I wouldn't be good because I can't hold a lie in. You know, I don't lie it.

So the way that I did it was I would tell someone I was working with, Say I was working with brook for exams. Well, I'm like, oh, you tell Ferris or you tell Rachel that we're actually gonna write this person's I'm done.

But that's a lie.

So then I would get Brooks tell on how she would lie, So when she would lie to me, I would see what she's doing, so I would just avoid that. Okay, that's so good someone how brook lies, which is which is what I'm looking for?

How do I I think I find like I can't really lie, but if I am lying to protect someone, I will. I can.

It's very different.

It is very different. If it's to protect someone else and it's to take care of them because I care about them, I can do it. But if it's to lie because I'm protecting myself, Fuck, I'm done. Like oh, it's like like you know, it's it's a bit uncomfortable. But I've also I feel like it's such a survival thing too, like me like not to use the fun you know. I feel like in my younger years in high school sometimes I had to lie, you know. I had to lie to the department to protect my mom.

And that happens to school saying they're like, what does your dad do? My dad didn't work, you know, a stick picker on the farm. And I was like, he's a detective.

Oh my god, yeah, and you'd ted to yeah, we talked about this and he got.

Caught when he came to school and they were like, your dad's really a detective.

I was like yes on the cover, so good.

Okay, so you've just gone to worlds, so you've just come back. How do you also? Can I ask a dumb question? No question is a dumb question.

What do you need?

Like I've been asked to a survivor, but I have also rejected it many times because I just don't think that I could starve myself.

Well, technically you don't starve yourself, and that would never let that happen, right, perfect, But they give you a raising, they give you enough Russians.

For to feed your tribe. So there's fourteen on a tribe.

There's rice and there's beans, and our first three days it rained, we had no shelter, which meant that we're wet. There was no wood to light fires, which means we didn't eat. So you can't cook food with wet wood, right, So it's on you whether you cook it, whether you eat it, whether you don't. And there's coconuts like you can eat. You're obviously really hungry, and you smell so bad.

Not today you smell.

So there's no light coming in with the quick fix and the producers going, we've got a little gas.

Stoutely, no rude no, so whatever.

So we're shaving. Can you shave?

No, you can't brush your teeth. You can't shave. There's no soap. If you lose your clothes, you lose your clothes.

That's all you have made.

Won't last.

So we take we take seven items or nine items, and if you lose them, like one of our contestants throw another contestants close out.

That's all she had, so she.

Was missing strategic I don't know if they liked each other that much. Oh so yeah, she ended up throwing it out and Kelly Jo names, I can't find my clothes anywhere, and I think someone's throwing them out. I was like, I think someone's throwing them out as well. And we're freezing out als off too. So she's standing in like her baby bottoms and Raymond's T shirt. So that's all the clothes. So once they're gone, they don't get replaced. Nothing gets replaced. I burned socks by accident.

Yeah.

In terms of the crew, so bird's eye view, there's a camp and then is there like producers and TV directors and everyone around set.

You know, there's there's a camera with a producer like obviously, because that's how they catch us, catch the filming, and we're not at a talk without that a camera. Otherwise the game isn't played right because they don't get to pick up on any conversations that might have been had that results in somebody leaving for example.

Yea, so no camera, no talking.

How many cameras too, Oh, it could be up to like six seven, quite a few, yeah, getting every one's conversations.

Yeah, and yeah.

In terms of the idols, are they like strategically placed and you can see them putting them there?

Or no?

Absolutely not because I'm a tracker and I could not find one.

I looked and I needed one. I needed five of them.

Yeah, but yeah, I couldn't find them anyway to save myself.

So wow, I was just.

Relying on my gameplay and my manipulation. Yeah, and people like.

Went you went far, like you went top five? Yeah, and then who got you out?

I was very lucky.

I managed to play big and be able to step back, and people wanted to, you know, play their game as well, So I sort of moved in ebbs and flows with that, and then eventually I got to a tribal council. I don't know if you watched it, Maddie, but Alex started to just be like Kirby's the biggest player, and I was like, shut your mouth, Alex, you need to keep your lips tight like what I were doing.

Yeah I wish, I wish I could, but no.

Yeah, so he just threw me under the table completely, and then from then they just wanted me gone. So I was relying on winning necklaces and yes, staying on

Would hang down and then yeah, wow, worlds, Yeah, in terms of worlds, what can.

You tell us?

What can you anything different about the game? I mean it's Survivor people from all over the world, right.

Yeah, it is.

It's World Survivor seven Australian seven World players and it was fast play, it was filmed. The entire game was sixteen days and it was hectic. It was so much fun.

Sixteen days yeah, two weeks just yeah.

It's amazing.

So Queen Kirby and King George, how did they go?

Yeah, because you guys were a big rather well no, no, so King George actually helped Ferris like sort of mentor mentored him prior to going out.

They're not like I didn't know anyone when I went. My sole goal was not to get voted off first.

That was it.

Yeah, the Black Fellows always do like Black Fellows die first. If I ever done a reality TV show in my contract will be not the first step.

