Over the past few months, there has been a lot of talk about the scheduling of the All Stars match, but the absence of some NRL stars allows others to step in and attempt to etch their names into rugby league history.
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Since the annual clash began, nine male players have represented the Indigenous All Stars without playing a single match in the NRL.
This will now be increased by three after Brent Woolf, Oliver Pascoe and Caleb Tohi, who replaces the injured Ethan Roberts, were named in the squad for this year’s match, which will take place in New Zealand at 3.45pm AEDT.
“This is more important than playing NRL,” Woolf told foxsports.com.au as he prepares for the most significant moment in his rugby league playing career.
“It’d obviously be good to play NRL, but I’d almost place this higher in my rankings and achievements than if I were to play in the NRL
“However, it would be good if I can prove myself on this stage, then it sort of shows where I’m at in comparison to a lot of the NRL players as well.”
The son of Ben Woolf and nephew of Dolphins head coach Kristian Woolf, Brent has spent the last nine years playing in the QLD Cup and will finally get his opportunity on Sunday to perform on the big stage for the Indigenous All Stars.
This comes after stellar back-to-back campaigns for the Redcliffe Dolphins, during which he surpassed 100 reserve-grade appearances and won the 2025 Koori Knockout with the Newcastle Yowies.
However, it hasn’t been all smooth sailing for the experienced rake.
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Over the course of his career, Woolf has endured two shoulder reconstructions, ruptured his ACL, missed an entire year due to Covid-19 and sustained a hamstring injury at the end of last season.
“It was tough. It wasn’t tough maintaining my love for rugby league but it was more getting back to how I wanted to be playing,” Woolf said.
“I sort of gave up on it [the NRL dream] to be honest, last year. Not gave up but I sort of resigned myself to the fact that I wasn’t going to play NRL being 27 years old [he has since turned 28 whilst in All Stars camp].
“It’s just the nature of the game. I guess they all want to sign the next kid and they’re not looking at 27-year-olds anymore. That was more of my thinking.
“It wasn’t that I didn’t think I was capable of it; it was more the fact that I didn’t think I was going to get the opportunity.”
Set to take to the field alongside the likes of Josh Addo-Carr, Nicho Hynes and Jayden Campbell, Woolf credits his father as one of his biggest influencers throughout his career to date.
“It’s good to have that quality of a coach be around me all the time. I can sit with my dad and talk footy,” he continued.
“If we’re just watching a game, you pick each other’s brains about certain things, bounce things off each other, so it’s good to have that.
“We were sitting next to each other on the plane back from Gladestone and he was showing me some stuff on the laptop and teach me what I should be doing.
“I don’t think anybody else has that opportunity unless you’re like Kyle Flanagan or somebody like that.”
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