The Indigenous All Stars will be out to avenge last year's 24-0 defeat and square the overall ledger at 2-2 when they tackle the Maori All Stars at CommBank Stadium in Sydney on Friday night.
It's the first time the women's showpiece has been staged in Sydney after previous meetings in Melbourne (2019), Gold Coast (2020) and Townsville (2021) and a huge crowd will be on hand to see Māori stars Corban Baxter, Raecene McGregor and Zahara Temara match motors with tryscoring machine Tamika Upton, Shaylee Bent and Kirra Dibb.
The man looking to mastermind the Indigenous revenge mission is Ben Jeffries, who is back as coach in 2022 after Ian Bourke had the role last year, and he'll be looking to key playmakers Quincy Dodd and Dibb to lay the platform for the prolific Upton, the leading tryscorer in NRLW history with six tries in seven games.
Keith Hanley again has charge of the Māori team and he'll head into the clash with plenty of confidence with last year's player of the match Raecene McGregor and elusive fullback Bo Vette-Welsh central to his game plan.
For the victors the prize on offer is the Fanning-Murphy trophy, in honour of former Indigenous player Katrina Fanning and Jillaroos legend Karyn Murphy.
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The rundown
Team news
Maori All Stars: The Maoris will line up 1-18 as named with no late changes. Roosters captain Corban Baxter will lead the Maoris in her third All Stars appearance and she is joined in the centres by debutante Tiana Raftstrand-Smith. Two more newcomers in Autumn-Rain Stephens Daly and Jocephy Daniels will start on the wings while experienced duo Raecene McGregor and Zahara Temara will call the shots in the halves. Showing the way up front is veteran Rona Peters while fellow prop Shannon Mato is 10 years her junior. At 38, former New Zealand Black Ferns rugby representative Lavinia Gould makes her debut off the bench. Rangimarie Edwards-Bruce will also debut from the interchange after coming into the squad for the injured Page McGregor.
Indigenous All Stars: The Indigenous side is 1-18 with no late changes on game day. Qunicy Dodd and Caitlan Johnston are the co-captains. Former NSW and Jillaroos playmaker Kirra Dibb gets an All Stars debut at five-eighth and she is partnered in the halves by another debutante in Tahlulah Tillett. Star fullback Tamika Upton will make her long awaited All Stars debut while fellow newcomers Kyra Simon and Janelle Williams will come from the bench. Taliah Fuimaono came into the squad after Bree Chester withdrew and will come from the bench in her second All Stars appearance.
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Key match-up
Bo Vette-Welsh v Tamika Upton: Two of the elite No.1s go toe to toe here in a showdown of speed and skill sure to have the fans on their feet. Maori custodian Vette-Welsh has been part of all three previous clashes between the two sides, averaging 115 running metres per game and chiming in from the back with devastating impact. Upton is one of five debutantes in the Indigenous squad alongside Newcastle trio Dibb, Tillett and Simon and Dragon Williams, and the Broncos gun is champing at the bit to represent her culture after injury cruelled her chances in recent years.
Raecene McGregor's Trish Hina Medal performance
Stat attack
The numbers from last year's blowout in Townsville make tough reading for the Indigenous side and they'll need to tighten up considerably in defence if they are to contain a Maori squad that features 11 players backing up from the 2021 triumph. The Maori ran for 1261 metres compared to just 795 metres for the Indigenous side while the crucial post-contact metres read 528 to 327 with line breaks 4-1 and offloads 6-2. When it comes to plugging the middle the Indigenous side will look to prop Caitlan Johnston, who made 21 tackles without a miss in last year's game, back-rower Kaitlyn Phillips, who has made 33 tackles and missed just three across her two appearances in 2020-21, and the ever reliable Quincy Dodd, who has racked up 68 tackles in her three All Stars games.
Indigenous All Stars artwork was created by Laura Pitt and is used by permission.