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Queensland won another Origin series. Their domination over NSW is well-documented.
Others can analyse the Blues’ decade-long problems in trying to find a sustainable winning team, but as we saw (yet again) in Origin 3, the Maroons’ supremacy has been built on an intangible and impossible to buy or manufacture spirit and belief.
Although I was neither born nor live in Queensland, I have been a passionate Maroons supporters since the advent of State of Origin. And here’s why.
Queensland’s Origin success has been largely due to its Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island players. This is significant. Not just in terms of playing ability but in the way it has helped define and shape modern Queensland.
Queensland has an oftentimes shameful history of racism, massacres and forced removals of Aboriginal people. Let’s be blunt, for two hundred years there have been race relations problems in the north. The disadvantages, injustices, prejudices and genocidal practices that have been committed against our Indigenous people are not in dispute.
Sport, however, is one area where Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people have often found not just a ‘level playing field’ but opportunities to address racism and prejudice. Queensland, to its immense credit, has embraced and championed its Indigenous players. Of course, NSW has also fielded many champion Indigenous players, but NSW and Queensland have different histories, cultures and race relations.
Queenslanders worship Mal Meninga (a South Sea Islander who grew up in Aboriginal communities) and Johnathan Thurston. Before Origin 3, thousands of Queenslanders turned out to hail Johnathan Thurston, to pay tribute and offer respect not just to one of the most talented rugby league players of all time, but to an impressive, respected and much admired human being.
(AAP Image/Dean Lewins)
It’s quite something to see young white kids holding up signs saying ‘I Love JT’ and similar sentiments. Knowing that so many children are not seeing colour as an issue is not something I would have envisaged when Origin began.
It was Arthur Beetson that made me a Maroons supporter – seeing not just the best forward in the game, but a proud, outspoken Aboriginal man leading his state.
I have been fortunate to see the changes that Origin has brought to Indigenous sport, in part through the work of my father, Colin Tatz, who authored a number of books on Aboriginal sport. These books highlighted the incredible achievements of Aboriginal and Islander sportsmen and women.
Celebrating the achievements of Aboriginal and Islander athletes is part of reconciliation and addressing Australia’s history.
Watching Artie Beetson lead out the Maroons was a momentous moment in Australian sport. The Maroons have always fielded teams dominated by Indigenous talent: besides Beetson, they’ve boasted a roster that includes Thurston, Meninga, Steve Renouf, Greg Inglis, Dale Shearer, Sam Backo, Justin Hodges, Gorden Tallis and Sam Thaiday to name but a few.
A Twitterer posted that Australians will watch and support a black man with a football, but turn their backs on a black man with an opinion.
This was the case with Adam Goodes and maybe Antony Mundine, but I reckon more and more non-Indigenous people are listening to what Aboriginal league players say and do, and the role of Indigenous players in Queensland sides has been a major reason for changed attitudes.
Some Australians have difficulty dealing with proud, assertive black people. Mundine may be a braggart but his sporting achievements show that he has incredible ability and has been a positive role model for many. Aboriginal footballers should be recognised not just for their skill, but their opinions, politics and leadership.
The NRL too deserves praise for the ways they promote Indigenous players and their culture. League is certainly changing in its demographics, the number of Indigenous and Pacific Islanders in the NRL has increased markedly over the years, and this can only be of benefit to the code. The NRL (and AFL) has also made significant moves to stamp out any forms of racism.
I genuinely love following the Maroons. They are a magical and amazing football team.
This year they admittedly had no Indigenous players in their spine of Billy Slater, Cameron Munster, Cooper Cronk and Cameron Smith in Origin 3, but there’s no doubt that the strength and support for Aboriginal and Islander culture is a fundamental component of what makes Queensland so dominant, and also such a proud team to support.
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