The legendary Arthur Beetson captained Eastern Suburbs to the 1974 and 1975 premierships, while Mal Meninga was captain of the Canberra team that won the 1994 grand final in his last premiership match before retiring. Indigenous pride: Johnathan Thurston, flanked by Greg Inglis and Tyrone Roberts. Credit:Bradley Kanaris Hodges will retire after the grand final. If he had been found guilty of a dangerous throw at Tuesday night's judiciary hearing the Broncos star would have played his last match but he is now free to captain Brisbane for one last time. In addition, the captain of the Penrith under-20s team, Brent Naden, and Ipswich Jets skipper Keiron Lander are also Aboriginal, raising the possibility that the winners of all three matches on grand final day could be led by Indigenous players. It will be the second milestone for Indigenous players this season after gaining a record representation in the Australian team that played New Zealand in May's ANZAC Test through the selection of Thurston, Greg Inglis, Sam Thaiday, Greg Bird, Will Chambers and Alex Johnson.

NRL welfare manager Dean Widders said the feats showed that the Indigenous player camps and other work being done with Aboriginal players in the NRL were having a positive impact. Veteran on the run: Justin Hodges makes a break for the Indigenous All Stars. Credit:Chris Hyde "If you develop leadership this is the stuff that comes off the back of it," Widders said. "There haven't been many Indigenous players who have captained their sides to a grand final win so this weekend will make history because no matter who wins they will have an Indigenous captain." Also on this weekend is the NSW Aboriginal Knockout, now in its 45th year, which is being played at Dubbo, and the fourth annual Queensland Murri Carnival, hosted by the Arthur Beetson Foundation at Redcliffe.