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Imagine how State of Origin history would have to be rewritten if Greg Inglis had played for his rightful state of NSW rather than his adoptive state of Queensland.
Imagining is all that poor old Blues fans can do after six straight years of Inglis-inspired train wrecks.
So on the grounds that self-delusion beats whingeing any day, this is what would have happened if Inglis’s record 13 tries were deducted from Queensland’s scores and instead awarded to his state of origin, sorry birth (not to mention upbringing, first team and first senior club):
* Game one of the 2007 series, in which Inglis scored two tries, would have been won by NSW 26-17 instead of Queensland 25-18. Game two, a tight affair in which Inglis crossed the line once, would also have been won by NSW 10-6 instead of Queensland by the same score. Meaning the series would have been a 3-0 Blues-wash rather than a 2-1 Maroons win.
* Game one in 2009, in which Inglis scored two tries, would have gone to NSW 26-20 instead of Queensland 28-18. This, too, would have reversed the series outcome. Old result: Queensland 2-1. New result: NSW 2-1.
* Game three of the 2011 series, in which Inglis scored two tries, would have been won by NSW 32-26 instead of Queensland 26-24, again delivering the series to NSW 2-1 instead of the other way around.
In other words, three of Queensland’s current “streak” of six consecutive wins should have gone the other way.
His controversial six-pointer in Melbourne last month would have reversed that result, too.
So NSW should be heading into Wednesday night’s Sydney showdown one up in pursuit of back-to-back series wins instead of one down trying to stop seven consecutive losses.
Queensland’s longest winning sequence should be three, not six, and its superior record of 16-12 series wins (since 1982) should in fact be an inferior record of 13-15.
Is this sour grapes? Damned right it is.
Do these figures bear close scrutiny? Hell no. It was the Queensland team that got Inglis in position to score his 13 tries, and giving all of his points to the Blues is an utterly unfair imponderable.
It’s the sort of gibberish disgruntled fans resort to in times of deep despair, and helps make sport what it is.
But we all know the story of how Inglis came to be the biggest cane toad in history to have hopped from NSW north into Queensland.
Most hop south or even west, anywhere to get out of the joint.
Quite a few have hopped against the geographical tide of the pestilence and, like Inglis, ended up wearing maroon jerseys.
But none has inflicted as much damage.
Blues fans have always had trouble figuring out the exact sense in which Inglis qualifies as a Queenslander.
He was born at Kempsey in NSW.
His first club was Bowraville Tigers in NSW.
His first senior game, at the age of 16, was for Newcastle Hunter in NSW.
His first pro contract, signed at age 15, was with Melbourne Storm in Victoria.
Inglis doesn’t seem to have emerged as a Queenslander in any form until his first under 18s game for the Brisbane Wombats in 2004.
So maybe under Queensland rules that was his “origin”, which would now make him seven years old. They’ll be packing him off to school any day.
It does leave you wondering what might have been if Inglis played for a different brewery.
Let’s find out, Queensland.
Do the right thing and give him back.
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