You're gonna have to play well. I will have to go out there with bloodsbee water or something.

Oh my life.

I would love to, but I would also just be hilarious, Like I feel like when I mean hilarious, like they'd be like, oh, this black volition, now to survive and can I get a towel?

Yeah, Blankett the hair dry.

That's crazy. I mean I really want to do it. I feel like I will like take a bit of Kirby mentality into that game. I'll be like, Okay, I'm here surviving. Literally, I've been surviving for sixty thousand blush the.

Big spill at the end, I mean sixty thousand plus years were.

Running through my veins.

Well, that's what I.

Shrinking my country, my land.

I want to do it. I feel like I will in my career. I feel like eventually been dancing with the stars. Maybe justaking.

Are built for survived, we are resilient the things that we deal with on a day to day basis like, yeah, we're built for it.

Yeah, and you would know you've copped it like you Yeah, I mean I don't know to the full extent, but the fact that you, well, one, you're in father, you went to Worlds. You one of the most elite afl W players, you coached. You also have a business as well. What's your business called again.

It's called Jokin meaning sisters. It's a hybrid generator dry higher. So obviously, yeah, we want to protect the land in the country. So we're going down that environmental generators.

My land, my country.

Yeah, my girl, my sustainability.

I mean, and all of those you know, spaces and you said you worked in mining, I know because I actually lived with Kirby's sister and it was her ex's house.

Yeah, I got shifted, we.

Got kicked out. I'm in I mean, but yeah, they just they used to do five phone and I used to live in the house by by myself for two weeks and then they'd come back, and then you know, it was like and then that's the thing, Like our

But you are right.

We are fucking resilient. And I think survivors Black Fellows were built for survival, Like should it should be our game? And I think more Black fellows need to do it, Like I think it's so sick to see like like I was like, imagine mob against mob, you know, like the Drives.

It should be all blacks versus all stars.

That's good. Yeah, But I was like I'm here because Kirby was here.

Basically what it was like in this in Australia, so segregation.

Mixed tribes because I couldn't. I don't think I could vote.

I know that's the hardest me for some reason.

Anyways, what do you what are you up to now? Like, obviously business as usual worlds will come out in.

So I think Season ten will come out normal time. I think fed slot and then there's another show and then nothing is ours. We haven't, nothing's been confirmed with it, but the world to be able to go on a World Survivor being the only black fella, I wore an Aboriginal flag jumper like front and center every tribal council. I was so proud to be representing our people in a tribe like that and like and I love that

But yeah, just to be able to do that is powerful.

But stepping away from that and the opportunity is that I hope come from that and creating conversation is really important to me. Doing it when no one's looking, that's invaluable, and that's where it's powerful because we don't need an audience. We just need people to buy in and listen and listen respectfully.

And then want to follow that work as well. Yeah, right, like want to like want to want to make that change. But it does suck that we have to get that buy in, Like it's like, oh fox sake, but.

We know that don't really do. That's why we have these just keep going.

You know, we're on the tracks. We're still going like either or or off. Like you know that's how I kind of jump because we'll leave you like jump, There's fine anyway, it's like screw you. But like I think the same thing, Like, but I guess I feel the

But it starts like and I remember seeing on The Bachelor that made me so proud. And what I love is that you present and you represent and you hold yourself so well. And I need my nieces and nephews to see what they can be because we don't see

Know who that woman is. She's because she's a powerhouse.

And yeah, that's another reason why I sort of wanted to go on it, because I wanted to shift the narrative on a lot of things. But I work for JIRA, which is Aboriginal Women, domestic Violence and child Protection, and obviously it's a really difficult space to be in. But seventy to seventy five percent of the offenders are white men. But people don't know that. They think it's just a cultural thing, and that's not culture.

That's fine.

Yeah, So being able to have these conversations and to be able to put it on the table is invaluable. But it's just the willingness to hear it or to listen or to be engaged in the conversation.

Yeah, Like, I.

Can't wait to see you on Like the Worlds. I feel like I also know that you're The conversation that you have on that show are going to be you know, great for the rest of the population to tune into.

So oh I can't wait.

Yeah, wait deadly hopefully hopefully I've done our people proud.

Yeah, it'd be no doubt.

It'd be controversial because I am wearing the flag and not every jarling is going to buy into that. And you know, I'm there to play for shat and I'm the core of as a black woman exactly.

Make well, thank you so much for coming on.

Thank you both.

Always such a pleasure.

I likely I love these conversations.

And black follows get to laugh together. Black joy is like so healing.

Yes in the company, Yeah yes.

Thank you so much for listening, guys, and I hope you enjoyed this episode. If you want to go check it out, let us know. We'll put Jira Kirby's business in the resource notes. And if you want us to cover anything up pond reach out by our socials.

Brooks Handle is at Cooked Up, Blurting Minds is at its Matty Meals, and Kirby's.

Is at Kirby Bentley.

Hey at Kirby Bentley.

Thanks so much Kirby for being with us today. Thank