Origin Memories

[Kaz]

Because I am an old fart, I remember earlier games.

IMO: The best game ever was game 2 in 1989.

QLD lost 3 players before halftime Allan Langer with a broken ankle, Mal Meninga a fractured eye socket, Paul Vautin with an elbow injury.

In the second half Michael Hancock came off with a bruised shoulder, Bob Lindner played on with a fracture in his ankle, which I think happened in the first half of the match, he left the field 5 minutes from the end, leaving the Maroons down to 12 men. (These days players would go off the field with a fractured eyelash.)

Wally Lewis scored a 40 metre try to win the game for QLD.

Final score was 16-12

 

[Mr Fourex]

The Brett Hodgson loss pass that Locky picks up is in my head forever and I will never forget it. To me it's a shame that's how everyone remembers Brett Hodgson.

Not everyone.

I remember Hodgson mainly for this ......




:laugh:

 

[Porthoz]

Yeah, it doesn't get more embarrassing than Brett Hodgson highlights in the Origin arena. :laugh:

 

[Super Freak]

 

[Big Pete]

Origin 2007

Is it just me or does this series get lost in the shuffle? It's sort of like Origin 93 where people just seemingly remember the result and not the quality or closeness of the matches, which is a shame.

As a Queensland fan, I don't think I'd ever felt as confident about a series win up to that point. Two games at Suncorp, most of our stars were fit (sans Crocker who I always thought was a good player for Queensland) and NSW seemed like a real basket case resting all their hopes on young Jarrod Mullen who wasn't even considered for their silly exhibition game.

Be that as it may, it was an odd feeling and I just wondered if the Maroons shared my feeling and whether or not it'd make them complacent heading in.

As it happened, the opener was a real test for the Maroons, but one they handled quite comfortably in the end. It was odd, despite holding an intimidating lead at half-time, you just got the sense that once Queensland composed themselves they'd bounce back and sure enough they did just that scoring off a simple rehearsed second man play to GI and a soft try to Pricey which felt especially sweet since he'd been denied off a questionable call earlier.

Looking back for me what sticks out about this game is the debut of Jarryd Hayne. Haynsy scored one of the great Origin tries, intercepting a desperate Tate kick and doing it all himself down the touch-line and basically threw it all away throwing the ball back inside to Lockyer who scored a try that was eerily similar to the one he scored in his last outing for the Maroons.

That and of course the famous sledge from Hodges to Buderus. The sucker does it when he's 12 points down, showing absolutely no respect to the Blues.

Origin II was all about whether or not the Maroons would be able to break their hoodoo in Sydney and on paper, it never seemed to be in doubt but there was definitely a bit of tension surrounding this game. This tension seemingly played a part in the game as the referees kept the whistle for the most part in their pockets, turning the game into a real battle of attrition.

As it's been pointed out, the game was basically decided in one quick dash when Price scored a rare and valuable possession for his team when Bailey interfered with him while attempting to play the ball before Webb threw a clear forward pass leading to a nice try to Bell right in the corner.

The dying moments of this match were pretty thrilling with the Blues going close on a couple of occasions but in the end, once GI booted the ball into the grand-stand, Queensland had two series in a row and for the first time in what felt like a long time, won four games in a row.

Surely a white-wash was a mere formality?

Nope.

But the third game was by far the more memorable match of the contest. Not because it was a quality game, it really wasn't but because of the story of Queensland's determination who refused to let NSW to score despite wave after wave of attack and threatened to take the match. Unfortunately, the injuries caught up to them and NSW were just too strong on this partiuclar occasion. Which I think is a shame, not only for Queensland but because the game is just sort of lost in time. Had Queensland won, it would have been remembered like Game 2 1989, but instead it's rarely spoken about.

In saying that, I think the game was important for a NSW perspective because it gave them hope for the future and that the next wave of players like Brett Stewart, Jarryd Hayne, Greg Bird, Paul Gallen & Ryan Hoffman could turn things around. All they really needed was for a half to step up, and they'd be right, especially with two games in Sydney.

 

[Super Freak]

 

[CaptainHook]

For an Origin game, surprisingly soft defense from both sides in that footage...

 

[Broncoman]

The game last night is a game that I will look back on very fondly and it's one of the greatest Origin wins I've ever experienced. A team missing some key players, a new halves combo, a team that was ridiculed by the QLD press, written off by some and weren't given a chance held of an extremely strong Maroons outfit and to ice it the win came at Lang Park and beating Queensland in front of their own fans is beautiful.

I reviewed that game in the match review thread. That game and Bill Harrigan would've dominated the media in both states for weeks after that. The build up to the 2nd game would've been intense. As I said in the review thread Queensland got some very lucky calls as well as the Blues.

