State of Origin 2021: Townsville to host Game 1; call for a special tribute to north Queensland greats

One of north Queensland’s most colourful rugby league stars wants next Wednesday’s State of Origin game to be about the past as well as the present.

Queensland Country Bank Stadium will host a historic State of Origin fixture. Picture: Ian Hitchcock/Getty

Queensland has been urged to honour its rugby league legends of the far north as part of the State of Origin’s historic visit to Townsville next week.

Mackay-based former Origin forward Steve Jackson has called on the QRL should invite all Origin players who were raised in the far north to be part of a guard of honour at Wednesday’s match.

“We will never see an Origin match in Townsville again in my lifetime so let’s make the most of it,’’ said Jackson.

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The North Queensland Cowboys have had a massive impact on Townsville and the surrounding areas. Picture: Alix Sweeney

“What an opportunity to parade the people who have come through the system in the north.

“It would be nice to acknowledge how good north Queensland has been in the past.

“I have spoken to an historian who said there would be about 50 players eligible. There are some great names like Billy Slater, Gordy Tallis, Gene Miles, Colin Scott, Dale Shearer, and Kerry Boustead.

“I have spoken to about six or seven of the guys like Owen Cunningham and Johnny Buttigieg and they said they would find their own way there and might even buy their own tickets.

“The boys down south always get these sorts of opportunities. I have been part of them before in Canberra and at Suncorp. But I am not thinking of myself here.’’

“The Foley Shield used to be big in the north but it has gone by the wayside. The NRL players are the rock stars and the state league are high flyers as well but the old grassroots struggle.

“North Queensland has bred some tough men who played on hard surfaces. The Cowboys have been great for the game up here and kids are learning at age seven or eight what we didn’t learn until age 20.

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Townsville has won the relocation rights to host State of Origin I.

Prior to a formal announcement The Courier-Mail revealed the Victorian Government had agreed to shift the Origin opener from the Melbourne Cricket Ground to Townsville’s Queensland Country Bank Stadium.

The NRL had also been crunching the numbers for Canberra’s GIO Stadium, Adelaide Oval and Perth’s Optus Stadium, and there was a late bid from the NSW Government to snatch the series opener on June 9.

But the code’s showpiece will be making its debut in the tropics at the state-of-the-art $290 million Queensland Country Bank Stadium.

The announcement is a huge coup for the Queensland Government and the Maroons, who will effectively receive two consecutive home games, with Game Two to be held at Suncorp Stadium on June 27.

The State Government is understood to have offered up to $5 million to host Origin I in Townsville.

As part of the successful bid, Country Bank Stadium will be turned into a mini “Cauldron” (Suncorp Stadium), with trucks on standby to take temporary grandstands to Townsville, while Flinders St would likely be transformed into a free “live site”.

QRL Townsville area manager Rob Hall said Origin in the city could have the same impact as the Cowboys winning the 2015 NRL grand final.

“The buzz in the last 24 to 48 hours has been pretty massive. It is pretty much what everyone wants to talk about,” Mr Hall said.

“It would be huge not just for Townsville, but for north Queensland … we’d be expecting a lot of people to come into town.”

Maroons coach Paul Green backed plans for Origin I to be moved to Townsville, saying the facilities of the shiny new stadium made it the perfect option to take over from the MCG.

“If it’s not going to be Melbourne, by all reports it looks like Townsville,” he said.

“It would be enormous for the region, they are a league mad area and I think when the stadium got built, there was chat around getting more events and State of Origin got tossed up.

“Given its capacity (25,000) it’s a bit of a stretch but given the circumstances we are in at the moment where it’s short notice, I think it’s ideal.

“They will really embrace the event and I’m sure there will be street parties and road closures and rock bands and all sorts of things going on.

“They love their footy up there (in Townsville) so it would be great.”

Queensland Country Bank Stadium will host a historic State of Origin fixture. Picture: Ian Hitchcock/Getty

The Queensland Rugby League has already begun planning, making a series of bookings in the past 24 hours for Maroons players to stay at one of Townsville’s leading hotels just 3km from Queensland Country Bank Stadium.

The QRL has also made Origin function bookings with local Townsville restaurants.

Green dismissed suggestions Townsville gave the Maroons an unfair advantage.

“The NRL can’t toss up Canberra as a neutral venue as a reasonable argument,” he said.

“This Melbourne game was Queensland’s game, it was our turn in the calendar to have two home games, so we are the home team for the MCG game. We had the pick of the dressing rooms and we had to supply ball boys as if it was our home game.

“If that is the case, then the game can’t be held in Canberra.

“Townsville is a great option. For a start you would sell it out. The weather up there at this time of year is beautiful, it’s a footy mad area and they have just built a new stadium which would be perfect to host a marquee event like State of Origin.

“It would be like a mini-Suncorp, I am sure both teams would enjoy playing there.

“The politicians are lobbying to get the game to Townsville but we haven’t been told by the NRL at this stage whether a final decision has been made.”

Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk hailed the announcement as “tremendous news”.

“(It’s) the first time that a State of Origin has been held in a regional city,” she said.

“I really want to thank the NRL.

“I know this has been tough, especially with what’s happening down in Melbourne.”

Treasurer Cameron Dick said he was “happier than a J.T. (Johnathan Thurston) laugh”.

“This is the moment that north Queenslanders have been waiting generations for,” he said.

“If the NSW Blues think it’s difficult coming to Brisbane, wait until they get to Townsville – the Cauldron of the North.”

Originally published as State of Origin 2021: Townsville to host Game 1; call for a special tribute to north Queensland greats