FULLTIME Ben Barba is man of the match as the Indigenous All Stars pummel the NRL All Stars to the tune of 32-6. Barba scored three tries, Robinson scored three tries, while Hayne was the lone scorer for the NRL team.
Barba has some ice on the hamstring but we hear it's very minor. That aside, all of the players looked to come through unscathed so good news for all of your respective clubs.
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Hold on... Mason on Thurston and the Cowboys hero is in a bit of strife. He's coming off but looks fine. Cowboys fans, breathe, breathe, breathe. Reece Robinson just scored his third TRY while all that was happening. Cop that Barba. It's 32-6. Quite the hiding in the end.
Crowd is a tick over 41,000, which is a great result obviously. Not sure where this match will be held next year but would like to see it go out to one of the regions perhaps, or maybe they could sell it to Melbourne, which seems to be the done thing with the NRL these days. Less than five minutes to go now.
The wave is happening = the crowd is bored. It's 28-6.
This one is all over. Reece Robinson gets his second try and the Indigenous All Stars are well in command with a 26-6 leead. I can remember when the most interesting thing about Reece Robinson was that he was related to Anthony Mundine. He's become a handy player for the Raiders. Prince from the sideline... count it. That's 28-6.
That will do! It's not quite a stink but Willie Mason and Andrew Fifita certainly gave each other a stern talking to after that tackle. And boy did they look a bit grumpy. Out comes the STINK icon for the first time this season.
Only 15 minutes now for the NRL All Stars to make a move and they remain pinned down their own end. They haven't looked anywhere near as fluent as the Indigenous side tonight, who have been piloted superbly by Prince and Thurston with Barba icing the cakes.
We need way, way more flick passes in this quarter. Just the one for the match. I think we see that sort of quota in your average NRL match (excluding St George Illawarra). It's 22-6 to the Indigenous side.
TV viewers - has this game been a bit dull or has my brain been fried by covering the madness that was the Sonny Bill Williams fight until about 2am last night? The final quarter has started. The NRL side trails 22-6.
Who would be the fastest man in league these days? On the evidence of that intercept, I think we can safely scratch Benji Marshall.
Cameron Smith tries the little chip-and-chase near the line. To be fair, razzle-dazzle isn't really his 'thing' and it ends in tears. That's the end of the third quarter. The Indigenous All Stars lead 22-6 and Ben Barba is stuck on three tries. A disappointing night for him, I think we all agree.
The score remains 22-6, for our readers on mobile. There's two minutes left in the third quarter. It's being played in quarters because of the heat I've been told, although it hasn't been very hot by Brisbane standards. Come on lads.
Just going back to the Fastest Man in League, to make it a fair contest Oudenryn should have raced in his shoulder pads. Boy he got off the line quickly. What a player he was. Back at Suncorp, the Indigenous side wins a penalty a few metres out and could score again.
But Benji gets the intercept! And almost the entire Indigenous team catch him after about 40m. Man, back in 2005.....
The injury update tonight is there are no injuries, thus far. And that's good news for all of the fans. I'm still wondering how this concept deals with a serious injury to one of the superstar players but we'll cross that bridge if we come to it, which is hopefully never. It's 22-6, Indigenous All Stars marching again.
Thurston missed that kick, btw. It hit the post. Score remains 22-6.
And here's the famous 1992 race. I tend to think Offiah had his run impeded and could have lodged a protest.
Another TRY to the Indigenous All Stars, this time to Reece Robinson. Again, it was the the Thurston kick and the NRL side failed to tidy up. Robinson just scooted over in the corner. This scoreline is getting nasty - it's 22-6 with a kick on the way.
Scott Prince has been good for the Indigenous All Stars tonight. I think the Broncos will be a much better side with him in the seven this season. Penalty now for the NRL All Stars. The game hasn't reached any great levels yet. We need the fastest man in league back. Who remembers Lee Oudenryn v Martin Offiah?
We're back for the second half as the NRL All Stars try to claw back this 18-6 deficit. They haven't looked very likely thus far and will need to catch fire in a hurry to get back in the game.
HALFTIME Ben Barba just ridiculous here with three tries to give the Indigenous All Stars an 18-6 lead over the NRL All Stars. I'm ducking backstage for a quick salad, see you on the other side.
But apparently you can shoulder charge blokes after they have passed the ball. May need a tweak that rule. The NRL side turns it over and the Indigenous team has 20 seconds to play with before the break.
