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After a lengthy off-season for players and fans alike, rugby league is back in action as the NRL and Indigenous All Stars clash to open the 2013 season. Join us for live scores and commentary from 7:30pm AEDT.
Suncorp Stadium is the venue for what should be another exciting encounter between the NRL and Indigenous All Stars.
Now in its fourth year, the All Stars match is known for its high intensity play, so expect plenty of fireworks as players aim to dust off the cobwebs and hit the ground running in season 2013.
Despite the recent withdrawals of high profile stars Billy Slater and Cooper Cronk to injury, the NRL All Stars side is still blessed with a superb mixture of speed, skill and toughness.
After experiencing a poor season in 2012, the likes of Jarryd Hayne and Benji Marshall will be keen to fire tonight in a bid to find some much needed rhythm ahead of the 2013 NRL season.
Stars such as Josh Morris, Cameron Smith and Adam Reynolds meanwhile will look to pick up from where they left off last year and continue the wonderful form they showed for the Canterbury Bulldogs, Melbourne Storm and South Sydney Rabbitohs respectively.
The Indigenous All Stars themselves contain several players coming off terrific performances in season 2012 with Ben Barba, Greg Inglis and Johnathon Thurston the men to keep an eye on tonight.
Prediction:
Like previous editions, tonight’s All Stars match should be a high scoring affair given the firepower and creativity that both teams possess.
On one side, the attacking trio of Barba, Inglis and Thurston gives the Indigenous All Stars a decisive edge in the backline over their NRL counterparts.
The NRL All Stars, however, possess the more accomplished pack headlined by Storm captain Smith.
Smith is a masterful dictator of play from dummy-half and will give opposite No. 9 Travis Waddell nightmares if the premiership winner is in top gear.
With both sides evenly matched, this contest will largely come down to which team manages to maintain its composure throughout the eighty minutes.
The Indigenous All Stars will be keen to prove a point tonight given that they have lost the past two matches, so expect Thurston, Barba and Inglis in particular to throw caution to the wind in a bid to gain early momentum.
If the NRL All Stars remain within touching distance however, expect the discipline of Smith to guide Wayne Bennett’s men to another victory.
NRL All Stars by six.