Fisher-Harris gutted but Kidwell stands by his main man

Man of the match James Fisher-Harris apologised to teammates for giving away the late penalty that allowed the Indigenous All Stars to salvage a 10-all draw in Townsville on Saturday night.

Fisher-Harris was a colossus for a decimated Maori side, leading the way up front with 137 metres from 16 hit-ups as he carried the bulk of the hard yards in a team that was missing forward leaders Jesse Bromwich and Nelson Asofa-Solomona due to COVID travel restrictions.

But for all his hard work in the middle he couldn’t escape the feeling of guilt for giving away the 79th minute penalty on his own tryline that enabled Latrell Mitchell to level the scores and ensure the Arthur Beetson Trophy would be shared for the first time.

“I just said to the boys this is on me,” said Fisher-Harris.

“I just made a wrong decision and tackled him without the ball and we didn’t have a captain’s challenge and overtime.

“That pretty much summed it all up but I thought I just left it all out on the field but that (penalty) is on me.”

Maori coach David Kidwell said it was impossible to blame Fisher-Harris for the mistake given how strongly he’d performed in the absence of some crucial leaders in their team.

“You know these two beside me (Fisher-Harris and Joseph Tapine) worked their butts off and I couldn’t be more proud of them,” Kidwell said.

“Before the game I said I needed these two to step up and they both did.”

Equally impressive for the Maori side was veteran hooker Issac Luke who remains on a train and trial contract at the Broncos. He finished the night with 51 metres and 10 tackles with Kidwell certain the old Test star deserves a spot on a first-grade squad in 2021.

“I said to him we just need the Issac Luke who runs the footy,” Kidwell said.

"That’s what we wanted to see and the guy who tackles under the ribs and you know the Issac Luke we all know and love and I thought he did a wonderful job for us.”