Ben Barba genuinely did not know who Chris Grevsmuhl was when they entered the Indigenous All Stars camp.

“I was like ‘who is this guy’,” Indigenous pivot Barba laughed.

South Sydney lock Grevsmuhl had unbelievably been slotted into the NRL showcase event before playing a first grade game due to team injuries.

And he was asked to line up against NSW skipper Paul Gallen, no less.

Yet Grevsmuhl still helped inspire a depleted Indigenous pack’s Herculean effort in a boilover 20-6 win over a world-class NRL All Stars on the Gold Coast on Friday night.

By rights, Grevsmuhl, 21, should have been the standout story after crashing over for the match clinching try in an against the odds Indigenous win.

Yet remarkably he was the tip of the iceberg.

The Indigenous team’s forward depth was so depleted by injury that veteran centre Justin Hodges, superstar fullback Greg Inglis and Melbourne three-quarter Will Chambers were all forced to spend time in the backrow on Friday night.

“I asked them the question and they said ‘yeah put me in’,” Indigenous coach Laurie Daley said.

“I don’t think they want to make a career change but that’s the spirit of the whole week.”

Then there was the likes of one NRL game wonder Kierran Moseley.

The Indigenous hooker belied his inexperience when he jolted the ball free from Gallen and a few tackles later Indigenous skipper Johnathan Thurston sealed the victory with a 35m penalty goal near full-time.

The Indigenous team had a forward pack with just 241 NRL games of experience – and not one representative match.

And the NRL boys?

Rival coach Wayne Bennett unleashed the “biggest, meanest guys I could” featuring 1618 first grade appearances, 58 Origins and 148 Tests.

Thurston may have grabbed the post-match headlines along with Greg Inglis for orchestrating the Friday night win in attack.

But the Test playmaker said the glory must go to their unheralded pack which he believed responded to a week of criticism by typifying the Indigenous All Stars spirit.

“You guys (media) were questioning us whether the game would be played with intensity,” he said.

“I think what you saw out there for a game in February was first class.

“I was asked plenty of questions during the week whether we were skinny in the forwards.

“But they understand what it means to play in this game, to pull on this jersey.

“This game should be around for many years to come.”

The Indigenous pack’s spirit was typified by man of the match, Dragons prop George Rose.

Teammate and Gold Coast front-rower Ryan James put himself in the NSW Origin early frame after his outstanding display in front of NSW coach Daley.

But James only had raps for Rose.

“Big Georgey got us going forward and I just went off the back of him,” he said.

“We just had to make sure they didn’t come through the middle – then the backs did all the pretty stuff.”