Nathan Cleary still has June 18, 2014 marked down as one of the best nights of his life.
Dressed in light blue shirt and donning a dark blue wig, a 16-year-old Cleary watched from the concourse at ANZ Stadium with the Blatchy’s Blues supporter group as NSW looked set to squander another series.
Then with one dummy and go, Trent Hodkinson crossed the tryline and ended eight years of misery.
“That was one of the best experiences of my life seeing Hodko go over there,” Cleary told AAP.
“I was at the game and in Blatchy’s Blues.
“It was unbelievable seeing them get the win and the crowd was going off. It was unreal.”
Four years on, Cleary now has the chance to join Hodkinson as one of only two Blues halfbacks to have tasted Origin series success since 2006.
In that time, some seven others have tried and failed. That list includes the likes of Craig Gower, Brett Kimmorley and James Maloney.
But Cleary is determined to make sure he doesn’t join it, instead dreaming of sending Sydney into the same kind of drought-breaking delirium of 2014 on Sunday night.
“Hopefully we can replicate something like that,” Cleary said.
“(Jarryd Hayne’s crowd surf) was right in front of us and that was awesome.”
Cleary wouldn’t have been alone in his excitement on that night some four years ago.
Had it not been for that victory, up to 16 of the 17 Blues selected for Origin II wouldn’t have seen NSW win a series in their adult life.
Five of the squad were still in primary school when the Blues tasted victory previous to that in 2005, with most still clinging onto faint memories of Andrew Johns’ heroics.
But all that can end on Sunday night, where the NRL is expecting a packed house and the Blatchy’s Blues allotment is rapidly approaching its capacity of 12,000.
Albo
Guest
I think Cleary did a great job for his debut Origin game. Just a couple of games back from a serious knee injury, his defence was outstanding as he completely contained the QLD dangerous left side attack of Munster & Inglis. He took a back seat to Maloney in attack as would have been the game plan, but he backed up all night , chased kicks and covered more ground than any other player on the field, and he made no errors on the night. His next Origin match will likely be just as impressive. His two Club games following were a battling win via his own winning field goal in Canberra with just two days rest from Origin, and then an ordinary team performance against the Roosters, where his defence was still solid but the Panther forwards were dominated on the night and Maloney's attempted miracle moves were way off on the night. You cannot blame Cleary for that performance as the Roosters were just red hot on the night, with the Panthers limited to just 37% possession, no yardage from the back and forwards dominated this time.
Paul
Roar Guru
Cleary needs tolift markedly for game 2. He played okay in game one but didn't stamp his mark on the game and he hasn't done a lot in the next 2 Club games he's played. I started to think I was watching another Mitchell Pearce after his less than impressive effort against the Roosters. I really hope I'm wrong and he steps up this Sunday night.