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Tradesman-like players are key to winning Origin

Former Bronco Ben Hannant has the best winning percentage with Queensland. (AAP Image/Dan Peled)
Roar Guru
20th May, 2017
11

So with all the speculation surrounding State of Origin selections, which players, past and present, have the highest success rates?

Constructing Queensland and NSW squads based purely on winning percentages is as good a method as any.

Selection criteria is simple, each player must have at least ten Origin games to their name, and must have played in the relevant position to be considered. From there, simply the highest percentage winners are selected for their state side.

While there are some genuine superstars in the teams, there are also a lot of tradesmen-like players who have served their state well. Some I would never have thought would make a team like this.

For Queensland, Martin Bella, Ben Hannant, Ashley Harrison, Jacob Lillyman and Dallas Johnson would never be talked about when naming a greatest ever Queensland side. Yet when called upon by they have always done a job for their state and their winning record reflects that.

Similarly for NSW, the likes of Tim Brasher, Paul McGregor, Rod Wishart, David Gillespie, Adam Muir and Craig Fitzgibbon are all underated players who served their state well during periods of NSW dominance.

It also means that a host of superstars missed selection, including Immortals Wally Lewis and Andrew Johns, but nonetheless two very good sides were assembled. The Queensland team reflected their recent dominance along with a spattering of players from the 1980s, while no current player made the NSW side. It includes players mainly from the 1990s along with a couple of players from both the ’80s and early 2000s.

The player with the highest winning percentage in Origin is Ben Kennedy, who won ten of his 13 games with NSW for a winning percentage of just under 77 per cent. And Queensland’s player with the highest win percentage? Amazingly, Ben Hannant, who emerged victorious in nine of his 13 games for the Maroons.

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Queensland Maroons
1. Billy Slater
2. Darius Boyd
3. Tony Currie
4. Gene Miles
5. Greg Inglis
6. Jonathan Thurson
7. Cooper Cronk
8. Nate Myles
9. Cameron Smith
10. Martin Bella
11. Ashley Harrison
12. Sam Thaiday
13. Paul Vautin

14. Karmichael Hunt
15. Ben Hannant
16. Jacob Lillyman
17. Dallas Johnson

NSW Blues
1. Tim Brasher
2. Jamie Ainscough
3. Paul McGregor
4. Andrew Ettingshausen
5. Rod Wishart
6. Laurie Daley
7. Ricky Stuart
8. Paul Harragan
9. Geoff Toovey
10. Peter Tunks
11. Noel Cleal
12. Dean Pay
13. Ben Kennedy

14. Craig Wing
15. David Gillespie
16. Craig Fitzgibbon
17. Adam Muir

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