Indigenous All Stars coach Will Ingram says Sunday’s All Stars clash at Cowra is great way to celebrate Aboriginal culture in the area, but it’s also a nice mark of respect to Group 10’s past players, too.
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Ingram said his side, which is headlined by last year’s Terry Brown medal winner Jeremy Gordon, will run out on to Sid Kallas Oval confident of victory in the now annual pre-season clash.
And they’ll do so with the great Indigenous players of the past firmly in the back of their minds.
Most of which, Ingram hopes, will be on hand to watch the current day players “put on a show”.
“I’ve been thinking about it, this game is not just for us and the ones that come in the future, it’s for the people and players of the past, those that didn’t have this opportunity,” Ingram said.
“We’ve got to show that respect. Imagine the blokes that were playing 20 years ago ... imagine them in this. That would have been a good show.”
Beginning in 2016, the Indigenous boys have won both installments of the Group 10 All Stars fixture.
The first, a 52-24 thumping at Cowra was followed by a 38-28 come-from-behind victory at Blayney last season.
The likes of Ingram and Gordon, along with new St Pat’s half Josh Merritt, Cowra skipper Josh Rainbow and Lithgow hardman Corey Willmott will be charged with ensuring the Indigenous outfit continues its unbeaten run in the All Stars.
Group 10 coach Luke Branighan has named a strong 17-man side, though, with former Group 11 player of the year Sam Dwyer, having linked with Bathurst St Pat’s, at fullback and CYMS’ grand final hero Tom Satterthwaite on one wing.
Returning Mudgee wrecking ball Jack Afamasaga has been named on the bench.
“They look like they’re going to really give it to us,” Ingram laughed.
“There’s no weaknesses, but we’ll stick to our guns.
“There’s always a bit of pressure in games like these, but it only impacts on you if you buy into it.
“We don’t have to do anything fancy, when we want it to come it’ll spark up inside us and it’ll come off the back of that and snowball from there. We just have to wait for our opportunity.”
Sunday’s festivities kick-off at with Group 10 under 18s league tag fixtures from 10am.
The welcome to country will be at 2.15pm before the teams are introduced and a smoking ceremony will take place at 2.30pm.
Kick-off for the All Stars clash is scheduled for 3pm.
- INDIGENOUS ALL STARS: 1 Jeremy Gordon, 2 Desi Doolan, 3 Josh Rainbow, 4 Blake Lawson, 5 Chris Kirby, 6 Josh Merritt, 7 Joey Bugg, 8 William Ingram, 9 Jordan Dwyer, 10 Lochlin Piper, 11 Corey Willmot, 12 Andy Adams, 13 Ben Gunn; Bench: 14 Wayne Collett, 15 RJ Smith, 16 Caleb Wardman, 17 Tom Gunn.
- GROUP 10 ALL STARS: 1 Sam Dwyer, 2 Tom Satterthwaite, 3 Abel Lefaoseu, 4 Jackson Brien, 5 Lachie Munro, 6 Luke Branighan, 7 Doug Hewitt, 8 Jake Dawe, 9 Ben Thompson, 10 Greg Behan, 11 Tui Oloapu, 12 Nick Millar, 13 Jake Betts; Bench: 14 Dave Sellers, 15 Cam Jones, 16 Luke Petrie, 17 Jack Afamasaga.
Nick McGrath
Editor, Central Western Daily
Editor, Central Western Daily
