THE ancient movements and distinct sounds of the yidaki, bilma, araatika, dhari and haka rang through Rotorua International Stadium and into the hearts and souls of the almost 18,000-strong crowd.

The 2023 NRL All-Stars was the beginning of a significant sporting and cultural engagement between proud First Nations people.

The 2023 NRL All-Stars match between three great cultures had its fifth instalment earlier this month when national Aboriginal- Torres Strait Islander and Māori men’s and women’s rugby league teams faced off in the cultural capital of Aotearoa New Zealand on the country’s Te Ikaroa North Island.

Ron Griffiths stood like a proud father – to the side, out of the way and with a satisfied smile on his face – as the football team he had just coached accepted their award after winning a tough and culturally significant contest.

The first-time mentor of the representative NRL Indigenous All-Stars team guided the side toward a thrilling 28-24 victory over their Māori brothers-in-battle at Rotorua International Stadium at Aotearoa New Zealand last fortnight.

The annual match was the fifth between the two First Nations teams.

The Australian side rose from 10-12 down at half-time to best their opponents by a narrow margin to win.

The game saw 10 tries, six conversions and a sin-bin in an entertaining clash that had the near 18,000- strong crowd at the edge of…