Sadly Tyrone Roberts could lay claim to giving the shirt off his back for the Indigenous team in their 20-6 boilover win over the NRL All Stars on the Gold Coast.

Any doubts remaining over what the maligned All Stars concept meant to players were erased when Newcastle half Roberts cut a forlorn figure after losing his Indigenous jersey post-match in the dressing room on Friday night.

Not that there were many concerns for the game after Roberts helped spark an undermanned Indigenous team’s stunning upset win over an aptly named NRL All Stars in front of more than 23,000 fans.

A last minute fill-in for injured Eels playmaker Chris Sandow (ankle), Roberts impressed off the bench, sparking the Indigenous team’s remarkable three-try finish by setting up Greg `goanna’ Inglis’ 51st minute four-pointer with a freakish, pin-point cross-field kick.

Not that it made his fruitless post-match search for his Indigenous jersey with his supportive teammates any easier to stomach.

“I’ll speak to you after I find my jersey,” a gutted Roberts told reporters.

Not much was going to cheer Roberts up – but Indigenous captain and Kangaroos half Johnathan Thurston’s assessment of the Knights playmaker would no doubt have helped ease his pain.

Roberts almost outshone impressive starting pivot Ben Barba in a scintillating display on Friday night and Thurston was full of praise.

“You see at Newcastle what he has done with the team there,” Thurston said.

“He will be a part of this team for many years to come.

“He was a lot more comfortable in the team and he trained well.

“I chopped and changed with him at training to give him that confidence – and you saw the impact he made.

“He took the line on a lot more – this game will give him a lot of confidence.”

Remarkably it was Roberts’ first senior representative experience since last May when he played in Country Origin’s 26-26 draw with NSW City.