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Here’s an interesting team to ponder as we edge closer to Origin I – a team made up of the players who were selected the most times in each position for the Maroons, and be prepared Queensland fans, as there are some surprise omissions.
Where players were selected an equal number of times in a position, the player who played the most overall games wins the day.
If still tied, the player with the most Origin victories gets the gig.
1. Billy Slater (31 games overall, 26 at fullback) – Slater made his debut in 2004 and played on the wing with Rhys Wesser at fullback. It didn’t stop Slater from impressing though, as he crossed for 3 tries in three starts as a winger. He also played games 2 and 3 of the 2008 series off the bench with Karmichael Hunt somehow given the number 1 jersey.
Billy Slater plays his final Origin match in 2018. (Photo by Chris Hyde/Getty Images)
2. Darius Boyd (28 games, 23 on the wing) – Boyd spent most of his career playing outside Greg Inglis. He crossed for 17 origin tries, the second highest in Origin history. In his last two series in 2016 and 2017 he played 4 games at fullback and 1 game in the centres.
3. Greg Inglis (32 games, 26 at centre) – Inglis began his career on the wing, much to the horror of his NSW opponents, and crossed for 5 tries in his 4 games on the flank. He finished as the top Origin try scorer with 18. He also played fullback once in the 2012 series and again in the 2015 season when Billy Slater was unavailable.
4. Mal Meninga (32 games, 31 at centre) – The immortal centre played his entire career in the centres except for game 2 in the 2004 season when he swapped places with Chris Close and played on the wing. That experiment didn’t last long.
5. Matt Sing (24 games. 17 on the wing) – Sing came from nowhere in 1995 to play for Paul Vautin’s “Neville Nobodies” and did so well that he was almost a permanent fixture in the side for the next 10 years. He also played 5 games at centre and even 1 off the bench in 1998.
6. Wally Lewis (31 games, 30 at 5/8) – Queensland’s greatest player and a rugby league immortal, Wally Lewis virtually owned the number 6 jersey between 1980 to 1991. Interestingly though, he played at lock in the very first Origin in 1980 with Alan Smith at pivot.
7. Allan Langer (34 games, all at halfback) – Langer sits in 4th place in overall Origin games played and also played in 3 Super League games for Queensland. How his name is rarely mentioned when discussing who should be the next immortal is beyond me.
8. Petero Civoniceva (33 games, 25 in the front row) – Civoniceva began his career in the second row and even played one game off the bench in 2004 before locking down a front row position in 2005.
9. Cameron Smith (42 games, all at hooker) – No surprises here. Cameron Smith has had a mortgage on the number 9 jersey ever since he debuted as a 20-year-old in game 3 in 2003 after the Maroons lost the first two games with first PJ Marsh, and then Michael Crocker at hooker. Queensland won game 3 convincingly, and Smith never looked back, finishing on top of the all-time Origin game list with 42 games.
10. Martin Bella (21 games, all in the front row) – This position required some adjudication as both Bella and Shane Webcke each played 21 games overall and all in the front row. Bella gets the nod as he played in 12 winning games compared to Webcke’s 8 wins and a draw.
11. Sam Thaiday (29 games, 22 in the second row) – Thaiday began his Queensland Origin career as a bench player and came off the pine in 6 of his first 9 games before cementing his place in the second row in the 2010 series. He also played lock in game 2 of the 2014 series.
12. Gary Larson (24 games, 16 in the second row) – Larson was a very handy player and filled in anywhere in the pack other than at hooker. He played his first four origins at lock before shifting to second row in game 2 of the 1992 series and found himself in the front row by the time the 1998 series rolled around.
13. Bob Lindner (25 games, 15 at lock) – Locks don’t come much better than Bob Lindner and he was one of those players who always found an extra gear when he donned the Maroons jersey. He also played 3 games off the bench and 7 games in the second row.
That’s some side, with 386 origins between them, and they’d take some beating in any era.
The side could boast two immortals in Lewis and Meninga and a couple who probably deserve the same status in Langer and Smith.
(Photo by Mark Nolan/Getty Images)
The strength of the side is highlighted by the following Queensland greats who didn’t make the cut:
• Johnathan Thurston – 37 games, the second most origins of any player. He played 19 games at halfback and 18 games at 5/8, but couldn’t get past either Wally Lewis or Allan Langer for this side.
• Darren Lockyer – 36 games, 16 at fullback and 20 at 5/8, but not enough to top either Billy Slater or Wally Lewis.
• Nate Myles – 32 games, spread relatively evenly between bench, second row and front row.
• Steve Price – 28 games, with 12 off the bench and 16 in the front row.
• Dale Shearer – 26 games, playing from the bench and anywhere in the backline except halfback.
• Justin Hodges – 24 games, with 2 on the wing and the rest at centre.
Next, the NSW Origin warriors.
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