Maori edge hard-fought All Stars clash over Indigenous

[Pelican Press 0]

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Maori edge hard-fought All Stars clash over Indigenous

The Maori have claimed an attritional and gutsy 10-6 All Stars rugby league win over the Indigenous.

In the lowest-scoring game since the inception of the All Stars match in 2010, tries from Jacob Laban and Jesse Arthars cancelled out Shaquai Mitchell’s four-pointer.

Arthars was the winner of the Preston Campbell medal as the best player of Saturday’s game at Commbank Stadium.

Cronulla playmaker Niwhai Puru had the chance to win it for the Indigenous at the death but he dropped the ball as he attempted to ground it.

It meant the Maoris were able to hang on and avoid a third-straight loss in the annual pre-season match.

The low-scoring affair was not aided by the absences of several key stars of both cultures, chief among them Latrell Mitchell and Jahrome Hughes.

A slippery surface which led to several players falling to the turf in front of a 21,328-strong crowd did not help the coherence of either attack on a humid night in Sydney’s west.

The Indigenous went closest to crossing in the first half.

Maori fullback Kalyn Ponga made an incredible last-ditch tackle on Tyrone Munro to prevent him from touching down on the right wing.

Josh Curran also had a try chalked off after Indigenous fullback Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow was deemed to have impeded Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad.

It meant that the scoreline after 40 minutes read 0-0.

But any fears that the All Stars clash would end with a 1-0 scoreline as Super League’s season opener did two days earlier, quickly disappeared when Mitchell burst over.

The front-rower was able to spin and bounce off the Maori defence before reaching out to dot the ball down right on the tryline in the 41st minute.

Puru added the conversion for the Indigenous side, who were unable to hammer home their advantage with Tabuai-Fidow having a try ruled out.

Eventually the Maori hit back with Brisbane winger Arthars steaming down the right flank to go over but Mawene Hiroti could not tie the game up from the tee.

Hiroti nearly made amends after scooping up a loose ball and racing 60m downfield but unfortunately for the Cronulla man, Brent Naden was in hot pursuit and was able to run him down.

Hiroti’s shortcomings were eventually cancelled out when a Zach Dockar-Clay bomb was picked off by Laban, who touched down to give the Maori a 10-6 lead with 12 minutes left.

Naden and Puru both went close to snatching a win for the Indigenous but the Maori defence was faultless at the death.

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