Brad Walters

Sydney Morning Herald

On the eve of his greatest achievement, Indigenous All Stars captain Preston Campbell has revealed his biggest fear and a key reason for him organising tonight's historic match at Skilled Park.

''I'm scared,'' Campbell told the Herald in an extensive interview at the team's Gold Coast hotel, where his emotions ranged from pride at the quality of the Aboriginal team to despair and sadness over the centuries of suffering still being felt by his race.

''A lot of us indigenous people are dying at a young age. The average life expectancy these days for an adult indigenous male is in the fifties [53], which is pretty scary. Even though I am a fit person or a fit man, I'm likely to keel over just like that. The indigenous life expectancy for a man is much shorter than for the normal Australian male [78] and that scares me.''

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