The Indigenous All Stars will wonder what could have been after their star player Braydon Trindall was forced from the field in the final minutes of the 16-16 draw with their Maori counterparts.<\/p>\n
With halfback Te Maire Martin off the park nursing an ankle injury, Maori hooker Zach Dockar-Clay had the ball in his hands to take a game-winning shot at field goal from 30 metres out on Sunday.<\/p>\n
But as the final seconds ticked down, Indigenous forward Brent Woolf, who has never played an NRL game, charged the ball down to salvage a draw for the Indigenous side in Hamilton.<\/p>\n
It was the second time the annual clash has ended in a draw, along with the 2021 edition, with the trophy staying with the holders, the Maori All Stars.<\/p>\n
Cronulla five-eighth Trindall was the key man for the Indigenous side and thought he had put Jayden Campbell over for the game-winning try in the final 10 minutes.<\/p>\n
Trindall stepped inside the defence on the 40-metre line then chipped over the top for Campbell, but replays showed the Gold Coast ace knocked the ball on as he regathered possession.<\/p>\n
Trindall was then denied the chance at any other game-winning play, forced off for a head injury assessment following a collision with Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad in the lead-up to Campbell’s would-be try.<\/p>\n
Earlier, Trindall dummied left to fool Preston Riki before sending hooker Connor Watson over with a basketball-style chest pass.<\/p>\n
Trindall had the Indigenous side in the lead after the main break with a grubber kick for Josh Addo-Carr, who flattened Keano Kini en route to the tryline.<\/p>\n
Penrith utility Trent Toelau dived over from dummy half at close range to level the scores at 16 apiece with a little less than 30 minutes to play.<\/p>\n
Usually a prop for the Warriors, Maori captain James Fisher-Harris put in a huge shift at lock and had extra ball-playing responsibilities when halfback Martin went down.<\/p>\n