The Maori have claimed an attritional and gutsy 10-6 All Stars rugby league win over the Indigenous in the men’s clash, hours after the Indigenous women had pulled off a thrilling late win of their own.
In the lowest-scoring men’s 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 in Sydney.
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.
Meanwhile, in the first match of the day, Lailani Montgomery’s last-gasp penalty saw the Indigenous defeat the Maori 20-18.
Montgomery was awarded a shot from right under the sticks after the playmaker’s legs were taken out while attempting a field goal just a minute earlier.
Maori five-eighth Ash Quinlan was the guilty party and replays showed she made glancing contact with Montgomery’s planted legs.
Bunker official Matt Noyen awarded a penalty for the Indigenous and Montgomery nudged the ball through the sticks to seal the win.
The loud Maori contingent which formed part of the 14,279 crowd at CommBank Stadium on Saturday made their feelings known as the Indigenous team celebrated.
Their victory was the first time a team had won back-to-back games in the women’s All Stars since its inception in 2019.
AAP