Parramatta stalwart Nathan Hindmarsh says anyone who goes into Saturday night's All Stars game with a "half-arsed" attitude runs the risk of getting hurt.

The veteran forward will be playing in the fixture for the first time after winning the public vote as Parramatta's sole representative.

Although he didn't play in last year's inaugural All Stars fixture, Hindmarsh heard about the level of intensity displayed during the game.

"From what I saw on tv last year, it was pretty heated, I don't think you can go out half-arsed," Hindmarsh told reporters on Sunday.

"You've got to go out and put in otherwise you are going to get hurt."

The Eels' warhorse was pleased that hard-working forwards like himself, Paul Gallen and Petero Civoniceva were recognised by supporters.

Hindmarsh revealed new coach Stephen Kearney had put the Eels through a really demanding pre-season schedule.

"It's probably the toughest I've had in a long, long time, if not of my career," Hindmarsh said.

He rated winning an All Stars jersey alongside his NSW and Australian honours.

One of his NRL All Stars teammates, Canberra fullback Josh Dugan, is hoping to use this weekend's match as a springboard to more senior representative honours later in the season.

"It starts with this week, hopefully I can have a good game on Saturday and put my name up for Origin later on," Dugan said.

One of the emerging stars of the NRL, Dugan wasn't expecting to top the Canberra vote, with just one player from each club eligible to make the team.

"I was a bit blown away when I saw the first round of voting," Dugan said.

He revealed he had shed five kilos of weight during the off-season and had been working more on his kicking game heading into the new campaign.

"As a fullback, you always have to be a leader, but I think I have to step it up a bit this year and sort of take a bit of the pressure off our halves," Dugan said.

He said veteran halfback andnew recruit Matt Orford was expected to be fit for a trial in two weeks after undergoing a recent arthroscope.

Dugan believed Orford would help the Raiders compensate for the long-term absence of injured playmaker Terry Campese.

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