How State of Origin teams packed with rookies have fared in the past
THE Blues have brought in a record 11 debutants for Origin I. Find out how teams with scores of State of Origin rookies have fared in the past.
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IT seems like a while since the New South Wales faithful have gotten behind a team like they’ve gotten behind Brad Fittler’s first Origin side.
There’s a record number of fresh faces, 11 in fact, which means the team is free of the mental scars of the past and easy for fans to dream about.
Punting the players who haven’t been able to get the job done in the past is something the Blue masses have been crying out for, and Fittler has given them what they want.
With Game I just seven days away, let’s take a look at how some other debutant-heavy teams fared over the last 38 years of Origin football.
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NEW SOUTH WALES
Game I, 1989 (Eight debutants) — lost 36-6, lost series 3-0.
The Blues lost the 1987 and 1988 series with the latter marking Queensland’s first-ever clean sweep.
The New South Wales brains trust turned to master coach Jack Gibson and he chucked the whole lot of them out, handing John Cartwright, Brad Clyde, Laurie Daley, Mario Fenech, Chris Johns, Paul Sironen, Greg Alexander and Glenn Lazarus their interstate debuts.
The result wasn’t pretty, with a 36-6 flogging precipitating another Maroons cleansweep, but Gibson helped lay the foundation for New South Wales’ domination of the 1990s.
Game I, 1990 (Six debutants), won 8-0, won series 2-1.
Gibson was back in 1990 and doubled down on the debutants, this time selecting Ian Roberts, Ricky Stuart, Ricky Walford, Rod Wishart, Graham Lyons and Geoff Toovey.
Things were different this time around and the Blues got up 8-0 before wrapping up the series with a 12-8 victory at Olympic Park in Game II.
New South Wales went on to win six series in the next eight years on the back of many of the players who debuted under Gibson.
Game I, 2002 (Eight debutants), won 32-4, drew series 1-1, Queensland retained.
Phil Gould came back as Blues coach after the Allan Langer-inspired Maroons dominated the 2001 decider and as new coaches tend to do he threw in a score of young fellas with Luke Bailey, Danny Buderus, Brett Hodgson, Jamie Lyon, Jason Moodie, Steve Simpson, Timana Tahu and Braith Anasta.
A 32-4 win followed with Hodgson earning man of the match in one of the great Origin debuts.
The series would be drawn and Queensland retained the shield, but the Blues went on to win three straight series from 2003 to 2005 with the latter two coming under the captaincy of Buderus.
Game I, 2009 (Seven debutants), lost 28-18, lost series 2-1.
With Queensland shooting for a fourth straight series win New South Wales again rebooted the side and this time Terry Campese, Ben Creagh, Robbie Farah, Michael Jennings, James McManus and Justin Poore all got a start.
Things got off all right, with Jarryd Hayne running 50 metres to dot down in the corner but the try was controversially disallowed and Queensland capitalised, opening up a 24-6 shortly after halftime.
New South Wales rallied, but it wasn’t enough and the Maroons got the cash 28-18 before going on to wrap up the series at ANZ Stadium in Game II.
QUEENSLAND
Game I, 2001 (10 debutants), won 34-16, won series 2-1.
Queensland were smashed 56-16 in Game III of 2000, which remains their heaviest defeat and completed the Blues last series whitewash.
Amid chatter about the death of Origin football and claims Queensland could never recover, Wayne Bennett picked 10 debutants for Game I of the following series — Lote Tuqiri, Daniel Wagon, John Doyle, John Buttigieg, Petero Civoniceva, Kevin Campion, Chris Walker, Chris Beattie, Carl Webb and Brad Meyers.
The reborn Maroons scored a length-of-the-field try through Darren Lockyer after less than two minutes.
In what was the final match played at the old Lang Park before it was redeveloped into Suncorp Stadium the magic of the old ground did the job one last time and Queensland never looked back.
They smashed New South Wales 34-16 in a game Wayne Bennett believes was the most important Origin match since the concept began in 1980. Four debutants getting on the scoresheet and unheralded hooker Doyle playing the game of his life.
Queensland lost Game II in Sydney before claiming the decider in the famous Allan Langer comeback match.
Game I, 1995 (nine debutants), won 2-0, won series 3-0.
You know how this one goes. The Broncos were wrapped up in Super League and their legion of Queensland stars were off limits.
Paul Vautin, who had never coached a first grade game, was thrown the clipboard because there was nobody else.
Forced to pick players from ARL-aligned clubs only, the Maroons had nine debutants — Robbie O’Davis, Danny Moore, Matt Sing, Adrian Lam, Tony Hearn, Wayne Bartrim, Terry Cook, Craig Teevan and Ben Ikin.
Ikin had only played three first grade matches at the time — and at 18 years and 83 days he’s still the youngest ever Origin player. Queensland had to get special dispensation to play Lam, who was captain of Papua New Guinea at the time.
The Maroons got up 2-0 in the lowest-scoring Origin match ever, then went on to sweep the series in arguably the greatest upset in Australian rugby league history.
Game I, 1998 (seven debutants), won 24-23, won series 2-1.
After Queensland were swept in 1996 and could only win a dead rubber in 1997 they needed to show a little more in the game’s first post-Super League season.
With a host of young Maroons denied their debut due to the game’s civil war, the result was a belated influx of rookies including Darren Lockyer, Shane Webcke, Jason Hetherington, Peter Ryan, Steve Price, Martin Lang and Tonie Carroll, as well as the return of a host of established stars.
In a classic encounter that kicked off one of the best series in Origin history, New South Wales led 23-18 in the final minute before a desperate Queensland raid went the length of the pitch before Kevin Walters put Carroll over in the shadows of the fulltime siren.
Lockyer kicked the winning goal after the bell for an incredible 24-23 victory.
Game I, 2006, (seven debutants), lost 17-16, won series 2-1.
After losing three straight series from 2003 to 2005, Queensland were on the verge of a record fourth straight loss and new coach Mal Meninga rolled the dice on a host of rookies for the first match of the 2006 series.
Greg Inglis, Steven Bell, David Stagg, Matt Scott, Dallas Johnson, Sam Thaiday and Nate Myles all pulled on the Maroons jersey for the first time with Inglis scoring a double on debut in a 17-16 defeat.
They went on to form the backbone of one of the greatest sides in rugby league history and certainly the best in Origin history.
Stagg was a one-game wonder but Bell and Johnson both played in multiple series, Myles and Thaiday are among the 10 most-capped Queensland players, Scott is the state’s best prop since Shane Webcke and Inglis is the leading tryscorer in Origin history.