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Opinion
Even the most one-eyed NSW supporter would probably admit that the State of Origin series appears to mean a lot more to Queenslanders than it does to those south of the border.
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The passion and pure hatred for the opposition exhibited by the Maroons and their supporters over the years can’t easily be replicated by the Blues, and this has certainly given Queensland an advantage on the field, time after time.
There’s nothing like a full house at Suncorp to bring this passion into sharp focus, and to get the very best out of the QLD players. You don’t need to go past last year’s result for evidence of that.
So, why is this so?
Well, if you want to know what fires the Queensland spirit in State of Origin, you need to look no further than the rugby league Interstate Series that preceded the Origin concept.
In the interstate series, players were selected based on their state of residence, rather than their state of origin.
The very first interstate series was held in 1908, the year rugby league kicked off in Australia, with the visiting Queenslanders wearing maroon jerseys with the home team in sky blue.
New South Wales won this first match 43-0, and also won the inaugural series.
It took another 14 years for the Queensland side to win a series and they enjoyed the experience so much they kept winning until NSW bounced back in 1927.
Queensland were more than competitive over the next 30 years or so, winning some series and drawing others, but the NSW team took a stranglehold on the series from 1961, winning every year except for 1967, when Queensland managed to draw the series.
Overall, NSW won 45 of the 56 interstate series contested between 1908 and 1981.
(Photo by Bradley Kanaris/Getty Images)
Now, as if losing to NSW wasn’t bad enough, the Queenslanders had lost some of their best players to the attraction of the higher profile and more lucrative competition in NSW, and many Queensland players were then selected by their adopted state to turn out in blue jerseys against the Maroons.
So, not only were Queensland deprived of some of their best home-grown talent, but they had to watch their favourite sons help NSW continue its dominance year after year.
And we’re not talking about average first graders here, either, as most of the players lost by Queensland were the cream of the crop: internationals, greats of the game, and among New South Wales’ best performed players while they wore the blue jerseys.
The calibre of these players, and the extent of the problem for Queensland, is highlighted in the following team made up of Queensland home-grown talent who ended up playing for NSW in the interstate series.
1. Johnny Rhodes
Born in Brisbane, Rhodes moved from Wests Brisbane to Canterbury-Bankstown in 1968 and his brilliant form saw him play three games for NSW that year.
NSW won the interstate series 2-1 and Rhodes was selected to represent Australia at the 1968 World Cup. He later returned to Queensland to play for Wynnum Manly and then Fortitude Valley, and went on to play five matches for Queensland in the 1975 and 1976 interstate series.
2. Lionel Williamson
Born in Innisfail, Williamson played seven games for Queensland across the 1964, 1967 and 1968 interstate series, all of which were won by NSW.
He was selected in the 1968 World Cup squad and then joined Newtown in 1969, where he spent the next six seasons. During his time in Sydney, he played two games for NSW in 1971, and one game in 1974.
3. John McDonald
Hailing from Toowoomba, where he played for Valleys, McDonald was well established in both the Queensland and Australian teams by the time he made the move to Manly in 1969, where he spent the next three seasons.
He played nine times for Queensland between 1965 and 1968, and three times for NSW across the 1969 and 1970 series. After returning to Queensland in 1972, he turned his hand to coaching, and was Maroons coach in the inaugural Origin game in 1980.
(Photo by Albert Perez/Getty Images)
4. Graham Quinn
Born in Brisbane, Quinn was playing for the Brothers club when he was selected to represent his state in two games in the 1976 interstate series.
He transferred to St George the following year and won premierships with them in both 1977 and 1979. He was selected for NSW in Game 2 of the 1980 interstate series, which was run in addition to the State of Origin fixture, and finally got to represent Queensland again when selected for Game 2 in 1982.
5.Kerry Boustead
Boustead was plucked from the Souths (Innisfail) team as an 18-year-old to represent Queensland in the 1978 interstate series, playing all three games and scoring three tries along the way.
He was quickly snapped up by the Eastern Suburbs Roosters for the next four seasons before joining Manly. While residing in Sydney, he played six games for NSW, before being selected for Queensland in the first Origin game in 1980.
He went on to play five more Origins for his state across the 1982 and 1984 series.
6. Graham Laird
Originally from Mackay, Laird was selected from the Toowoomba competition to represent Queensland in Games 2, 3 and 4 of the 1995 interstate series which finished in a 2-2 draw.
He was then selected in both the second and third Tests against France that year, partnering Keith Holman in the halves. He joined Parramatta in 1956 and went on to play one match for NSW.
He returned to Mackay in 1958 and was killed in a farming accident that year.
7. Duncan Thompson
Born in Warwick, Thompson was selected at age 20 in 1915 to represent his state in two matches, and following service in WWI, during which he was badly wounded, he played four more games for Queensland in 1919.
