STATE OF ROBBERY: Why Queensland's 7-0 Origin streak is a fraud
THE scoreboard says 7-0 but if you return Greg Inglis's tries to New South Wales, where they rightfully belong, it's a totally different story.
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A FRAUD. That's the only word for it. The scoreboard reads Queensland 7-0 but it should read NSW 4-3. Allow us to explain why in 25 easy steps.
1. Our 4-3 tally is based on calculations where you take the record tally of 14 Origin tries scored by "Queenslander" Greg Inglis and return them where they belong – to New South Wales.
2. First thing's first, let's give credit where it's due. Queensland is a champion team. It is also a team of champions.
3. Yet the fact remains, one of Queensland's champions, Greg Inglis, hails from New South Wales. Inglis grew up in Macksville on the NSW mid north coast. He played his junior footy there, drank New South Wales water, soaked up New South Wales sunshine and grew massive New South Wales legs like the trunks of the Eucalyptus Grandis in the forests near his home.
4. In case you're wondering, Eucalyptus Grandis is Latin for "bloody big tree". To recap, we are likening Greg Inglis's legs to said botanical specimen.
5. Here's another measure of Inglis's awesomeness. Last week, Queensland Origin legend Chris Close said Inglis could be the best athlete ever to play rugby league. Seriously, THE BEST ATHLETE EVER to play rugby league. Chris Close also said that Inglis "grows a leg" when he plays for Queensland.
6. Inglis is the main reason why South Sydney sits in unfamiliar territory atop the NRL ladder. Yet the guy PLAYS EVEN BETTER at Origin level. Suffice to say he's had quite a strong influence on the Queensland seven-year streak.
7. Just to reiterate one more time, Inglis grew up in New South Wales. It is, quite literally, his state of origin. Yet he has played for Queensland his whole Origin career, which began in 2006, the same year as the 7-0 winning streak.
8. How this happened can be traced back to rules which state that a player's State of Origin status is determined by where he played his first senior game after the age of 16. This is where things get messy. By "messy" we actually mean sneaky.
9. Queensland selectors claim 16-year-old Greg Inglis's brief stint for Queensland's Wavell High as his first senior game. By this age the Melbourne Storm had already signed him up and we was playing with feeder schools in Brisbane.
10. That would technically qualify him for Queensland, in accordance with the rules, except for one thing. Inglis actually played his first game for Newcastle school Hunter Sports High.
11. So he not only grew up in NSW, but technically qualified to play for them too.
12. The Queensland rugby league establishment never mentions this. Example: at last week's announcement of the 2013 Origin team, Qld players were introduced with a nod to their current NRL teams and junior teams. Inglis was introduced as hailing from "Norths Devils (a Brisbane team he played for in his late teens) and South Sydney Rabbitohs.
13. Inglis's junior team was actually the Bowraville Tigers in NSW.
14. Yes, this piece is written by a New South Welshman. Yes, the writer is bitter. Of course the writer is bitter. You'd be bitter too if a member of your family was claimed by your neighbour as one of their own.
15. Seriously, when someone kicks a ball into your garden, you kick it back over the fence. That's how the world works. That's the very concept on which State of Origin was founded.
16. So here's the deal. On behalf of all that is sacred and true about the "Origin" concept, New South Wales is hereby claiming Inglis back. And if we can't have the actual man, we'll take the points he's scored.
17. In the tables below, we have subtracted the value of Inglis's tries from Queensland's match scores, and added them to the New South Wales score. For the Queensland selectors who will find tabulated data a little complex, here's a summary:
18. The overall series score, counting Inglis tries as 6 (converted), reverts from Qld 7-0 to NSW 4-3.
19. The overall series score, counting Inglis tries as 4 (unconverted), reverts from Qld 7-0 to 3-3, with one series drawn.
20. The overall match tally, counting Inglis tries as 6 (converted), reverts from Qld 15-6 to NSW 13-8.
21. The overall match tally, counting Inglis tries as 4 (unconverted), reverts to NSW 11-9, with one draw.
22. We obviously concede that in many cases, other players would have scored the tries Inglis scored. When you're running off the likes of Thurston and Cam Smith, you will score points.
23. But there's a flipside to that argument. NSW would undoubtedly have scored more tries with Inglis in its side. Also, Inglis is a monster in defence who would have prevented many Qld tries.
24. You know that old saying about "lies, damn lies and statistics"? Well in this case, the damn lies belong to each and every Queenslander who takes pride in Greg Inglis as one of their own.
25. And the statistics point to perhaps the greatest injustice in Australian sporting history.
READ BELOW FOR THE TABLES WHICH REVEAL THE 'TRUE' ORIGIN SCORES
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