 

[broncos4life]

The game last night is a game that I will look back on very fondly and it's one of the greatest Origin wins I've ever experienced. A team missing some key players, a new halves combo, a team that was ridiculed by the QLD press, written off by some and weren't given a chance held of an extremely strong Maroons outfit and to ice it the win came at Lang Park and beating Queensland in front of their own fans is beautiful.



I reviewed that game in the match review thread. That game and Bill Harrigan would've dominated the media in both states for weeks after that. The build up to the 2nd game would've been intense. As I said in the review thread Queensland got some very lucky calls as well as the Blues.

qld were just as ridiculed by the new press, it's the way it works. Get over yourself

 

[Broncoman]

qld were just as ridiculed by the new press, it's the way it works. Get over yourself

I can't recall the NSW press calling the QLD team duds. The reporting in both the courier and daily is a joke and agenda driven.

 

[broncos4life]

I can't recall the NSW press calling the QLD team duds. The reporting in both the courier and daily is a joke and agenda driven.

Oh really? You missed all the articles about how they are too old, too arrogant etc. etc.

Obviously your head is too far up your arse believing Reynolds deserved no suspension to realise both media camps push their own agenda

 

[Big Pete]

Bump

2008

On a personal note, I look back at this series as a celebration of the past 100 years of Interstate Rugby League and it was really good to learn about the likes of Gorman & Craig. At times it seems like Queensland Rugby League didn't exist until 1980, so it was great to see a lot of the past players honored and put Origin into perspective.

The 08 series felt like a real cross-roads. While the Maroons had never technically won two series in a row in my life time (although 1999 and 2002 certainly felt like it), it was hardly uncommon in Origin history to see a state win back to back Shields and the Blues were firming with two home games and an injection of new blood that looked promising. Furthermore, they had Bellamy as coach who appeared to be an upgrade on Murray who was one of those 'Forever a Bridesmaid, never the Bride' type of coach.

The build up to the series was that it was anybody's game. NSW had a couple of strange selections (Quinn, Wallace, White, Fitzgibbon, Cross, Hornby, Tupou etc.) but the Maroons had Karmichael Hunt playing at five eigth, old man Marsh on the bench and Carl Webb as a starting prop.

Ultimately, the Blues made it theirs. In a fairly average game of football, NSW dominated Queensland all across the park and sailed to a comfortable 18-10 victory. It seemed like the Blues were back, at least that's what the NSW press would have you believe but Queensland fans knew there was a lot of improvement left in the Maroons and with the right selections they could bounce back.

If nothing else, Mal generally learns from his mistakes and the right changes were made. In-form half, Prince came in for Hunt with Karmichael relieving Slater of enduring the opening exchanges, Harrison came in for Lillyman, with Hodges suspended, Folau was able to shift to his suited right wing with reliable winger Darius Boyd partnering up with GI and in a big boost, Steve Price came in for Carl Webb.

As a result, Queensland got to enjoy one of their biggest ever wins infront of a jubilant Suncorp crowd (which I got to enjoy, best 18th birthday present ever) and confidence was restored heading into the decider. Game II for me featured one of the best centre performances I've ever seen as GI just tore the NSW squad to shreds with a brilliant display of speed, elusiveness and power. Boyd didn't have to do much but he got to share in the spoils of that performance.

The second game really sent the Blues reeling and they ended up losing the likes of Gasnier, Bird and Wallace in the build up. To make matters more apparent, they decided to start with Kurt Gidley at fullback with Stewart off the bench, an obvious copy of the Maroons gameplan with Hunt/Slater. Anyways, when I think back to this game, I think of three moments.

*Folau's two superman esque tries. In a tight contest, these proved to be absolutely vital.
*The broken arm to Scott Prince, it turned an otherwise cruisey win into a real slog.
* JT show and go finding Slater back on the inside.

Actually I lied, I'm going to go with four. Steve Price charging down a Pearce kick in the dying stages was a clear illustration of the changes the Maroons had made from Games 1 and 3. It was that sort of desperation the Maroons were lacking and it was the work of Price & Civo that really gave the Maroons an edge over their Blue counterpart.

So the Maroons had done it, 3 in a row behind enemy lines all without their inspirational skipper Darren Lockyer. As good as the past two series had been for the Maroons, it was this series that told me we were onto something special.

 

[Alec]

I have fond memories of how we never picked nuffies during this domination unless we were forced to. Whenever QLD picked a side, pretty much everyone agreed it was perfect. :(

 

[Big Pete]

There was nothing forcing Mal to pick Hunt at five eigth.

Still the worst selection of his coaching career.