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Why eight years of defeat has been good for NSW

Queensland's Brent Tate and NSW's Daniel Tupou compete for the ball during Game 1 of the 2014 State of Origin series. (AAP Image/Dan Peled)
Roar Guru
18th June, 2014
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I feel ashamed to say it: this is the losing streak NSW had to have.

Not for Paul Gallen, Jarryd Hayne and others who have been straining, bleeding and fighting to hold aloft that interstate shield again for the first time since Danny Buderus in 2005.

I’m talking about us. The people of NSW.

Not long before this Queensland winning streak began, the Blues had a home game where they were chasing a rare series cleansweep.

There were 30,000 empty seats staring back at our boys as they took the field.

Let’s be honest, we grew complacent and didn’t know what we had. Instead of celebrating past Origin triumphs, we kept the cheering to a minimum because with every Queensland defeat, the whispers would start… “State of Origin’s dying”.

Celebrating, we were made to feel, would be like producing a vuvuzela at a funeral. Wearing a Blues jersey around the office on game day? Forget it. Only for Queenslanders was it socially acceptable to flaunt your colours away from the stadium.

Interest was so mild The Daily Telegraph once tried to whip up anti-Queensland sentiment by urging fans to boo Carl Webb. Come game time, the jeers wouldn’t have worried a ballboy.

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Our head office was busy hanging up framed photos of Gus Gould and Freddie Fittler when Greg Inglis opted for Mal over Macksville.

But we’re awake to it now. Tell King Wally we finally get it.

Don’t get me wrong – I’d rather crawl over shards of busted XXXX bottles than watch Queensland win. But there is a silver lining to this murky maroon cloud.

Sick of smug jabs from banana-benders who now reside in this magnificent State? Tired of Thurston’s chuckle and Meninga’s grin? We’re ready for payback.

Tonight, from Tweed Heads to Talbingo, they’ll be screaming for their beloved Blues to smash the Maroons. New television ratings records will be set and ANZ Stadium will bulge with 83 thousand people, almost all dressed in blue jerseys and silly blue wigs.

And to think, they’re cheering a team that holds the record for the longest losing run in State of Origin.

Over the past four years – with the Maroons’ winning streak growing to embarrassing proportions – Origin crowds at ANZ Stadium have increased by 14 per cent.

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The average attendance is 82,317, and that figure could be topped in Game 2.

And let’s not forget TV ratings.

Figures in Sydney for Origin 1 at Suncorp Stadium, with most predicting another Queensland triumph, were the highest ever recorded at 1.228 million, up by six per cent on 2013.

Interest is so high the NSWRL is set to introduce a Blues Membership package from next season.

Usually with sport in Sydney, if your team’s losing, you find something else to do until they start winning again.

But the Blues have bucked the trend.

“As a State, we got used to winning and didn’t care enough,” reasoned former NSW winger Adam MacDougall.

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“But now our fans are sick of being downtrodden. They’re angry.:

Essentially we are imitating the Queensland public from the early 1980s, apart from the mullets and stubbies.

After years of beatings by NSW in the old interstate series they rallied behind the Maroons and passion became hatred as they chased redemption. The Blues couldn’t take a bus trip down Caxton Street without the locals trying to tip it over.

It’s the same feeling now but in reverse. Who didn’t thump their chest Hayne-style when an injured Brett Morris denied Darius Boyd?

No longer are we just fans. We’re damn proud to be Blue.

I just wish it hadn’t taken eight years.

Adam Hawse is a sports journalist and presenter for Network Ten. Follow him on Twitter @AdamHawse

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