As I woke today to the sobering reality of yet another Origin defeat, the eighth in succession, I felt a number of emotions. Sadness, obviously; frustration. But I also felt pride.
I’m proud of the fact that despite the shattering loss, not me, not the house full of mates I had over to watch the match, not my work colleagues this morning, and certainly not the eighty-odd thousand New South Welshman inside ANZ Stadium last night, felt any sense of apathy.
To be sure, that one hurt just as much as the rest of them. We’re now all counting down the days until we get another crack at those Queenslanders, just like we have done every other year, and players like Paul Gallen, Robbie Farah, Greg Bird, and Luke Lewis will all be counting them down with us.
Even after eight years, the passion and will to win is as strong as ever.
Now, compare this to when New South Wales dominated State of Origin and how Queensland dealt with the embarrassment of a few solid drubbings.
Put simply, they gave up. This was only after a few wins – they never had to endure eight in a row!
Queenslanders who live only for Queensland, such as Chris Close and former captain Gorden Tallis chucked in the towel and hinted that the Origin concept was dead when they couldn’t cope with defeat.
How could anyone forget that fateful night in Sydney on the 7th of June, 2000, when Queensland laid down and allowed the Blues to rack up a record breaking 56-16 victory?
Where was the famous ‘Queensland spirit’ on that night, I wonder?
All I know is that we, NSW, will keep coming. We might lose a ninth series next year, and Queensland might make it a decade of dominance the year after, but at least I can say we never gave up. Unlike Queensland.
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