The Indigenous All Stars coach has given Sebastian Kris a round-one boost by declaring he was in his selection calculations.
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But the Canberra Raiders were internally pessimistic on Tuesday the NRL would overturn their decision to prevent Kris from counting the All Stars game towards his suspension.
That's despite the Raiders including a letter in their application from Indigenous All Stars coach Ronald Griffiths and team manager Gavin Badger, a former NRL referee, stating Kris would've been part of their plans if he wasn't suspended.
The letter also said they picked Kris for last year's All Stars game only for him to be ruled out with a shoulder injury.
Both of those points fly in the face of two of the main reasons why NRL judiciary chair Geoff Bellew rejected Kris's application.
![Indigenous All Stars coach Ronald Griffiths said he would've picked Raiders centre Sebastian Kris. Picture by Elesa Kurtz Indigenous All Stars coach Ronald Griffiths said he would've picked Raiders centre Sebastian Kris. Picture by Elesa Kurtz](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/reqbnGrLXyZFax2TwSi3Na/f7f389a0-aff7-498c-8ff7-1146d759051f.jpg/r0_90_1694_1042_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
Bellew knocked it back on the grounds Kris hadn't played in the All Stars game before and there was insufficient evidence he would've been picked this year.
The Raiders initially accepted the decision, but were shocked when South Sydney outside back Jacob Gagai was allowed to count the All Stars game for his suspension.
Gagai hadn't played in the All Stars before and hasn't even played NRL yet.
He's now free to make his NRL debut for Souths, who were suffering an injury crisis in the outside backs, in their Las Vegas season opener.
An NRL administration error allowed Gagai to be named in the Maori All Stars squad before he was withdrawn two days into the camp.
Initially Bellew referred Souths' application to the NSW Rugby League judiciary because Gagai's suspension occurred in the NRL State Championship, where the application was declined.
It was then decided the state champs did fall under the NRL's purview and Bellew approved it.
Griffiths was taken aback when told the NRL judiciary hadn't considered the letter to be sufficient evidence Kris would play.
"He was definitely being considered for selection," he said.
"We had him in the team last year, but he had to pull out with a shoulder injury.
"So he's certainly a quality player and would've come into calculations.
"I'm really unsure why [the NRL] would think like that.
"At the end of the day we had a list of players that were being considered for selection and he was picked last year so he was certainly being considered to play this year if available."
NRL PRE-SEASON TRIAL
Sunday: Canberra Raiders v North Queensland Cowboys at Seiffert Oval, 3pm.
Raiders squad: 1. Albert Hopoate, 2. Michael Asomua, 3. Matthew Timoko, 4. James Schiller, 5. Xavier Savage, 6. Kaeo Weekes, 7. Ethan Strange, 8. Josh Papalii, 9. Danny Levi, 10. Emre Guler, 11. Hudson Young, 12. Elliott Whitehead (c), 13. Morgan Smithies. Interchange: 14. Tom Starling, 15. Nick Cotric, 16. Trey Mooney, 17. Jed Stuart, 18. Chevy Stewart, 19. Adam Cook, 20. Peter Hola, 21. Mitch Henderson, 22. Zac Hosking, 23. Simi Sasagi, 24. Pasami Saulo, 25. Ata Mariota, 26. Hohepa Puru, 27. Zac Woolford.