After moving to Sydney to play with North Sydney, and helping them to their only ever premiership victories in 1921 and 1922, he was selected for NSW on three occasions across the 1921 and 1922 seasons.
He returned to Queensland to play for Toowoomba in 1924 and was soon back in the Queensland team, playing five more games for his state across the 1924 and 1925 seasons.
8. Kevin Ryan
Ryan was born in Ipswich, and played Rugby for the Brisbane Brothers club as well as representing both QLD and Australia before switching to League with the St George team in 1960. He played 8 games for NSW while at the Dragons.
9. Noel Kelly
Kelly was born in Goodna and played his early football in Ipswich and Ayr.
He played five games for Quensland in the 1959 and 1960 seasons, winning all but one. He made the move to the Western Suburbs Magpies in 1961 and played with them for nine seasons, during which he played five games for NSW.
10. Arthur Beetson
Born in Roma, Beetson first made a name for himself while playing for Redcliffe in the 1964 and 1965 seasons, winning a premiership in 1965.
He linked up with Balmain in 1966 for five seasons, and then really hit his peak with Eastern Suburbs across the 1971 to 1978 seasons, before finishing his Sydney career with Parramatta, finally heading home to Redcliffe in 1981 for his last season.
Arthur and the King (AAP Image/Gillian Ballard)
While in Sydney, he was one of NSW’s best players, turning out 17 times for the Blues. He was Queensland captain in the first Origin match and also captained Queensland in the final interstate series in 1981.
11. Elton Rasmussen
Hailing from Maryborough, Rasmussen was playing in Toowoomba when he made his debut for Queensland in 1959, playing in all four games for his state that year and going on to win the series.
He then played all eight games in the 1960 and 1961 seasons before following the well-worn path to the St George Dragons in 1962, where he played the next seven seasons.
During his stay in Sydney, he was selected for seven games for NSW. He returned to Queensland in 1969 to play with Souths (Brisbane) and was selected to play a swansong match for Queensland that year.
12. Harry Bath
The Brisbane born Harry Bath made his first grade debut as a 16-year-old with the Souths (Brisbane) club in 1940, playing with them until 1945.
He played two games for Queensland in 1945 before heading to the Balmain Tigers for two seasons in 1946. While in Sydney, he was one of the first players picked in the NSW side, playing five matches for his adopted state.
13. Rod Reddy
Originally from Rockhampton, Reddy joined the St George Dragons as a teenager and stayed for 12 years. He played a dozen games for NSW between 1973 and 1980 without losing a game, and finally got to play for his home state in the inaugural Origin match in 1980.
14. John Lang
Lang became an institution at Easts (Brisbane) during his 11-year career with them, winning three premierships along the way. He was first selected for Queensland in 1972, and ended up playing for his state on 18 occasions, tasting victory only once.
He made the move to Sydney in 1980 for a single season with the Roosters, and was selected for NSW in Game 2 of the interstate series. His final representative game was in the Queensland front row for the first Origin game in July 1980.
15. John Wittenberg
Born in Wide Bay, Wittenberg represented Queensland on five occasions between 1962 and 1966 while playing for Wynnum Manly and then Theodore. He joined St George in 1968 for three seasons, and during this time played five games for NSW.
16. Kel O’Shea
Born in Ayr, O’Shea was playing for his home town when selected for Queensland in 1953 and went on to play eight games for his state across the 1953, 1954 and 1955 interstate series.
He then made the move to the Western Suburbs Magpies in Sydney, where he starred for the next eight seasons. During this time, he played eight games for his adopted state.
17. Rod Morris
Born in Ipswich, Morris was part of the 1977 and 1978 premiership winning teams for Easts (Brisbane). By the time he headed to the Balmain Tigers in 1979, he had already represented Queensland on seven occasions, losing every game.
While he was with Balmain, he represented NSW six times, winning on each occasion. He represented his home state in the very first Origin match in 1980 and went on to play three more Origins for Queensland.
Honourable mentions to Bob Hagan, Steve Hage, Ray Higgs, John Ribot, Paul McCabe, Paul Khan, Mick Veivers and Bruce Walker, who also began their careers in Queensland before heading to Sydney and then being selected for NSW in the interstate series.
This is by no means an exhaustive list, though, and apologies to those I have omitted.
Whichever way you look at it, that’s an awful lot of talent to be playing for the wrong team.
I wonder how much better Queensland would have fared with these players available to them, rather than to the opposition?
I also wonder how NSW would have fared not only without these players, but also if a similar number of NSW players of the same calibre were playing for Queensland rather than NSW.
Queenslanders have understandably loved the Origin concept from day one because it finally gave them a chance to see their own players wearing Maroon jerseys rather than blue.
More than that, though, it has given them the opportunity to end the NSW dominance of interstate football.
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