Ahead of this weekend's Indigenous Round, we asked some of today's NRL stars who they rate as their favourite Indigenous player of all time.
Brett Morris (Bulldogs) – Nathan Blacklock
"With Nathan it was just his ability to show up in the right places to score tries. And some of the tries he scored were absolutely freakish. The biggest thing I remember from him too was when he scored some of the celebrations he did. He was very talented and just how quickly he amassed so many tries is something you don't see often these days. He regularly scored 20 tries a season and I think he still holds the club record for most tries in a season (27 in 2001) for the Dragons."
Sam Thaiday (Broncos) – Ken Nagas
"I was a Canberra kid, I loved watching the Canberra Raiders in their heyday and Kenny Nagas was one of my favourites to watch. He scored some cracker tries so he was one of my favourites."
Blake Ferguson (Roosters) – Anthony Mundine
"'Choc' (Mundine) was a big influence, 'GI' (Greg Inglis) was one; I was only a young pup when he first debuted in '06. Probably [Justin] Hodges. Probably all the guys that have been in the Australian squad for the last 10 years, those guys showed me the way. I've been speaking to [Roosters chief operating officer] Brian Canavan about getting a jersey done up for Indigenous Round next year. We did it in 2009 or 2010 so it's been a while but it would be good to get one out."
Ben Creagh (Dragons) – Nathan Blacklock
"I remember watching him when he was younger and seeing 'Tingha' do his front flips and his backflips. I was lucky enough to debut alongside him when I was the opposite winger to him back in 2003. He was awesome. ‘Tingha’ was a crowd favourite and a real game-breaker."
Josh Morris (Bulldogs) – Steve Renouf
"Steve Renouf was one of my favourites, definitely. I used to love watching him play and being a centre myself I really loved the way he attacked. He could certainly score a try from anywhere on the field so he was definitely one of my favourites. Paul McGregor was my other favourite player and they used to have some good battles so those games were always interesting to watch."
Dane Gagai (Knights) – Matt Bowen
"When I was growing up as a kid, my favourite player to watch was Matty Bowen and I guess he made me want to strive to be a great football player and play State of Origin. And I earned the opportunity to do that this year. I just hope to influence other kids out there watching me like Matty Bowen did to me, no matter if they're Indigenous or non-Indigenous."
This article first appeared on NRL.com
