NRL All Stars: Preview

The revised NRL All Stars format will premiere tonight at Melbourne’s AAMI Park.

This year’s game features a New Zealand Maori side for the first time.

They will take on the staple side of the fixture, the Indigenous All Stars.

Previous installments have seen the Indigenous side take on NRL All Stars as well as World All Stars.

After a break last year due to the Rugby League World Cup, the NRL has created a far better concept.

While a World or NRL All Star team has a larger player pool to choose from, the newest addition is far more interesting to viewers and players alike.

The pre-season match has always carried passion from the Indigenous All Stars, but the World and NRL All Star teams lacked an identity or real reason to compete.

For those players, the game was mostly looked at as an injury risk, which is why in the later years of the concept, many star players avoided the game.

Creating a clash of two iconic cultures makes for a far more compelling competition, and the buildup this week has shown how much the game means to both sets of players.

The Strengths

The Indigenous team features an incredible amount of talent in the backs.

The dynamic centre pairing of James Roberts and Latrell Mitchell will play inside of Josh Addo-Carr and Blake Ferguson.

Three of those guys played for the victorious 2018 NSW Origin side, while former Blue Blake Ferguson was arguably the best winger in the NRL last year.

The side was set to have Ben Barba as fullback, but after he was axed by the Cowboys, the side brought in Bevan French.

While French has an impressive try-scoring record for the Eels, he is a bit like the off-brand version of the former.

Rabbitohs fullback Alex Johnston will captain the side, while star-youngster Jesse Ramien and veteran Will Chambers add depth to the squad.

The Maoris on the other hand, possess an impressive forward pack.

Former Origin player James Tamou leads the front-row with Jesse Bromwich.

Brandon Smith and Danny Levi will give the Maoris a dangerous attacking threat from hooker.

The second row lacks no-depth with Kevin Proctor, Tohu Harris, Corey Harawira-Naera, James Fisher-Harris, Joseph Tapine, Brad Takairangi and late-addition Kenny Bromwich all in the squad.

Captain Adam Blair rounds out the forward pack who should be the dominant side when it comes to making metres through the middle.

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The Weaknesses

The Indigenous side only boasts one premier forward, in Andrew Fifita.

While a rampaging Fifita can be winning weapon for any team, he’ll be backed up by inexperienced front-rowers.

Leilani Latu struggles to make the Titans first 17 regularly, while Dragons’ youngster Josh Kerr hasn’t played an NRL match yet.

Chris Smith has played just four NRL matches, with Tyrell Fuimaono seeming experienced in contrast, with around 20 games in the top-grade.

Adam Elliot and David Fifita give some credit to the Indigenous forward-pack, and Tyrone Peachey, who can play anywhere, will provide an attacking threat from lock.

Nathan Peats is a great asset in defence and the former Blue provides good service from dummy-half.

Promising talent, Kotoni Staggs will likely be used in the forwards as well.

The Maoris weakness is their backline, as they only boast one elite outside back, in Dane Gagai.

While Dean Whare, Peta Hiku, Gerard Beale and Jordan Kahu are all reasonable players, when you look at the opposing side’s backs, you feel they may be in for a very difficult night.

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The Halves

Tonight’s game shapes up as a battle between an athletic backline against a menacing forward pack.

While the result will obviously depend on how the opposing players keep each team’s strength in-check, the key to who comes out on top may very well rest on how each set of halves utilise their team’s weapons.

The Indigenous team has the experience, with Cody Walker having played 71 NRL matches and Tyrone Roberts having 138 NRL games and 33 Super League games to his name.

Roberts has also featured in 3 previous All Star matches.

Meanwhile, the Maoris have gone with exciting young-guns in Jahrome Hughes and Kalyn Ponga.

These two have only played a combined 44 NRL games.

Set to play at five-eight this year for the Knights, everyone is curious how Ponga will go in his new role after a breakout year at fullback.

Tonight’s match will give us further insight into the positional switch, with the Dally M runner-up picked as the Maoris number 6 as well.

If his performance in Origin II last year is anything to go by, he’ll flourish in the defensive line.

Interest is also held in seeing the level of Tyrone Roberts’ game after spending a year in England.

However, the biggest question for both sets of halves, is will how well will they gel?

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Prediction

Normally, a good backline would still struggle to win a game for a team when their forwards were being dominated by the opposition, but such is the talent of the Indigenous backs that I wouldn’t be too surprised if they managed to get the team moving forward themselves.

If the Maoris are to win, they will need their backs to keep up with their opposing players.

If they can manage to defend well and not leak too many tries, their forward pack should get them moving down the field well enough.

With threats like Ponga and Gagai in the team, they should be able to capitalise on the back of this.

For the Indigenous side to get the victory, Andrew Fifita will need to lead an inexperienced forward pack by example and get the home-side firing to give their many strike weapons momentum and space.

You can stream the game live on Kayo at 8pm (AEDT) Friday 15 Feb

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By Brandon Clark