Meet Aurora Mentor Daniel Long

Daniel Long is a Kamillaroi man from Parramatta who joined Aurora’s Mentors Program in 2025. With a background in technology and business, Daniel founded TBC Live, an app aimed at redefining the NRL fan experience to enrich the way fans interact with the sport they love. He is also a professional NRL podcaster on The Casual Athlete and freelances as an official NRL Fantasy Analyst.

Daniel was driven to become an Aurora Mentor because of the opportunity it presented to share his own experiences and support the next generation of Indigenous young people participating in the Aurora High School Program (HSP):

“[My most valuable experience as a Mentor so far has been] Helping to build the confidence of kids and finding out what they want to do in life and explaining uni pathways. I want to teach kids the things I wish I knew at their age and empower them to be themselves.”

To Daniel, the value of the HSP lies in the way it connects Indigenous students with Indigenous role models:

“If you see it, you can do it. It’s easy to be intimidated by the world. There’s a lot of negativity, so a positive voice is good!”

Daniel’s personal definitions of success and leadership are connected to this belief. He defines success for himself through three things: enjoyment, achievement, and giving back. Leadership, to Daniel, is defined as “Being someone who’s presence empowers others to be their best, most authentic selves, who pushes things in the right direction, but doesn’t dominate others.”

Even though he has only joined two camps as an Aurora Mentor so far, Daniel says that:

“These kids have the potential to do anything. Aurora’s programs unlock this potential, improving the lives of Indigenous people and Australian society on a whole.”