VENUE & TIME: Skilled Park - Saturday, February 4, 7pm (Qld time), 10pm (NZT)
COVERAGE: Channel 9/Sky Sport
HEAD TO HEAD: Played 2 - NRL All Stars 1, Indigenous All Stars 1
LAST TIME: NRL All Stars 28-12 - February 2011

WALKING WOUNDED: The Indigenous All Stars go in with the same side originally named. The NRL All Stars' preparation hasn't been as smooth. Original selections Cameron Smith, Ben Hornby and Tony Williams all succumbed to injury and were forced to pull out. Aaron Payne, Nathan Fien and Anthony Watmough are the replacements.

FORM: As the season opener there is no reliable formline leading into this game but history - albeit short - shows us the games are willing affairs with not a lot in them. The Indigenous team won the inaugural clash 16-12 in 2010 before the NRL All Stars evened the ledger with a 28-12 victory 12 months ago, but not before a real struggle. It's more about the occasion than the result but that won't stop the players ripping in for 80 minutes.

WHO'S HOT: Who's not hot? The names on both sides of the park are enough to have any league fan drooling. Try fielding either one of these teams in the NRL and salary cap auditor Ian Schubert would be on your doorstep before the morning newspaper. There will be a lot of interest in how Thurston and Sandow combine at the Indigenous scrumbase. It's a potentially lethal partnership and one that may be reprised in Origin football in coming years. Over in the NRL camp you've got names like Dugan, Vatuvei, Marshall, Blair, Jennings ... the list goes on. Simply sit back and enjoy.

WE THINK: This one comes down to one side with a sensational forward pack against a team with a star-studded backline. The NRL All Stars boast impressive strikepower up front with Frank Pritchard, Dave Taylor, Adam Blair, Anthony Watmough, Paul Gallen and Jared Waerea-Hargreaves. The Indigenous All Stars don't quite have that weaponry in their pack but look to have more points in them with a backline containing such freakish talent as Jonathan Thurston, Ben Barba, Justin Hodges, Chris Sandow and Nathan Merritt. This promises to be a high-scoring affair with the NRL side perhaps slight favourites. NRL All Stars by 4 points