A sublime performance from reigning Dally M medallist Nicho Hynes after a turbulent week on the home front has led the Indigenous All Stars to a 28-24 win over their Maori rivals.
Hynes, a proud Wiradjuri man, scored a brilliant solo try to drag his side back into the contest after an early Maori onslaught, then handled twice in Brent Naden’s second-half four-pointer, which appeared illegal.
Having endured a tough first half with his hands, rising Broncos star Selwyn Cobbo enjoyed the finest of rugby league redemptions as well – gathering a difficult grubber and beating several defenders with a 95-metre runaway try.
Cobbo, who was recently fined by Brisbane for his podcast comments about coach Kevin Walters, finished with a hat-trick scored across 12 minutes as the Indigenous back line began truly firing late.
Despite a late try to Maori reserve Preston Riki, the Indigenous side held on for their first win since 2019 in the fixture as the All Stars made its Kiwi debut in front of 17,644 fans at Rotorua Stadium.
Indigenous coach Ron Griffiths had previously described “wrapping a cultural blanket” around the likes of Hynes, Latrell Mitchell and Jack Wighton as the marquee trio weathered off-field dramas throughout All Stars week.
Nicho Hynes bursts into a gap in Rotorua on Saturday.Credit:NRL Photos
News that Hynes’ mother had been found guilty of knowingly supplying heroin came just minutes after he was presented with his Indigenous jersey on Thursday. Julie Hynes was taken into custody after the court verdict and will be sentenced in May.
His performance in the landmark fixture did those colours proud as he was awarded the Preston Campbell Medal and paid tribute to his mum in his acceptance speech.
“To our boys, it’s been the best week ever,” Hynes said. “I can’t thank you guys enough. To the coaching staff and all the support staff, and everyone who’s made this game happen, it’s unreal. And to my mum I love you so much, and I’ve done this is for you.”
“He obviously faced some adversity later in the week … He’s destined for greatness,” Griffiths said afterwards about the Sharks star. “He doesn’t walk past anyone without saying hello and smiling and above all else he’s a beautiful person. He just carries himself, his persona around the group, he just brings everyone together.”
Hynes was a surprise starter at fullback with Mitchell playing five-eighth for the first half, while Wighton made his mark on the match early on as well with a heavy outside-in shot on an unsighted James Fisher-Harris.
The NRL’s scariest man returned the reception in kind when Indigenous prop Jamayne Taunoa-Brown came off the back fence with a carry.
Fisher-Harris’s running battle with the Indigenous big men was stepped up moments before halftime when Josh Kerr drew blood from the Maori skipper with a shoulder charge. Kerr’s shot had Fisher-Harris seeing red and the Dragons forward eventually sin-binned as the Maori held a 12-10 lead.
Despite being down a man, the Indigenous claimed their first lead of the match when Hynes split the defence down the right. Finding Daine Laurie who then grubbered back inside, Hynes appeared to be offside but was still allowed to send Naden over in the 44th minute.
With Mitchell switching to fullback in the second stanza, he clobbered a runaway Preston Riki when he broke into the backfield.
Jordan Riki crashes over to score for the Maori All Stars.Credit:Getty
Moments later though a heaving Rotorua crowd erupted as Jordan Riki, of no relation to Preston, shrugged off three defenders to crawl his way to the line.
A Cobbo fumble had led to Zach Dockar-Clay opening the scoring for the Maori earlier in the day, with Tyrell Sloan answering back for the Indigenous side.
Maori coach Ben Gardiner said he was “so proud of the way [the Maori] performed on such a big occasion for the game,” with both he and Griffiths endorsing a regular return to New Zealand for the All Stars fixture. Gardiner said that a conversation with NRL CEO Andrew Abdo before the game had him confident of it being held in a different New Zealand city in coming years.
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