By SAM DEBENHAM

FORMER Bathurst junior George Rose was part of the winning Indigenous Dreamtime side that beat the New Zealand Maori squad 34-26 on Sunday, and if certain individuals have their way he could be running around for the team in a more official capacity in future.

In the wake of the successful exhibition match which took place before the opening ceremony for the Rugby League World Cup at the Sydney Football Stadium, there have been calls to include both sides as part of the next World Cup in 2013.

Former league star and current boxing world champion Anthony Mundine called for the indigenous team to play the Australian side every year on the back of a highly entertaining match.

"I think they should get the best of the best Aboriginals and the best of the best of the rest of the country and let's see how they go. I think they would surprise a lot of people," Mundine said.

"I think that would give our youth something to strive for and something to dream about."

On the back of a starring performance from five-eight Jamie Soward, the home side led for most of the match before the Maori hit the front in the 68th minute thanks to Arana Taumata, who gave his side a 26-22 advantage.

However, Rhys Wesser and Yileen Gordon had the last laugh as they both scored in the final stages to give their team a well-deserved win.

Rose was ecstatic afterwards having been a part of the historic match.

"It was just awesome. I was pretty surprised by the size of the crowd – the gates opened only 15 minutes before the game started but there were people lining up for 100 metres," he said.

"The 'haka' was interesting, we'd been practising a response dance during the week, then when they came across the half-way line we started a bit early, it was absolutely intense.

"The game was pretty tough for the bigger blokes, it was good, free flowing footy but with the heat and the speed of the game it made it tough for the forwards. I was pretty happy with my game, I didn't get a lot of time, but it was great just to be a part of it."