Rockhampton’s top 10 State of Origin players revealed
We’ve ranked the best players to pull on the Maroon jersey from our region. Who’s number one? VOTE IN OUR POLL
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The Beef Capital is also the Capital of Origin greats, with our region producing some of the greatest Queensland rugby league players in State of Origin history
Rockhampton was represented from day one of Origin when the great Rod “Rocket’’ Reddy accompanied Artie Beetson and his 11 other matches into battle against the Blues in the historic 1980 clash.
So who are our greatest Origin champions from Rockhampton and surrounding districts?
Here we rank, in our opinion, the top 10 Queensland Origin players from the district.
WHO’S YOUR NO. 1? HAVE YOUR SAY IN THE COMMENTS AND SCROLL DOWN TO VOTE IN OUR POLL
1. Cameron Munster
10 Origins, 4 Tests
Cameron Smith labelled Cameron Munster’s 2017 debut match as one of the finest in Origin history. Munster is made for Origin. He is a big match player whose brilliance cannot be curtailed because he plays off the cuff just like he did around the rugby league ovals of Rockhampton as a junior. He has power, pace and an uncanny knack of just playing football a little like former Queensland champion Allan Langer who played the game without shackles around him. Queensland is very lucky to have Munster.
2. Rod Reddy
1 Origin, 17 Tests
You have to have grey hair and a long memory to appreciate the greatness of Reddy. He played just one Origin, in Game one, 1980, but his standing in the code is unchallenged. A two-time premiership winner with St George Dragons (204 matches) and a two-time Kangaroo tourist (1978, 1982), Reddy was the complete backrower with speed and ball skills the likes of which you don’t see today. A veteran of 17 Tests, he could ball play before the line, likely a crafty five-eighth, or get an arm free in a tackle and unload like Artie Beetson. But he also had the pace to run wide and sprint 30m to 40m to score tries with ease. A Rocky legend.
3. Matt Sing
24 Origins, 14 Tests
A Dysart product who ultimately went to school in Rockhampton, Sing was a prolific try-scoring winger. But for all his tries – he once scored three in a match for Queensland – it was his stunning defence in Game 1 for Paul Vautin’s “Fatties No Names’’ outfit which will be remembered by those who witnessed it. Three times he prevented NSW from scoring tries despite the Blues’ players crossing the tryline. As a result Queensland won against the odds 2-nil, and would go on to post the most famous series victory in the history of Origin.
4. Harry Grant
2 Origins
If this list is done again in five or 10 years, it would surprise no one if Grant is ranked No.1. He has played just two Origins, but all and sundry can see he is a champion not in the making, but a champion of today which is remarkable for one so young. Creative, he is a top-shelf dummy half who has clearly learned from the best in the business, Cameron Smith, while in club land (Melbourne Storm).
5. Ben Hunt
9 Origins, 7 Tests
The best of Ben Hunt for Queensland has been seen as a dummy half, not as a halfback. Why? Hunt just seems suited to the No.9 where there is less pressure on him to run a team and create for those around him. He is an outstanding player and one of the finest players Rockhampton has produced in the past 50 years. Deceptively strong when he takes the line on, Hunt also has a nice short kicking game. His ability and demeanour also made him a popular choice in Mal Meninga-coached Australian squads.
6. Steve Bell
5 Origins
Ding dong Bell was a typical Queensland Origin player – reliable to the core. He was a member of the Queensland team which started the historic eight in a row run. Indeed in a series decider in Sydney, Bells scored an amazing try when he scooped up a Johnathan Thurston grubber kick. Slightly underrated, he was the complete centre who suited the Melbourne Storm system to a tie.
7. Rhys Wesser
4 Origins
What a player. Wesser was an NRL try scoring machine who blazed to 129 tries in 219 matches, mainly for the Penrith Panthers where he won a premiership. He had limited appearances for Queensland, but only because his career ran into a little fella from Innisfail called Billy Slater. A fullback, he was a speed demon who was a part of a patched-up Queensland team which started the famous eight in a row series run in 2006 when he played wing in Game 3 at the MCG. Wesser would train running up Mt Archer and attributed his running style and extreme pace to those gruelling training sessions. Like a champion racehorse explodes when weights are removed, Wesser found running on a flat footy field easy compared to gruelling uphill training around Mt Archer, hence why he was able to unleash his pace.
8. David Taylor
8 Origins, 1 Test
Arguably the most talented Queensland forward since the great Artie Beetson, did we ever see the best of Taylor? Not on your life. What a talent.
He had pace, size, ball skills, he could short kick – he could do it all. He played eight Origins, but it probably should have been 18 or 28. But lets just be grateful we did see the St Brendan’s College Yeppoon product somewhere near his best for a period of time. Eight Queensland jerseys is nothing to be sneezed at.
9. Julian O’Neill
10 Origins
A prodigious talent, the former St Brendan’s Yeppoon border was a gun. He could play fullback, centre or five-eighth with ease, and his long first class career included being a member of the inaugural Brisbane Broncos 1992 premiership side. O’Neill could also kick goals. He was sometimes a restless figure off the field, but when he was switched on he could spin a football on the tip of his finger and do anything on the field.
10. John Doyle
3 Origins
Queensland has had three miracle series victories over the years – the most famous was Paul Vautin’s “No Names’’ of 1995, closely followed by Wayne Bennett’s “Worst Team Ever’’ claiming the 2020 series. But there is a third and Doyle was in the thick of it. In 2001 Queensland sent an SOS to master coach Bennett after the Blues had thrashed Queensland 56-16 in the final game of the 2000 series. Just as he did last season, Bennett put a broom through the ranks, selecting an array of young players. The result was the unleashing of a series winning team, in which Doyle played hooker.
Best of the rest
Darren Fritz
A big bopper, Fritz played the 1994 series for Queensland where he took on the NSW pack.
Tim Glasby
A grand front row toiler who extracted every bit of his ability from his body on game day. He did the simple things, and he did them very well.
FOOTNOTE: While the likes of PJ Marsh (Gladstone), Corey Oates (Biloela) and Paul Bowman (Proserpine), among others, attended St Brendan’s, they will be included in a story done by News on famous Origin players from other Queensland regions such as Gladstone and Mackay districts. Another St Brendan’s old boy Matt Scott was also considered, but is a proud western Queensland man.
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