Despite dominating large parts of the clash, the NSW Indigenous Invitational side had to rally late to secure a 26-12 win over a gallant Group 20 Pasifika outfit at Darlington Point Sportsground on Saturday night.

Roared on by a crowd of well over 500 people in hot and dusty conditions, the Indigenous team scored six tries to two, only for poor goalkicking to keep their opponents in the game for the majority of the highly physical contest.

The Indigenous side opened the scoring when centre Cleve McGhie gathered a grubber kick in the corner and got the ball down for a 4–0 advantage.

Halfback Tristan Eldridge doubled that lead soon after, with an incisive run ending with him crashing through the defence to score.

Needing to be the next to score, the Pasifika side found a rampaging Saul Railo who burst through the Indigenous line to run in and finish with a huge swan dive underneath the posts to bring the scoreline back to 8-6.

However, the Indigenous side hit back, with rampaging prop Thomas Watego regathering a deflected pass to score an incredible try in the corner.

Poor goalkicking however kept the margin close at 12-6, and when Elwyn Ravu dived over under the posts leaving an easy conversion, the game was all tied up and momentum was firmly with the Pasifika side.

With the next score crucial and the game on the line, it was Watego again who stepped up for the Indigenous team, crashing over with an overhead put down from short range to open up a 16-12 lead.

That was the play that cracked the game open, with the Indigenous team running in two late tries to sew up the 14-point victory.

Speaking after the game event organiser and hooker for the Indigenous team Troy Dargin gave thanks to everyone who came together to put on the event, which was hailed a massive success.

“I’ve got to give raps to Guy Thompson, DPC, Willie Lolohea, all the fellas from the Pasifika who came on board,” he said.

“At the end of the day, it’s a volunteer event, and look it was a headache, has its merits, but you’ve got to delegate where you can, and I think everyone turned up and did their job.

“It was a great event, great turnout and obviously we came away with the win which is always good.”

Despite the loss, Pasifika coach Willie Lolohea also backed the concept post-game, declaring his support for the representative match becoming an annual event.

“It was great, the boys are talented, it was just great to get the cultures around, Pasifika, Indigenous, we’re all very proud of our cultures and where we come from,” he said.

“Each and every player, they all have certain abilities that they are suited to, and it was just great to put them all together and be able to bring that all together and see that talent shine through.

“It was just great to see the talent on display.”

As for the bruising contest in the middle, NSW Indigenous forward Brody Tracey said that the opening to the match was incredible.

“The intensity was unreal, especially that first 20 minutes, you could feel both teams had that rivalry” he said.

“The important thing was we were playing for the emblem on our shirt, and you could feel that.

“Fitness came into it, both teams kind of died off, but you didn’t feel the intensity drop, the hits got harder as the game went on.”

Although the Pasifika team was selected from solely Group 20 players, the Indigenous side featured a handful of players from outside the district.

One of three players from Group 9, where he plays his club football with South City, Tracey said that the strong performances of the Group 20 forwards on show has only added to the hype surrounding the return of the Kelly Cup in February.

“When I’ve watched Group 20 sides, it has that knockout feeling about it, it’s about forwards bashing each other,” he said.

“Whoever wins the forward pack usually goes out to win the game

“[Group 9] are probably the fitter side, they’d have to work up to our standard, but they’re a tough pack and playing in February it’s going to be probably 30 degrees so it’s going to be a pretty even contest I think.”