State of Origin: Meet the Gold Coast players set to light up series
One of Gold Coast’s most iconic league greats has launched his case for a big change to State of Origin from 2021. READ THE FULL REPORT
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GOLD Coast league trailblazer Chris “Choppy” Close has urged the NRL to continue to explore an end-of-season State of Origin series, insisting it could be a better fit for all.
As the Origin series rolls into Sydney on Wednesday night, 61-year-old Close – who lined up for Queensland in the inaugural clash in 1980 – says the COVID change might be one worth sticking with.
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The series is usually played mid-season and games spaced out every two weeks.
“We shouldn’t be throwing the baby out with the bath water,” Close, an inaugural Gold Coast Giants signing in 1988, said on ABC radio.
“I think there is a lot of positives in this series, (like) the fact it’s an intense three weeks and the fact it’s played away from the mainstream competition.”
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THE CHANGING FACES OF LEE
The Brenko Lee who arrived on the doorstep of the Burleigh Bears, cast aside by the Titans midway through the 2019 season, was not the Brenko Lee his former teammates Luke Page and Jeff Lynch knew and loved.
They had played alongside the NRL journeyman at previous clubs before the Bears; Page at Souths Logan Magpies and Lynch at the Canberra Raiders.
The Brenko Lee that Jeff Lynch remembered was a “bit of a different character,” he said.
“He was out there. He loves to joke around, once you know him.
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“He was absolute best mates with Sisa Waqa (in Canberra) – we’d be going out to lunch at the AIS and the two of them would be mucking around, making weird noises and people would stare like a walk-in zoo was going past.
“If you didn’t know him that well he was quiet and reserved. At Burleigh he was quiet.”
By the time Lee arrived at Burleigh he had been chewed up and spat out by the Raiders and Bulldogs and was on his way to the same fate on the Gold Coast.
He didn’t win over many new mates in his brief stint at Burleigh. Those meeting him for the first time privately held that his attitude stank.
Page concedes his mate might have been kicking stones on the way out of his third NRL club in four years.
“It’s always a bit s*** when you’re dropped from the NRL,” the Bears captain said.
“He absolutely deserved to be playing for the Titans.
“He was new to the club, and that’s a sign of itself when you’re jumping around clubs that it’s just not working.
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“For a few games he was a weapon and then for a few he was average, just lacking consistency.”
The Brenko Lee they watched storm to the NRL title with Melbourne 12 months later was a transformed man.
Lynch said the reason why was obvious.
“He just needed a bit of love,” he said.
“One thing about Brenko, if he puts his mind to something, I just knew as soon as he went to Melbourne that he’d kill it.
“Brenko has earned Craig (Bellamy)’s respect and Craig’s shown him faith and put belief in him by playing him every week and encouraging him to play his natural game. He’s thriving off it and it’s no surprise he’s doing well.
“For him to have been turned away, out of the Titans and Raiders and Bulldogs and then be left with nothing, and then be given a six-week opportunity to reboot his career and take it with both hands like he has … that’s inspiring stuff.
“That’s what little kids can look up to and indigenous and Torres Straight kids will be using him as a role model as well.”
As the Maroons embark on their own underdog journey you can see the old Brenko Lee smile is back.
No-one could more pleased than the two mates who saw him fall only to rise again.
SLIDING DOORS MOMENT FOR SAMI
ON Wednesday night 23-year-old Phillip Sami will stride out on to Adelaide Oval as a Queensland Maroon for the first time, but his story could have ended differently.
At 16, with all the talent of a future Maroon but lacking the maturity to harness it to his full potential, Sami walked out on rugby league nursery Keebra Park to forge his own path to the National Rugby League.
Keebra had spotted Sami in Ipswich at 13 and offered him a place in their rugby league Academy alongside future Origin combatants Jai Arrow, Payne Haas and AJ Brimson, but those who knew him say the school was not a natural fit.
“He was very much an average player at the school,” former coach Darren Hart recalled.
“Philip was a bit of a character, lots of personality.
“He always had the ability – that’s why we recruited him – but he just didn’t always apply it.
“We knew if he applied himself that talent was there but he didn’t cope too well with the travel from Ipswich.
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“He started to miss days and the school doesn’t take that well.
“Basically, he wasn’t as focused as he should have been. I’d say Philip didn’t realise until he left that he’d given away a good opportunity.”
Sami transferred to Woodcrest College in Ipswich, then again to Ipswich State High School to join their fledgling rugby league program.
And as Sami watched his mates from Keebra shine on the representative stage, Hart saw something click in his former pupil.
“He knew all these boys in his peer group who were playing NRL and he probably knew he was just as good as they were,” he said.
“He wasn’t on the radar at all as a 16, 17 or 18-year-old but to his credit he’s worked hard and he’s succeeded.
“That’s testament to his dedication because other kids in his position might never have bothered.
“We’ll always consider him a Keebra Park player because the lessons he learned here helped him get there.”
