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The State of Origin last Wednesday night was a great spectacle. There is genuine passion there.
It’s hard to fathom why it’s there when, lets face it, we are a close country with no huge decipherable differences in culture or belief either side of the border.
It’s a rivalry that was probably somewhat manufactured back when the Origin concept first started.
There was probably always a small animosity from Queensland towards NSW, but less so the other way. How could we hate our holiday destination? Manufactured or not, the rivalry is now very real.
Now NSW, fans and players are showing that Queenslanders don’t have a monopoly on passion. So where is it in rugby?
There is one man who typifies why the rugby cross border clash no longer has the same meaning as the league version. That man is Berrick Barnes.
I was lucky enough to play with Berrick for the Queensland Reds. He had just made his transition from the Brisbane Broncos. Great player and better bloke.
It is in him I first understood state pride. He was Queensland through and through. Unassuming but very tough.
As I left the Reds in 2007, I left knowing that there was something in that group that would make them successful eventually and the person they would build that success around would be Berrick.
You build teams around talented, long term prospects and he was this. No-one belived he would ever leave.
Not because other provinces wouldn’t want him, of course they would, but because he was a Queenslander and he wouldn’t play for anyone else. Or so I thought.
Two season later Berrick left the Reds for the Waratahs. The WARATAHS? The enemy. I couldn’t believe it, most of the Reds fans couldn’t believe it, but a the time it made sense to Berrick and good luck to him.
That move however confirmed to me that if he could make the move, then the rivalry between these two states in rugby is truly dead.
Genuinely the last time that I remember a Reds versus Waratahs game stirred any great emotional investment from the general public was when another famous Queenslander, Wendell Sailor, jumped ship and moved to the Waratahs.
It’s sad. Crowd numbers reflect it. The league version of State of Origin last Wednesday was a bash-a-thon, not open and spectacular but the people loved it cause we are emotionally invested.
The rugby version tends to be the same grind, but is widely panned as being boring, and it is. What do we care why they are bashing each other? Even the state names don’t even get mentioned when talking these teams.
They are the Waratahs and Reds, not NSW and Queensland. We need something to grab a hold of, an identity, something that binds us in with these players and gives a reason to cheer our very own version of the bash-a-thon.
I’m certainly not saying the players aren’t invested but, we who are watching need to be as well. Rugby needs this rivalry!
In the current environment, with five teams spread throughout Australia, most of these provinces are populated by players from NSW and Queensland. There is no easy solution.
Michael Cheika seems brave enough that he would fill the Waratahs with only NSW born players making the jersey mean something again. It will never happen though.
Yet, if we knew in the blue jerseys were filled with New South Welshmen playing for the state and trying to win for the state, would we ever have the need for a public forum between fans and coaches asking the players to be more entertaining?
This happened at New Sou… sorry, the Waratahs, a few years ago. Mind-boggling stuff.
The NSW league team have lost seven series in a row, however I’m yet to see one person demand they make play a more entertaining type of football because the crowd are bored.
I miss this rivalry that died out with professional rugby.
What can we do to bring it back? Brave coaches and administrators, but a first step would be just letting the teams have their state identities back. I want to watch New South Wales bash Queensland.
Authors note: I am a complete hypocrite. I was born and raised in the southern NSW town of Cooma. I got an opportunity to play for Queensland and was outta Sydney quicker than you can say ‘Banana Bender’ and had the time of my life playing for them.
I’ll leave you with some food for thought. NSW versus Queensland State of Origin rugby teams from the current crop of players.
NSW
1. Benn Robinson (Sydney)
2. Tatafu Polata-Nau (Sydney)
3. Dan Palmer (Shellharbour)
4. Hugh Pyle (Sydney)
5. Kane Douglas (Maclean)
6. Scott Fardy (Sydney)
7. Michael Hooper (Sydney)
8. George Smith (Sydney)
9. Luke Burgess (Newcastle)
10. Kurtley Beale (Mt Druitt)
11. Drew Mitchell (Liverpool)
12. Pat McCabe (Sydney)
13: Anthony Faainga (Queanbeyan)
14: Nick Cummins (Port Macquarie)
15: Israel Folau (Minto) – you know it’s true QueenslandLeague fans.
16: Saia Faainga (Queanbeyan)
17: Ben Alexander (Sydney)
18: Sam Wykes (Sydney)
19: Ben McCalman (Dubbo)
20: Nic White (Scone)
21: Mitch Inman (Sydney)
22: Adam Ashley-Cooper (Sydney)
Queensland
1. Greg Holmes (Warick)
2. Steve Moore (Rockhampton aged five via Saudi Arabia and Ireland)
2. James Slipper (Gold Coast)
4: Hugh McMeniman (Brisbane)
5: James Horwill (Brisbane)
6: Eddie Quirk (Brisbane)
7: Richard Brown (Townsville)
8: Ben Mowen (Brisbane)
9: Will Genia (Brisbane aged 12 via Port Moresby- if Adrain Lam counts, he counts)
10: Berrick Barnes (Brisbane)
11: Luke Morahan (Brisbane)
12: James O’Connor (Gold Coast)
13: Ben Tapuai (Brisbane)
14: Rod Davies (Rockhampton)
15: Jesse Mogg (Brisbane)
16: James Hanson (Brisbane)
17: Nic Henderson (Milmerran)
18: Rob Simmons (Theodore)
19: Jake Schatz (Brisbane)
20: Nick Frisby (Brisbane) – goes well after watching Lions game yesterday.
21: Dom Shipperly (Redcliff)
22: Ben Lucas (Brisbane)
Join The Roar rugby editor Christy Doran, former Wallaby Matt Toomua and a cast of regular and special guests as they look at the biggest issues in the game on The Roar Rugby Podcast. If you’re looking for great odds on the next game check out Aussie bookmaker PlayUp. Chances are you’re about to lose. Set a deposit limit.