NRL Indigenous and Māori All Stars meet in Sydney for first time in a clash of two First Nations cultures

The coming together of two First Nations cultures will again be on display for the world to see on Saturday as the commencement of rugby league's 2022 calendar takes flight.

The Indigenous men's and women's All Stars host the Māori All Stars on Darug nation at Parramatta Stadium, in what will be their fourth meeting.

This year marks the first time Preston Campbell's All Stars concept, which came to fruition in 2010, will be played in Sydney.

The matches themselves will undoubtedly be played in the same spirit as previous years – with a deep sense of pride and great respect among opponents.

Footy fans will also get to witness the innate and freakish talent of some of rugby league's best First Nations athletes.

Although the back-to-back matches are the centrepiece of Saturday's action, with the women's match kicking off at 5:20pm (AEST), the game day proceedings will also see a range of cultural protocols, performances and art on display.

As players, staff and thousands of fans begin to flood Parramatta Stadium from 4pm (AEST) when the gates open, they will be met with a smoking ceremony.

Smoking ceremonies have been performed by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people for thousands of years to cleanse both people and places of bad spirits or bad energy.

The fire acts as healing and the bringing together of people. It is important when we have smoking ceremonies to think about our elders, our past, present, who we are, where we come from and where we're going.

It is also an acknowledgement as we pay our respects to the people whose land we're meeting on.

Ngiyanppa Wiradjuri man Uncle Graham King, who will give the Welcome to Country before the match, says the smoking ceremonies remind us «where we get our power from».

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