Former Forbes Magpies' premiership winning prop Zac Merritt will clash with a number of familiar faces in Group 10's all-Indigenous clash with Group 11 at Cowra next month.
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The powerhouse St Pat's captain-coach will be joined by his brother Traie in the Group 10 outfit alongside six of their blue and white teammates.
Panthers and Cowra make up the bulk of the rest of the squad - which will be finalised after the Bathurst Knockout in a couple of weeks - with two-time premiership winning Panthers stars Blake Lawson and Willie Wright two of the other big names in Will Ingram's side.
The Merritt brothers aren't the only former Group 11 players set to go up against some old teammates either, with Chris Kirby and new Panthers recruit Brogan Black, a member of the Wellington Cowboys' 2019 premiership side, named in the Group 10 outfit.
Ingram is anticipating the clash to be a massive event for the sport, and is expecting the unexpected at Sid Kallas Oval on April 18 in what will be the first time the two Indigenous sides will face-off.
"A match against Group 11 a pretty big occasion for us. We usually only see these blokes at the Koori Knockout," Ingram said.
"We've got a free license to play our own style so it's going to be really exciting.
"You look at the Indigenous blokes in the NRL all the way down to bush footy... we play with a lot of flare."
Ingram also highlighted the differences in playing styles between Group 10 and Group 11 which makes the contest more intriguing than it already was.
"They play with intensity, lots of speed and plenty of off-the-cuff footy whereas we probably have a bit more structure and stick more closely to a game plan."
While Group 10 hasn't appointed its All-Star skipper yet, there certainly isn't a lack of experience and Ingram touted several potential candidates for the captaincy role.
"We've got a lot of new faces but also a great leadership group with Jez (Jeremy Gordon), Zac Merritt and Hamish Bryant," he said.
"It's just good to be able to play in a game with blokes that you've picked out and know are all good players."
"You don't have that control at club level."
- GROUP 10 INDIGENOUS ALL STARS: Will Ingram, Thomas Rose, Jack Grant, Jared Burns, Desi Doolan (Cowra), Jeremy Gordon, Willie Wright, Blake Lawson, Louis Murphy, Ben Gunn, Brogan Black (Bathurst Panthers), Zac Merrit, Traie Merrit, Andy Adams, Kiyan Shaw, Jackson Vallius, Jordan Boney, Chris Kirby, Caleb Wardman (Bathurst St Pat's), Corey Willmott, Brendan Van Veen (Lithgow Workies), Hamish Bryant (Mudgee Dragons), Tyrell Charters, Deryne McKenzie (Orange Hawks).
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