"IT should be something that's carved in stone each year."
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
That's the opinion of Kurt Hancock when it comes to the Group 10 All Stars versus Indigenous All Stars match, but it is not just having it re-instated as an annual fixture that he wants to see.
Hancock would also love the All Stars concept expanded to include more teams and possibly run over the course of an entire weekend.
"I think it's important to celebrate, not only the Indigenous players, but all the different cultures within rugby league. That's the beauty of the game, it brings people together," he said.
"It should be something that's carved in stone each year.
"When I first proposed this I said that the next step, the next transition, would be to have a Pacific Island side - or something for the Maori and the Polynesians and Papua New Guineans - something where they get to be part of that day.
"Then you can have a big day, maybe a little round-robin or make it a sevens tournament, but I think we need to be doing more in rugby league around this because we have so many different backgrounds and cultures and heritages in there.
"I think we really should be celebrating that stuff at least once a year somehow."
As Hancock indicated, he was one of the driving forces behind Group 10 adding the All Stars match to its calendar.
The first match was played in April 2016 at Cowra's Sid Kallas Oval, the Indigenous All Stars posting a commanding 52-24 win over the Group 10 All Stars.
The following year the fixture was played at Blayney in March and an inspired performance from Jeremy Gordon saw the Indigenous All Stars come from behind to post a 38-28 victory.
In 2018 it was the Group 10 who laid their hands on the trophy with a 26-24 result at Cowra in March, but that match did not receive strong support from all the clubs and it was decided to scrap the contest for 2019.
This year the All Stars concept will return and Group 10 officials will help to promote it by having a regular competition bye.
Hancock is pleased to see that and appreciates the difficulty of scheduling the fixture around club games. But he stressed that it should be done each season rather than making it a bi-annual affair.
"I just think it's a game you've got to have every year. Sometimes it's a bit hard to have it at the start of the year, some clubs are very nervous about players getting injuries," he said.
"You've got to manage when to play it, it is pretty tough to find a spot, that's why they play it at the start of the year. Whether they can squeeze it in somewhere else, well it's up to them to decide that, but it's something that you've got to have.
"Maybe they do make it a weekend where it's separate to everything else a month into the season.
"There's so much rugby league now they are trying to fit into one year, you've got pre-season comps like West Wyalong and at the same time you are trying to win a premiership in Group 10. To juggle all that around is difficult.
"It can be hard for players to jump on board as a lot of players rely on the income they get from footy, whether it's $200 through to $1,000 a game, they rely on that. So that's the other thing that makes it really hard, they don't want to risk that.
"But throw it at the players, I'm sure they would jump at it. You could ask them when they want to play it, I'm sure they'd come up with a fair idea."
While Hancock admits his coaching roles on a club and representative level mean he has not been able to devote as much energy to promoting the All Stars concept as he would have liked, he is certainly not short on ideas.
He actually went as far as saying: "For it to stick, it needs to be revamped in some way, shape or form. They really need to make a weekend of it."
READ MORE: Panthers ready to pounce in season opener
"If Group 10 and the Indigenous blokes embrace it, it's a spectacle and a good game to have on the calendar. It would be great to involve other nationalities and cultures too," he said.
"You could imagine what sort of side you could field, whether it was a New Zealand Maori side or Pacific Island side - it would be a really good day of footy. Imagine Benjamin John, Garry Reilly - guys like that.
"The ideas are endless you could have a 10s competition, you could combine Group 10 and Group 11. I don't know what they'll do, but something really needs to be done to celebrate just rugby league in general.
"You could get each different club in Group 10 to host it each different year. We know how hard it is to survive in country rugby league as far as finances go and that would give them a shot in the arm as far as money goes at the start of the year."
If the All Stars concept was something which offered a financial incentive to clubs, Hancock feels that would not only make it a more sustainable fixture, but one which could draw support similar to that seen for the maiden clash in 2016.
As for the players themselves, Hancock said there is plenty of support to grow the concept on that front.
"I know that this is probably their biggest game of the year, that's what it will be for a lot of the guys who are selected in the Indigenous side because they get to represent their culture and their heritage and their family as well," he said.
"It means a lot to them and I think it's only good for rugby league. I know the Indigenous boys want it every year.
"If you expanded it to include more teams, I'm sure the players would jump all over it, it doesn't matter who you are, if you get to play for your heritage, your culture or whether you were playing for Group 10, it would still mean a lot."
If given support from clubs and players, Hancock thinks it will be concept which local league fans flock to watch.
As a former All Stars coach he has witnessed first hand the sort of passion and flair which are on display.
"There's just something about it. When the Indigenous boys get together and play footy it's just a total different style of footy," he said.
"It's different to watch, it's not so much structured, they move the footy around, they play like they played in the park when they were kids. With rugby league the way it is today, I think a lot of that has been lost."