Respect and community is the key message ahead of the historic Women's NRL All Stars match in Rotorua.
For many in the New Zealand side, it will be the first time they represent their culture on home soil, something that Maori captain Zahara Temara says has been "emotional".
"It's a bit hard to explain the emotions we've been feeling this week, just being around and immersed in the culture has been really good," she said.
The Indigenous All Stars go into Saturday's clash as defending champions, winning 18-8 last year in Parramatta.
Captain Quincy Dodd says while her side has enjoyed the off-field aspects of the week, she can't wait until kick-off.
"It's an honour to be here, beautiful land, beautiful people, so we're very grateful for this opportunity," she told media at Rotorua International Stadium.
However, the St George Illawarra hooker was tight-lipped on the big off-field issue of the week back home. The Collective Bargaining Agreement standoff between the NRL and Player's Association that has caused players to shun certain media duties, and threaten the fixture itself, hasn't been on her mind.
Dodd and her Maori counterpart preferred to focus on the positive effects that the game will have for young players, with Maori prop Shannon Mato saying that it was important to "be here and be grateful to play the sport we love to inspire the next generation".
"It's important to play our role in making sure we have girls and boys playing, so we need to make sure that pathway is there," Dodd added.
Neither side was in any mood to give much away gameplan-wise, but despite the limited preparation both coaches were confident the match would be a good spectacle for what should be a healthy crowd.
"You take learnings out of each match, but last year was last year," Indigenous coach Ben Jeffries said.
"They're going to come out firing, so on that front we have to compete. We're here to compete so hopefully that will mean a good show."
Maori coach Keith Hanley stressed the importance of respect between the two sides, saying that "we have a lot of love and respect for our Indigenous sisters and brothers".
"That's our platform that we build off, but we have a lot of narrative that we draw on from our history," he said.
"We use that to give everyone a point of contact, if you grow up and you're not exposed to your culture a lot of the emotion can be too much, so we have to be able to balance how to deal with that correctly.
"We're looking tomorrow to give a complete performance - we're a very physical side and we like to match up that way, but we're going to be a little more thoughtful about how we go about the rest of the game."