History has been made. George Rose was just pinged for a shoulder charge on Josh Morris. The NRL centre was making good progress before Rose spun him around and send him to the turf with a big shoulder. He gave himself up right away. The Indigenous side leads 18-6.
Flick pass alert! Flick pass alert! That's the first one of the night and it came from the hands of Thurston. The Indigenous side really firing now and they look much more interested. Just five minutes to go before halftime and they lead 18-6, with Ben Barba nabbing all three.
Three tries to Barba. Here's a sneak peak at my intro for the story tomorrow:
..........
Phil Lutton
Rugby league player Ben Barba has been tipped to have a good season after playing well in the All Stars game last night, scoring numerous tries.
...........
Thoughts?
Good charge there from Willie Mason but it goes all the way up the other end and the All Stars end up saving a try instead of almost scoring one. The Indigenous side pressing again and they are over again. Guess who? Ben Barba. Thurston's kick was precise, Barba races through, plucks it out of the air and scores the TRY. Tipping he might have a fair season. It's 18-6.
We're back for the second quarter of this All Stars match. Crowd not quite getting into it just yet aside from those spirited touches from Ben Barba. The NRL All Stars now working away to try and level the scores but it's turned over as Justin Hodges powers his way out of trouble.
Thurston good with the curve ball from the left touchline and the Indigenous All Stars lead this one 12-6 at the first break. Barba the highlight so far.
Right on the stroke of quarter time, Ben Barba gets his second TRY. Lovely interchange of passing from all the big guns. Thurston, Inglis involved, Bird as well, before Barba flies up the inside to slam it down. The kid is a freak, plain and simple. Reckon Mal Meninga might be able to squeeze him in this year. It's 10-6, kick on the way.
Penalty right in front for the NRL All Stars. They'll take the two surely. No? Huge risk in a game of this gravity as they play on and hunt for the try. But Benji loses the ball. Alright, we've seen enough of Greg Inglis I think. Time to take him off and put him back in cotton wool.
Since the season hasn't really started, forgive me if any man-crushes on Souths players are exposed here. Adam Reynolds converts from the sideline. HE IS INCREDIBLE, the little Rabbitoh. Scores locked at 6-6 in Brisbane.
Hayne goes coast to coast for the TRY for the NRL All Stars. Blake Ferguson tried the Hail Mary pass off the cross-kick and Hayne scooped it up to run 80m down the sideline and dive over. Shades of his great Origin try at this very ground about that one.
I was at the boxing last night so I've had enough of the fights for a while but we have a lovely new STINK icon I'm desperate to deploy at some point. Stay tuned - if nothing heats up, I'll just throw it out there to keep things interesting.
Ben. Barba. That's the man to get this going. Chases the grubber kick from Thurston, kicks it ahead once, twice, thrice then guides it under the posts to score the opening TRY for the indigenous All Stars. Nifty little celebration to the crowd to boot and his side leads 6-0.
Half break? Don't mind if I do. A fairly flat and scrappy opening to this, as you may expect. We need something out of the box I think - chip and chase from a prop on his own tryline would be nice. No score after nine minutes.
And here's the first try - nope, it's obstruction. Can you even have obstruction calls in an All Stars game? Apparently we can. Ash Harrison dove over but no dice and the score stays 0-0. Now the indigenous side makes easy yards, as I'm going both sides will do tonight. Inglis show and go - boy he's good that bloke.
First chance to attack comes to nothing from the indigenous side. The NRL side works it out and wins a penalty of their own. One of the new rules in play tonight is if a team kicks it dead from their 30m zone, it comes back to where the ball is kicked. Quite frankly, I'd be stunned if that one comes into play. No score through four minutes.
A very cool war dance there by the indigenous All Stars, along with some very scary looking fellas with warpaint and spears. The NRL team looked suitably petrified, as was I, and away we go. Great passion, great fun, let's have a game of footy.
Some indigenous dancers out there now as we warm into this one. The dancers are covered in striking paint and doing their thing for this appreciative crowd. Love to see this at more sporting events - looks sensational on the big stage.
Good evening everyone and welcome to our live coverage of the NRL All Stars game from Brisbane. Footy in February? Why not. We all need a distraction. We are 10 minutes away from kick off at Suncorp Stadium. Lovely night, big crowd, let's have some fun.
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