THE return of the NRL All-Stars match to Townsville Stadium this weekend will see one of the Indigenous or Māori men’s side break the deadlock that has them locked in at two wins-two losses apiece and a famous 10-10 draw at this venue three years ago.

The popular pre-season cultural, traditional and sporting showcase between two First Nations people makes its celebrated return to the far north Queensland capital on Friday, February 16.

The teams, drawn largely from the NRL and NRLW, first met in Melbourne in 2019. This weekend marks the sixth meeting between the two.

Strong squads for all four teams were announced last week, headlined by Josh Addo-Carr, Latrell Mitchell and Nicho Hynes, and Dallin Watene-Zelezniak, Jahrome Hughes and Joseph Tapine (men’s), and Tamika Upton, Taliah Fuimaono and Tallisha Harden, and Kennedy Cherrington, Corban Baxter…