100 Greatest Origin moments: Weird and Wacky
WEIRD game, Origin. Yet without its weirdness, this concept wouldn’t exist. Don’t believe us? Take a look at the 10 most bizarre moments in Origin history.
WEIRD game, Origin. Yet without its weirdness, this concept wouldn’t exist. Don’t believe us? Take a look at the 10 most bizarre moments in Origin history.
10. NO MENACE
Queenslanders, we’re told, have a mortgage on passion. On spirit. Oh, yeah ... they’re also much better at getting players into the team bus. Back in 2010, NSW inexplicably left not one, but two players at the team hotel — with Michael Ennis and Jarryd Hayne arriving in the foyer to find everyone gone. Taxi!
9. BIG MAL’S SPEECH
No, not those 28 seconds of radio jibber comprising his entire political career, but the fiery 1993 speech which, delivered from inside the Maroons huddle and captured by Channel Nine cameras, saw Big Mal rain down more c-bombs than Queensland supporters did beer cans five years earlier.
8. IKIN BRUSHED
In 1995, Queensland coach Paul Vautin entered a hotel elevator and, noticing a smiling teenager all boardies and bad haircut, insisted the team would only sign autographs at training. At which point Benny Ikin introduced himself.
7. CRUSHER’S KICK
Noel Cleal is one of the greatest bushies God ever threw a beard on. But who can forget back in ‘84 when Crusher stood beneath the sticks for a drop out in driving rain ... and the Steeden dribbled three centimetres through sludge.
6. RAINING XXXX cans
Ah, remember the good old days. When Wally was King, Lang Park heaved and Origin beers were so cheap you could rain full cans down on rival players. Today, punters move through crowds like Nadia Comaneci to avoid spilling even the slightest drop of their $8 schooner. But back in ‘88, when Mick Stone sent the King for five in the bin — well, at 80c a can who could afford not to hurl one?
5. STICKY STERLO
Some things just never get old. Like fart jokes, Seinfeld’s Soup Nazi episode and watching one of the greatest halfbacks of all time struggle like a blowfly in some oversized spider’s web. Back in 1987, poor old rugby league tried to launch herself in the US and, instead, was flat out even making the field — with Sterling getting caught up in a giant banner.
4. WALKER’S ON
Even by the headline you know what I’m talking about, right? In 2001, Queensland’s Chris Walker made his Origin debut off the bench and — while the jury is still split on whether they saw him as a threat or weakness — the video of Blues trainer Nathan Brown screaming “Walker’s On” now sits among the game’s most replayed footage.
3. HAND GRENADE
Bryan Fletcher, in 2000, created the greatest post-try celebration in Origin history — pretending to launch a Steeden grenade that sent NSW teammates flying. Hilarious stuff. Queensland, in response, say the humiliation of said prank has inspired them ever since.
2. WATI HOLMWOOD
Apart from bringing more grease to Origin than Ray Price, serial streaker Wati Holmwood is also the only New South Welshman who can boast of halting Queensland — albeit temporarily — in the past eight years. Truly, he should’ve been given the Blues No. 8 jersey. Instead, the big unit got three months inside.
1. WE’RE NOT TEAMMATES
IT’S more myth than reality that big Artie smashed his Eels teammate Mick Cronin in the mouth way back in 1980 but he did let him know he was there in a big tackle. Thirty-four years ago it was pretty weird for teammates to start smacking each other around over a trophy no-one thought meant anything. Yep, weirdness is the heartbeat of Origin football ...
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