The rugby league season is kicking off with a bang on Saturday night, as the game’s greatest Indigenous and Maori players go head-to-head for the All Stars clash.

The game has been praised with the potential to grow into a State Of Origin-like jewel in the NRL’s crown.

“It means so much to me,” Penrith Panthers five-eighth and Maori All Star Jarome Luai told Mark Levy.

“I don’t know too much about Maori, so … I’m so grateful to be here amongst players that I’ve looked up to growing up.

“Now I get to take the field with them.”

Click PLAY below to hear the full interview

Image: Ian Hitchcock/Getty Images