REPRESENTING: Blake Ferguson during a visit to Wellington last year.
Wellington Cowboys junior Blake Ferguson is relishing the 'special honour' of representing his culture on the big stage once again.
The powerhouse Paramatta Eels winger, who played a starring role in NSW's State of Origin victories last year, will once again feature as part of the Indigenous All-Stars line-up under coach Laurie Daley.
"It means a lot to me, obviously I played in the very first one in 2010, so to be able to play in it again in 2020 is a pretty good achievement for myself, but it's always a special honour to get named to a team when there are so many great Indigenous players at the moment," Ferguson told NRL.COM.
"To get to go out there and showcase our talent and our Indigenous heritage for our mob is just great."
The annual meeting between the Indigenous side and their Moari rivals will feature NRL stars from across the country, but Ferguson, utility Tyrone Peachey and Josh Addo-Carr can all trace their heritage back to the Wiradjuri people of Central NSW.
"I'm from Wiradjuri and my dad is from PItta Pitta up in Boulia and my mother's from out near Gilgandra, so it's all a bit faraway, but I try and get amongst them all as much as I can," Ferguson said.
Ferguson and Addo-Carr both scored tries in last year's 34 - 14 victory, with Addo-Carr crossing twice and Ferguson turning heads with an absurd back-flip celebration.
The hard-charging winger made 206 metres in the 2019 fixture, and is awaiting the chance to put it all on the line again, with the added sweetener of Paramatta-based bragging rights with Brad Takairangi named as a centre in the Moari side.
"I can't wait for that, me and Taki have been training along side each other for the last three or four months, I feel like he's had the best preseason I've ever seen him have, for me it's very good to see that, I can't wait for him to put it all together in the game," Ferguson said.
The side is expecting a more relaxed pre-amble to the match, with a relatively light load of training expected.
"The first couple of days is just doing a bit of stuff with the guys, getting to know each other, then a bit of community work, then just a bit of training and get amongst each other, we're all great mates outside of football, so it's a bit like getting to hang out with the brothers," Ferguson said.
Ferguson, who has played for coach Laurie Daley before, said he was looking forward to getting back to work under the former State of Origin coach.
"I've played under him for NSW and under him for this level as well, it's always good to see Loz, and I'm sure we'll kick back, have a few waters and have a yarn."