By Fred Magee -
June 1st 2009 @ 7:19am
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For Origin’s survival… NSW must lose
This may be controversial for someone south of the Tweed to say this but for State of Origin to survive and indeed prosper in the future, NSW need to lose 3-0 in this year’s series.
Allow me to explain. I love NSW but more importantly, I hate to see Queensland win.
It is a hatred that had it’s birth watching NSW lose series after series in the early 1980’s as Queensland was exacting revenge after the many floggings at the hands of NSW teams – often filled with Queensland born and bred players.
Make no mistake. I hated Wally Lewis.
I hated Mal Meninga.
Dowling, Vautin, Conescu, Miles, Close, Langer…I hated them all.
And after every game that they helped Queensland win, after every series where ‘The King’ lifted the trophy…my hatred grew and grew – especially when I heard that old chestnut about ‘Maroon Spirit’.
As I grew older however, things changed.
I understood that Wally Lewis truly IS one of the game’s Immortals; a player the likes of which we will never see again.
I also grew to appreciate the fact Mal Meninga IS one of the greatest players ever to captain Australia and is fully deserving of being named in the centres in last year’s ‘Team of the Century’.
I can even acknowledge that Darren Lockyer is in the upper echelon of today’s players – all of this comes with age, acquired knowledge and a degree of common sense and reason.
What hasn’t changed however is my hatred for Queensland!
So come Wednesday it will still be the same. My blood pressure will go up with every tackle, my pulse will start to increase and the volume of my shouting at the TV will become louder.
So much so that despite my earlier assertion that NSW need to lose this series ‘for the good of the game’, I still want the new generation of Blues to grind Queensland into the dirt and make sure they know who the number one State truly is!
And that is what is wrong with the current state of affairs. We have a generation of supporters (dare I say Gen Y?) who grew up with the Blues domination of Origin football in the late 90’s, early 00’s. Where NSW winning League’s ultimate representative prize was commonplace.
They have not experienced the pain of seeing events like Dowling catching a Lewis kick off the crossbar to score under the posts in 1984.
Or Lewis carrying five NSW players over the line to win in 1989 after half the Queensland side were injured and had no chance of winning.
Or Mark Coyne scoring the ‘Miracle’ try to win in 1994.
They also don’t have this deep seeded expectation of Queensland scoring just before halftime – especially when NSW are in front!
No folks, this current generation did not have to go through any of this painful history, which has placed in me ‘seeds of hate’ which bloom every winter with the sight of a maroon jumper.
There is no ‘care factor’ and when asked whether it bothers them that Queensland could win a fourth straight series, the term ‘Whateverrrrrr!’ comes out of their mouth.
So in order for Origin to continue to thrive and prosper, it is the turn of Smith, Slater, Inglis and Folau to start being despised – rather than be admired and cheered for their individual skill and genius.
It is the turn of Lockyer and Thurston to be scorned upon the same way that Lewis and Langer were in series past.
It is time to pass the ‘torch of anger’ to a new generation of Blues supporters.
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(13)
Choppy said | June 1st 2009 @ 8:49am | Report comment
Isn’t that ironic? When NSW were going to 4 in a row it was going to be the destruction of the series, now if NSW loose 4 in a row it will kick start the series for Gen Y….
I don’t buy it.
Fred Magee said | June 1st 2009 @ 9:35am | Report comment
Maybe Choppy…but dont you think in general, the majority NSW supporters dont hate Queensland at this time of year as much as they hate us?
Choppy said | June 1st 2009 @ 10:02am | Report comment
Fred they never have. NSW supporters have never hated Qld as much as Qld hates NSW.
Have you been to a SOO in Qld dressed in NSW gear? I went to the old Lang Park and even walked past the Caxton. I’ve never seen anything like it in QLD regardless of the result it’s a battle to survive.
I’ve been to SOO’s in Sydney and they give the Qld’ers grief when NSW is winning.
State of Origin has always meant more to Qld than NSW and the Blues loosing 4 in a row won’t change anything.
Why? Because in NSW playing for Australia is the ultimate, in Qld playing for Qld is the ultimate and nothing will change that.
yeebarr said | June 1st 2009 @ 10:55am | Report comment
Truer words never spoken Choppy.
You ever see a media interview with a Qld when they’ve been selected to play for Australia? They’ll drone on about how “It’s such a huge honour to be selected…” but you can see they’re reading the lines from a set script.
