Canterbury-Bankstown centre Brent Naden is ecstatic to share the NRL All Stars stage with team mate Josh Addo-Carr.
The news was delivered by Addo-Carr in front of the Bulldog's playing group at a team meeting in Tamworth last Friday morning.
Naden was overcome with shock after he was met with applause from the playing group during the announcement. The 26-year old descendent of the Wiradjuri people from Central NSW, is excited to run out for his debut in the Indigenous All Stars jersey at CommBank Stadium on February 18.
"Yeah, I was excited, I wanted to cry. Being a proud Wiradjuri man from Wellington, it means a lot to me to play and represent my culture and my family from back home too."
The new Bulldog's recruit is grateful to be given the opportunity to go into camp and learn more about his culture.
"'I'm excited to go into camp to learn more about my culture with Foxxy (Josh Addo-Carr) too all week. I'm excited to get into camp and meet all the boys and learn."
Addo-Carr, who was recently announced captain for the Indigenous side was thrilled to go into camp with a familiar face.
"Me and Nado (Brent Naden) are actually cousins somewhere down the line. We're both from Wellington, New South Wales and our families are really close.
To have a brother boy in the same team and in the same family, it's pretty special to go out there with your cousin and carve up."
"I know the feeling what he is going through at the moment and it's something that he's really proud of, you know, he holds his culture close to his heart like I do.
It's a very special game to be a part of, especially being you know, Aboriginal. You get to learn about a lot about your culture and you had to be around all the indigenous boys and some of the best players in the world."
