- Video
-
Club Roar
Captured a great grassroots sporting moment? We want to see it!Content Collections
The Roar Community
- Join
- Login
In all areas of society, we often find people and institutions that seem to be considered beyond the glare of harsh examination.
Public opinion consists of certain narratives that drown out any critical analysis of seemingly untouchable subjects, focusing instead on easy targets deemed acceptable for challenge by the powers that be.
Rugby league has its own sacred cows, the most sanctified of which must be State of Origin, its ‘showpiece’.
An event that, for all the hype, is not what it used to be.
How could it be? Origin began with a passion and ferocity uniquely suited to the era of its birth. The players of that time had lived through one-sided interstate series since they were born, with NSW able to pick anyone playing in the Sydney competition. Most of today’s players were not even alive when Game 1 lifted off in 1980.
Victory in State of Origin is not primarily based on ‘desire’, despite all the empty rhetoric spouted by journalists, commentators and even former players. It hasn’t been for a long time. Success in the representative arena is based on identical factors to club football: given a relatively equal level of emotional commitment to the game at hand (‘passion’), the team with superior talent will prevail in most cases.
When it started 32 years ago, this clearly was not the case. In the early to mid-80s, Queensland players like Wally Lewis, Arthur Beetson, Chris Close and Paul Vautin excelled in large part to abnormally high levels of desire and will, and the same could be said for Steve Mortimer in 1985 when he led NSW to their initial series win.
The fractious tour of New Zealand that year, featuring bitter hostilities in camp between players of the rival states illustrate the intensity of that era. When was the last time interstate rivalries between Test players arose on a Kangaroo campaign?
As the 90s came around, several factors emerged which began to dull the gladiatorial nature of State of Origin, slowly turning it into the skilful, entertaining yet emotionally neutral event that it is today.
League began to clean itself up, banishing the high shot, cracking down on brawls and eradicating indiscretions in the play-the-ball that had often sparked violence. The arrival of the Broncos meant that the fun of unknown Brisbane club players being called up to the season’s biggest games was gone.
But the biggest change was fulltime professionalism. Players now were thinking of their livelihoods. They were no longer plumbers or office workers ready to fling themselves into the history books with no thought for bodily preservation.
A professional approach carried with it a more realistic, less idealistic outlook, resulting in a new awareness that this was indeed a game, a game that provided a living, and the men wearing the other jumper were fellow tradesmen, not enemy tribesmen to be wiped out.
1995 was the last year where a rare passion, lifting ordinary players to a special plane, was on display. The Queensland team had been decimated by the Broncos’ defection to Super League, and coach Paul Vautin was handed a bunch of fringe players. They went on to beat a decent, though not full-strength, NSW team 3-0.
That was the dividing line for this writer. Since then, we have all continued to enjoy State of Origin for the extremely fast, intense, skilful rollercoaster that it is.
But it’s not about passion. Let’s not self-delude. One only has to look at the results to affirm that the more talented team wins, almost all of the time. NSW dominated from 1992 through ’96 – they had better players, Queensland had lost Wally Lewis. Queensland slaughtered the Blues in 1988 and 89 – their team was freakish in those years. NSW in the early 2000s regained the ascendancy, with Fittler, Johns and Buderus leading the way.
Game 1 told a similar story. Beyond the overdone refereeing controversy, NSW had very few line breaks in the game. Queensland looked dangerous every time they penetrated into Blues territory. They scored tries from skilful backline movements. When Greg Inglis touched down in controversial circumstances in the 73rd minute, Queensland were already ahead and had managed to travel down the field to give themselves a chance to seal it.
We need to see Origin in a different light. It doesn’t carry the same resonance, and the biggest reason for this is the rise in quality of club football. It’s time to celebrate the great games we see on a regular basis. The recent Manly-Brisbane game at Suncorp was at Origin level for speed, skill and theatre. The gap between the best NRL games and State of Origin has narrowed considerably since 1980. This is fantastic news.
Emotional scars heal, times change, perspectives shift. State of Origin is a highlight of the rugby league season, but it is not what it used to be. It has ironically returned to the dynamic prevalent in the old, lopsided interstate games – the team with the superior talent wins.
Reckon you can pick the winning team? Build your own dream team with Draftstars daily fantasy and compete on any match. For great odds on the NRL head on over to PlayUp. Imagine what you could be buying instead. Set a deposit limit.