Evah McEwen felt the connection the moment she arrived in Dubbo.
The Newcastle Knights forward had returned to Wiradjuri Country for her first Indigenous All Stars camp and instantly formed a bond with her new teammates.
It was a special feeling for McEwen, memories of the 19-year-old's childhood in Western NSW rushing back as she reconnected with her culture.
"As soon as I walked into the room I felt the connection," McEwen told pan66.com. "Everyone treats you like a sister and made it so easy to walk into a room full of people you don't know.
"It felt so good to be back out there and see everything. It's so different to Newcastle and is a lot slower. It reminded me of when I was little and spending time with my pop and dad.
"Going out to Country and the cultural activities we did were amazing. The Welcome to Country was so emotional and touching."
While the team trained on Saturday, the primary focus for the camp was on cultural connection and engaging with the local Indigenous communities in Dubbo and Trangie, the home town of coach Jess Skinner.
The squad had dinner with Ron Gibbs, the former Manly and Roosters star welcoming the players into his home to discuss the process that led to the establishment of the All Stars match and what it means for Indigenous communities.
The side was embraced across the weekend, with the Wongaibon Peoples of the Wiradjuri Nation in Trangie spending the past four months preparing for their visit.
After a cultural welcome, the players created gifts that will be given to the Māori All Stars prior to February's game using materials that had been gathered and prepared by the community.
The Indigenous Women's Unity Dance
For experienced back rower Shaylee Bent, it was a timely reminder of the impact rugby league can have on Indigenous communities around the country.
"It shows how important culture is and how important it is to the local community," Bent told pan66.com. "They had [prepared] for about five months. That shows how much the NRL and our game can have an impact on communities.
"They want to share their culture and country and bring it into camp. It's important and special not only for the community but for us players. We get to share what they've been working on for so long with the Māori girls.
"[Regional] communities can miss out on what [the cities] get so it's important we go out to rural areas and give them a vision that they can be whatever they want, it doesn't matter where they come from."
Last weekend's camp was attended by the Women's Indigenous All Stars squad and a handful of emerging rookies.
Bent can still remember how uncomfortable she felt at her first All Stars camp as a youngster spotted at the Koori Knockout.
Shaylee Bent Try
Now, emerging players are slowly integrated into the environment to help establish an early connection to the Indigenous space on and off the field.
Bent said it doesn't just prepare youngsters for future camps as players but empowers them to be leaders in their own Indigenous communities.
"A lot of the girls are still on their journey and don't realise how much the NRL can make a difference in their cultural story," Bent said. "You can learn so much that we didn't get to learn growing up due to colonisation. It's not common in everyday life to do some of the things we do during camp.
"It's very important to open up a lot of the girls' eyes on what they haven't had growing up, about learning new things and keeping them in everyday life so culture doesn't get lost. Then when we have kids we can teach them what we've learnt and it can continue."
