WHILE it didn't lead to points, it was the passage of play that showcased what the Indigenous All Stars were going to be all about at Cbus Super Stadium last Saturday.
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The fact it was midway through the tackle count didn't matter a great deal either.
Barely 15 minutes into the match, five-eighth Simone Smith received the ball on tackle three and kicked for herself in the 10-4 win over the Maori All Stars.
It proved she didn't need to be asked twice to carry out the instructions coach Ben Jeffries had spent most of the week drilling into his side.
"He coached us all week to play what we called BFF - it stands for 'black fella footy'," Smith said.
"He wanted us to throw the ball around a bit and play 'eyes-up'.
"Over the years I've always had a coach that's been about structure, but Ben didn't want us to shy away from those natural abilities that indigenous people have."
The Port City Breakers star admitted she had seen that style of attack start to creep into women's rugby league over the last 12 months.
It's music to her ears. It's a style which comes as second-nature.
"In modern-day footy they seem to want the girls to play more of what's in front of them which I'm happy about; it's what I do well on the footy field," she said.
"It's interesting the (women's) game has come around to that."
The match was the 26-year-old's return to the game following a Medial Collateral Ligament injury to her left knee suffered at the Koori Knockout back in October last year.
It followed a torn anterior cruciate ligament to her right knee in 2018.
"I would be lying if I said I don't have any fear (about the knees) because I know I'm a higher chance of re-injuring them," Smith said.
"But I feel confident once I'm out on the field."
The mental battle pre-game was one that provided the biggest hurdle to overcome.
"You always have that fear; you know what it's like because you've been there before," she said.
"But when you have your first run or make your first tackle you get on with it as normal."
The five-eighth described the week in camp as "the best" and wished it could happen all year round.
"We had a great time getting to know the Maori girls," she said.
"Getting to know more about my culture makes me even more proud to be an Aboriginal person as well because the more you get involved with things like this the more you embrace your own culture."
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