Culture ‘way more important’ as All Stars ends in draw

Jasper Bruce |

Both teams shared the spoils as the Indigenous and Maori all stars played a 16-16 draw in Hamilton.
Both teams shared the spoils as the Indigenous and Maori all stars played a 16-16 draw in Hamilton.

Indigenous halfback Nicho Hynes says it’s more important to celebrate culture than for there to have a been a winner of the All Stars clash that ended in a 16-16 draw with the Maori side.

With halfback Te Maire Martin off the park nursing an ankle injury, Maori hooker Zach Dockar-Clay had the ball in his hands to take a game-winning shot at field goal from 30 metres out on Sunday.

But as the final seconds ticked down, Indigenous forward Brent Woolf, who has never played an NRL game, charged the ball down to salvage a draw for the Indigenous side in Hamilton, New Zealand.

It was the second time the annual clash has ended in a draw along with the 2021 edition, with the trophy staying with holders the Maori All Stars.

On the one hand, Hynes wanted extra time to be introduced to the annual clash, but on the other, he felt the draw was the perfect result.

“We all want to win,” the Sharks playmaker said.

“But on the flip-side, if you take the emotion away from it right now, once we sit down and come down from that high energy and the adrenaline, you look back on it and two proud cultures are walking away winners. 

“I never thought I’d hear myself say I’d be happy with a draw because I always want to win, but culture is the winner at the end of the day. That’s way more important.”

Cronulla five-eighth Braydon Trindall was the key man for the Indigenous side and thought he had put Jayden Campbell over for the game-winning try in the final 10 minutes.

Trindall stepped inside the defence on the 40-metre line then chipped over the top for Campbell, but replays showed the Gold Coast ace knocked on as he regathered possession.

Moments later Trindall was denied the chance at any other game-winning play, forced off for a head injury assessment following a collision with Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad in the lead-up to Campbell’s would-be try.

Earlier, Trindall dummied left to fool Preston Riki before sending hooker Connor Watson over with a basketball-style chest pass.

Dallin Watene Zelezniak.
The Warriors’ Dallin Watene Zelezniak was among the try scorers for the Maori side. (Dj Mills/AAP PHOTOS)

Trindall had the Indigenous side in the lead after the main break with a grubber kick for Josh Addo-Carr, who flattened Keano Kini en route to the tryline.

Penrith utility Trent Toelau dived over from dummy half at close range to level the scores at 16 apiece with a little less than 30 minutes to play.

Usually a prop for the Warriors, Maori captain James Fisher-Harris put in a huge shift at lock and had extra ball-playing responsibilities when halfback Martin went down.

Josh Addo-Carr.
Despite Josh Addo-Carr’s try-scoring celebrations the draw meant the Maori side retained the trophy. (Dj Mills/AAP PHOTOS)

The Warriors’ back-up playmaker hurt his ankle falling awkwardly in an attempted tackle on Addo-Carr and left the field.

Maori second-rower Briton Nikora risks missing the start of Cronulla’s season after being placed on report for a hip-drop tackle on Oliver Pascoe.

Nikora has a record, with a grade-two careless high tackle charge from round 23 the worst of five offences last season.

In unusual scenes, referee Adam Gee was replaced by Belinda Sharpe at three-quarter time after reporting hamstring tightness.

AAP