BACKYARD BATTLES THAT FORGED BRIMSON’S GAME
AS the youngest of three boys, the odds were always against AJ Brimson when it came to backyard footy battles.
Fighting for every pass against brothers Charlie and Will, it could very well explain why AJ is poised to make his State of Origin debut for Queensland on Wednesday night.
“There was a lot of backyard footy that went down when we were growing up,” Will Brimson said.
“Being the youngest, he had to work a lot harder than us and I wouldn’t be surprised if that’s had an impact on where he is now.”
Long before the NRL came calling, it may come as a surprise to most the brother’s first introduction to team sport was via rugby union.
They spent a handful of seasons playing for the Taylor Bridge rugby club not far from their home in Brisbane before the league bug bit.
“Dad got us into rugby league and we enjoyed league more and AJ and I both ended up at rugby league schools which helped us stick with the sport into our teenage years,” Will said.
“We also were heavy into athletics and we were all touch football players as well before we decided to stick with footy.”
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The brothers started playing rugby league at Souths Graceville, where once more AJ was required to play with and against older boys.
“It was a pretty poor club back then and we were always short on numbers so AJ played up in my team,” Will recalled.
Keebra Park came calling but AJ’s passion for touch football remained.
A man now on the verge of an Origin debut couldn’t even crack Keebra’s under-15s A team.
“Nah not at all,” Will said when asked if his brother was noticeably talented from a young age.
“He only really started gaining momentum when he was 17 and started lifting weights and getting fitter and then playing under-20s at the Titans.”
And even despite chalking up 45 appearances at the highest level, AJ still remains the most highly strung out of his three brothers.
“I remember he was always the most nervous out of us three and he still gets nervous today,” Will said.
“Most kids get a bit nervous but he’d make it pretty obvious he was s**ting bricks before a game.”
While AJ gained admirers at the Titans, Will was fighting his own battle to the top.
After playing under-20s football at the Broncos, injuries forced him away from the game.
He returned via the Wynnum Manly Seagulls and is now set to return to Tweed’s starting line-up after an impressive season with the Mudgeeraba.
“I still have a desire to play NRL but those few years out changed my perspective,” the Redbacks five-eighth said.
And despite those tense backyard battles back in the day producing a soon to be Origin star, Will is taking no credit for his role in his brother’s stardom.
“He’s gotten where he is by himself and by working hard,” Brimson said.
“We grew up admiring guys like Cameron Smith and Darren Lockyer so to think AJ is now in the same atmosphere and class as those guys makes me really proud.
“I’m pretty excited to watch him.”
PREMIERSHIP WINNER’S PRAISE FOR COATES
RUNNING for Australia or debuting in the Queensland State of Origin squad.
Two paths diverged in Xavier Coates’ sporting career, with many twists and turns still to tell.
Storm premiership winner Matt Geyer coached the 19-year-old Broncos winger at the Currumbin Eagles and Marymount College.
And despite Coates failing to make any junior Gold Coast representative teams and even resisting the urge to quit rugby league for a promising athletics career, Geyer believes Coates’ Origin selection could be the tip of the iceberg.
“I haven’t been surprised by how far he’s come, but how fast,” Geyer said.
“You see plenty of 19-year-olds rise and then wonder where they are as 22-year-olds but I think he’s going to come out of the Origin camp a whole new player with so much more confidence and knowledge.
“Here he is, at 19, and he’s classed as one of the best two wingers in the state.
“If anyone could’ve picked that meteoric rise, I want to know who they’re tipping in the Melbourne Cup.
“Once he got his first contract, he was like a shark with blood in the water.
“There’s going to be bad times, that’s life and he may come across injuries, non-selections and disappointment which you’ve got to work through but he has always overcome those challenges so the sky is the limit.”
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After watching Coates grow from a boy into a budding NRL star, Geyer said it was easy to see his potential where others couldn’t.
“I like to see the light in every player but he was also making state teams for his running and jumping and couldn’t make any rep squads,” he said.
“He was always one of the better players in the teams I coached, he just didn’t get recognised at the next level.
“Xavier’s best asset, when you’re talking in a team huddle, he’s looking you straight in the eye.
“It’s off-putting how much he’s concentrating on you and what you’re saying but he’s like a sponge and takes everything in.
“I’ve known him since Under-12s and he was an elegant footballer and when he found his aggression, he transformed into what you know now.”
And so, gone were the days of Geyer having to ring up Coates at the start of every season and try and convince him to give rugby league another season.
But even now, manifestations of that sliding doors moment still play out in Geyer’s head – even on the verge of his Origin debut.
“He’d be running for Australia right now,” Geyer said.
“I always told him I couldn’t guarantee him a pathway in rugby league but I reminded him he’d get to play with all of his mates and have fun.
“He’s like one of my children and I love him like a son so I’m very proud of him.
“I’m proud of him as a player but also a person.
“A meteoric rise is hard to handle but he’s handling it well because he’s so humble and hardworking and he’s been raised right so he’s an exceptional young man.”
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