- Click through the carousel above or find more pictures in the Indigenous All Stars squad gallery

- GALLERY: Group Nine All Stars squad

Confident with the troops established from last season’s blockbuster, only minor adjustments were made to the Indigenous All Stars squad on route to a third-straight victory on Saturday week.

In a stark contrast to the fresh-faced Group Nine All Stars squad, gun Junee recruits Toby Key and Jade Williams and Temora’s George Maka are the only untested inclusions.

Meanwhile, Albury sensation Willie Heta, Brothers star Jermaine Packer and Gundagai big man Logan Wright forced their case on reputation and last season’s form.

In a determined ploy to keep a finger on the Group Nine All Stars, Rose yesterday admitted the committee took a conservative approach to the selections, including the bare minimum.

“I think we’ve come up with a good team right across the board, the selectors found it really difficult to pick especially when you consider some of the names that were left out of the team”, he told The Daily Advertiser yesterday. 

“The teams that attended West Wyalong pretty much had the opportunity to show where they’re at, Pani Manawatu was obviously one of the stars there so he really pushed his case.”

Topping the list of shock exclusions is Brethren hooker Brock Dunn, who was overlooked in favour of Manawatu and substitute Aaron Byrne (Cootamundra).

“Brock’s an exceptional player... realistically there was about five players who could have easily walked into the team in that position,” Rose said.

“Brock is probably the most notable to miss out but obviously we can’t pick everybody.”

Group Nine grand finalists Southcity and Albury gained four selections each, while Young, Tumbarumba and Kangaroos were the only teams not represented.

However, Rose believes consistency could be the key to a third straight victory over the All Stars at Albury on March 16.

“As I’ve said before, any team with Ben Jeffery, Jade Williams and Peter Little in it is going to be hard to handle,” he said.

“Those three guys really stand out, and we’ve got a big forward pack up front with Logan Wright, right across the park it looks like the selectors and coaches have come up with a good team.

“We’ve just got to spend the time now bringing the team together so we can produce the quality on the field.”

Training for both teams will begin tomorrow at 6pm, with the Indigenous 

All Stars at Ashmont Oval and the Group Nine squad at Duke of Kent Oval.

INDIGENOUS ALL STARS SQUAD

Dion Belford (Albury)

Aaron Byrne (Cootamundra)

Blake Dunn (Brothers)

Wayne Goolagong (Southcity)

Willie Heta (Albury)

Ben Jeffery (Albury)

Toby Keys (Junee)

Phil Latu (Gundagai)

Jay Little (captain-coach)

Peter Little (Southcity)

George Maka (Temora)

Pani Manawatu (Southcity)

Will Meritt (Southcity)

Matt O'Neill Brothers)

Jermaine Packer (Brothers)

Matt Rose (Albury)

Joseph Ioane-Toetu (Tumut)

Jade Williams (Junee)

Logan Wright (Gundagai)