All Stars Match

NRL All Stars Game
Current season or competition: 2011 All Stars match
Sport	Rugby league football
Instituted	2010
Number of teams	2
Country	Australia (NRL)
Related competitions	National Rugby League State of Origin City vs Country Origin

The National Rugby League All Stars Game is an annual Australian rugby league football match, contested between representative teams, namely the Indigenous All Stars versus the NRL All Stars.^[1] The first match took place on 13 February 2010 at the Gold Coast's Skilled Park, which was won 16-12 by the Indigenous All Stars,^[2] and winning half-back Johnathan Thurston was awarded the inaugural Preston Campbell award for best player. Players from both sides were primarily chosen by the public, through a voting scheme through the official NRL website. Coaches from both sides then select the voted players into a make up squad, and players specially selected by the coaches are then included to create the full 20-man positional squad. The game also trialled a new "Double Try" rule where a team can choose to swap a conversion attempt for a second try attempt.^[3]

Rule variations

For 2010, the match exhibited several rule variations exclusive to the All stars match:^[4]

• A new double try or "power play" rule was trialled during the match. This rule gave a try-scoring team the option to attempt to score another try from a single play-the-ball instead of taking the usual place kicked conversion. The idea is similar to the try rule in American football whereby a touchdown-scoring team can chose to either kick a conversion goal or to attempt to convert via an additional touchdown. The double try would be worth a further four points. The following rules were applied to the double try attempt:
  • The double try attempt was started by the attacking team with a play the ball in the centre of their opponents 20 metre line.
  • The fullback on the defending team was required to leave the field of play for the duration of the play. This meant there were twelve defenders against thirteen attackers.
  • The attacking team was prevented from kicking during the attempt, with the referee ending the play for a restart in the event that the ball was kicked.
  • If the defending team gained possession of the ball the play was over, this meant that the defending team could not score in this situation.
  • If the defending team conceded a penalty, the double try would be awarded automatically.
• The match was divided into quarters rather than halves with 20 minutes between each break. Quarter and three quarter breaks were in five minute periods and conducted on the field. This is due to the fact that the match is played during summer. Team talks delivered by the coaches during the breaks were broadcast live for the first time.
• Teams had an unlimited interchange limit.
• The match contained four on-field officials, although two were able to referee at a time.
• The video referee was available to explain their decisions to the broadcast commentary team on air for the first time.

Preston Campbell Medal

The Preston Campbell Medal is awarded to the man of the match and is exclusively voted by the public. The medal is named after Gold Coast Titans and indigenous star Preston Campbell, who was the first person that ventured the idea of the All Stars match.

Year	Recipient	Team	Position
2010	Johnathan Thurston	Indigenous All Stars	Halfback
2011	Josh Dugan	NRL All Stars	Fullback

Results

2010

Main article: 2010 All Stars match

13 February 2010, 8:00pm	NRL All Stars	12 – 16	Indigenous All Stars	Skilled Park, Robina Attendance: 26,687 Referee/s: Ashley Klein, Shayne Hayne, Gavin Badger, Luke Phillips Man of the Match: Johnathan Thurston (Preston Campbell Medal)
	Tries: Josh Morris 54' 1 Benji Marshall 59' 1 Michael Jennings 61' 1 Goals: 0		Tries: 1 3' Wendell Sailor 1 32' Ben Jones 1 74' Jamie Soward Goals: 2/2 34', 76' Johnathan Thurston

2011

Main article: 2011 All Stars match

12 February 2011, 8:00pm	NRL All Stars	28 – 12	Indigenous All Stars	Skilled Park, Robina Attendance: 25,843 Referee/s: Shayne Hayne, Ben Cummins, Gavin Badger, Henry Perenara Man of the Match: Josh Dugan (Preston Campbell Medal)
	Tries: Brett Morris 4' 1 Paul Gallen 24' 1 Shaun Kenny-Dowall 32' 1 Akuila Uate 35' 1 Josh Dugan 72' 1 Goals: Benji Marshall 2/2 Cameron Smith 1/2 Kurt Gidley 1/1		Tries: 1 40' Ben Barba 1 60' Nathan Merritt Goals: 1/1 Johnathan Thurston 1/1 Scott Prince

References

1. ^ http://www.australianrugbyleague.com.au/news/article.php?id=1339 NRL All Stars v Indigenous All Stars. Australian Rugby League
2. ^ Indigenous All Stars win historic victory.The Sunday Telegraph. 13 February 2010.
3. ^ Double try on offer at All Stars game.Gold Coast Mail. 24 November 2009.
4. ^ "Bennett launches NRL All Stars voting". National Rugby League. 24 November 2009. Archived from the original on 2010-06-16. http://www.webcitation.org/5qWuCcLym. Retrieved 27 January 2010.