The pointless NSW and Queensland players: Who makes the tryless, goalless Origin teams?

The recent articles on the teams comprising the highest point scorers in Origin for each state threw up some great names, but check out these teams of players from both NSW and Queensland who never once managed to get on the scoreboard in an Origin match. Some of the names will surprise.

The criteria are that the player must have played at least one game for their state in their selected position, and the pointless player with the most games for their state makes the team.

New South Wales Blues

1. Mark Hughes – 3 games

.Preferred playing in the centres for Newcastle, and scored 66 tries from 161 first grade games.

2. Blake Ferguson – 9 games

He had a much better strike rate when playing for Australia, scoring a try in all but one of his seven internationals.

3. Terry Hill – 14 games

Tezza will be spitting mad to appear in this team.

4. Steve Rogers – 4 games

Interestingly, he scored seven tries and six goals when representing NSW in the pre-Origin Interstate Series.

5. Matt Seers – 4 games

Probably no real surprise as three of his games were off the bench.

6. Terry Lamb – 7 games

Lamb also played eight games for Australia, all off the bench, without crossing for a try.

7. Geoff Toovey – 15 games

Toovey was never a noted try-scorer, and also played 12 Tests for Australia without registering a four-pointer.

8. Steve Roach – 17 games

Roach did better for Australia, crossing for three tries in 20 Tests.

9. Robbie Farah – 16 games

Farah did once score a try in a City-Country match, and scored for Lebanon on debut.

(Photo by Cameron Spencer/Getty Images)

10. Luke Bailey – 15 games

No surprises here as Bailey only scored 21 tries in his entire 292-game career.

11. David Gillespie – 15 games

Gillespie’s only tries in the representative arena, three of them, came when he was wearing the green and gold.

12. Ryan Hoffman – 14 games

Hoffman’s only try at representative level came in the 2007 City-Country clash when he scored the match-winner.

13. James Tamou – 14 games

Just 26 tries in 305 first grade games says it all.

Thirteen players, a combined 147 games and not a single point between them. A remarkable effort.

Queensland Maroons

1. Karmichael Hunt – 10 games

Hunt scored his fair share of tries in his career but couldn’t jag one in a maroon jersey.

2. Rhys Wesser – 4 games

Wesser was a prolific try-scorer in club football, but couldn’t get on the scoreboard for Queensland.

3. Chris McKenna – 7 games

McKenna did better for Australia, scoring a try in each of his two Tests.

4. Justin O’Neill – 4 games

Didn’t get on the scoreboard for either Queensland or Australia.

5. Selwyn Cobbo – 3 games

His time will come!

6. Chris Flannery – 10 games

Flannery played multiple positions for the Maroons, but couldn’t make it onto the scoreboard.

7. Michael Hagan – 5 games

Hagan was never much of a point-scorer, with his biggest single season points haul of 20 coming with Newcastle in 1989.

8. Gary Larson – 24 games

Holds the record for the most Origin games without scoring a point.

9. Jason Hetherington – 8 games

He did better in the green and gold, scoring a try in his Test match debut against NZ in 1998.

10. Martin Bella – 21 games

Bella wasn’t selected for his try-scoring ability, and crossed for only seven tries in his 265 top-level games.

11. Trevor Gillmeister – 21 games

His biggest single season points haul was 24 from six tries for Brisbane in 1991.

12. Ashley Harrison – 15 games

He scored 56 tries in his nearly 300-game career but never for Queensland.

13. Corey Parker – 19 games

Parker scored a mountain of points in his first grade career but couldn’t even get a kick at goal for Queensland.

A total of 151 pointless games between them.

In a state versus state shootout between these two teams my money’s on NSW, who have a much better spine.

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