But tell a player (regardless of where they’ve been born mind you) that they’re playing for Qld and you can almost see them breaking out in giggles like a 4 year old knows it’s Xmas tomorrow! Passion for your State is great. But don’t complain if we lose the World Cup then…
Luke W said | June 1st 2009 @ 11:43am | Report comment
NSW fans would be more passionate if the players were more passionate themselves. For me, I lost interest in this series when the selectors picked Farah over Ennis. Maybe Farah is the better player, but I would have loved to have watched Ennis play, niggling the Queenslanders, sledging and starting scuffles.
Fred Magee said | June 1st 2009 @ 12:11pm | Report comment
I also was brought up on the fact that representing your country was the peak and for me that wont change -in any sport. Fact is, League has changed and the fact that there is always talk about letting Kiwis play Origin tells you were it stands vs International League. It is a sad indictment on our game but that is how it is.
I went to an Origin at the old QEII stadium (in a Blues jumper)…it was nothing like I have ever seen in Sydney. Madness I think is an accurate term!
One of the things I believe is missing with Origin at the moment is that there not enough connection to the history; on both sides. Everyone has heard about Beetson hiiting Cronin in the first game and the Queenslanders being dudded for years…but what about Turvey Mortimer falling to the dirt at the SCG on his knees after NSW’s first series win…Michael O’Connor scoring all the points in his Origin debut…the darkness before the dawn where the ‘89 side got thrashed before names like Daley, Clyde, Lazarus made their mark. There are always two sides to a story and I am sick of hearing about what it all means to Queenslanders!!
Hence my rant…and for a laugh as well!
Skull said | June 1st 2009 @ 12:26pm | Report comment
As a more mature viewer I understand where you are coming from Fred, but since the King and the rest of the Queensland side from the 80’s retired I just dont get worked up about origin anymore. I used to think Origin 1 was the biggest event on the league calender, but now for me it is back to the GF as the biggest event.
We see these guys play every week and I think for me (and a few others I know) the novelty has worn off and it has now become an exhibition game, which substitutes for meaningful international matches.
keeper11 said | June 1st 2009 @ 1:44pm | Report comment
Skull…agree….the series in the 80’s was sporting passion personified…
due mainly to the galaxy of personalities ,sub-plots and the unpredicatblaty……
now ..its just an .overhyped sanitised and ..scripted made for TV ‘product…
featuring a cast of 26 …’role model’ ‘Brett somethings’
as one of the league commentators salivated about a nothing story of where the teams were staying in Mel
” wonderful..all part of the magnificent theatre that is SOO ” ..
when the hotel the NSW are staying becomes part of the buildup and hype..then you know the concept has no where to go…
will be 2-1 to QLD ….
( btw… commercial ‘interests’ will ensure its 1-1 after game #2 )
Working Class Rugger said | June 1st 2009 @ 2:07pm | Report comment
The danger of Queensland winning a 4th straight series is that it could help the NSW and particularly Sydney apathetic attitude to sporting events. Why go if Queensland is going to win.
Kenny said | June 1st 2009 @ 2:36pm | Report comment
Luke W, non doubt Ennis is a gun player he doesnt have the skill level of a Farah or the points in him. ANyone can go out and niggle and sledge and cause trouble but when push comes to shove at the end of the day you do that to qld and they will repay you wiht spades of points. SOO isnt about niggling and stuff like that anymore, its a waste of time and effort. Farah has outplayed Cam Smith at club level on many occasions and he creates more opportunities for points than Enis ever has or will.
westy said | June 1st 2009 @ 6:04pm | Report comment
The current QLD backline is one of the best it has produced even with langer and the king. Thurston and lockyer are very good. Hodges is in the class of Miles and Slater as good if not better than belcher. Folau could be anything and any team who has Hunt on the bench has some real potency . Perhaps the only difference is a Meninga .
The reds would kill for some of these players. That is compliment enough.
macavity said | June 3rd 2009 @ 7:49pm | Report comment
don’t agree.
its only after NSW win a few series in a row that people (QLDers) whine about “origin is dead”…
bluey said | June 4th 2009 @ 10:53pm | Report comment
What a load of crap ! I have watched every series since its inception and NSW are not only down 17 – 2 in overall
series wins they also didn’t win a series until 1985, this was not due to Queensland brilliance but the above average ability of the referees such as Manson and the grasshopper just to name a few. Its getting to a point now where the powers that be have left many NSW fans not seeing the game as a fair dincum affair but rather a corporate setup. I would rather lose fairly than win by referees so called mistakes. You can guarantee NSW will lose this series as much as you can guarantee they will get a few breadcrumbs to keep interest and win next year.