It was the All Stars game that launched Josh Kerr's NRL career in 2019.
A proud Quandamooka man, Kerr was selected to face the Maori team before he'd played an NRL game, scoring a try to cap off a 34-14 win in Melbourne.
The front-rower now has 47 NRL matches to his name and was part of Queensland's extended squad in their 2020 State of Origin triumph, but the All Stars fixture carries extra meaning.
"A lot of Australians probably don't understand the significance of it," Kerr said.
"The only way I can describe (representing the Indigenous All Stars) is if you're sitting at home and you're Australian and you've got an Australian jersey in any sport, if you ever had an opportunity to put that on, think about how that would make you feel.
"Putting the Australian jersey on, not only are you representing yourself and your family but your culture and your history.
"And that's how we feel out there. There's no better way and no better feeling than putting that jersey on and showcasing it out there.
"I understand that people aren't going to fully understand what it's like to put on the Indigenous jersey, but all I know is that I'm proud, I love wearing it, I'm going to showcase it as best as I can."
The Indigenous team slogged away in the heat during an extended field session at the NSWRL Centre of Excellence on Wednesday but Kerr enjoyed building combinations.
"We've connected really tightly as a group, we're a very young squad.
"We got a bit of a rev-up talking about our culture and what it means to us and we heard a few stories, a few videos," he said.
"This game just means so much, not just to myself but to so many."
For Indigenous All Stars coach Laurie Daley, witnessing young players like Kerr grow and immerse themselves in their culture is among the most rewarding aspects of his job.
"I'm lucky enough to hear the boys speak - for every training session, in every meeting, in every cultural session - and how passionate they are," Daley said.
"They realise they can make a difference to community and I think that's important as well.
"It's about them showcasing their skills and playing to their potential and the job that I have to do this week is to get them there.
"The main attraction for the guys this week has been what they do in the build-up and connecting with culture.
"The rugby league game on the Saturday is just an added bonus."
Daley said his team's Cronulla connection - with halves Braydon Trindall, Nicho Hynes and fullback Will Kennedy all coming from the Sharks - could provide an advantage.
"One thing we've done this week is ask them what they want to do," Daley said.
"We've just sort of fed off them, gone with how they want to attack and incorporated some of own own stuff."
