Fittler wary as he returns to scene of 1995 ambush

Brad Fittler recalls two moments from the 1995 Origin game at the MCG. Not surprisingly, a famous all-in brawl is one of them.

Linesman Martin Weekes (right) runs on to field as all-in brawl erupts during the 1995 State of Origin match at the MCG. Photo: File

Brad Fittler wandered on to the MCG yesterday and the memories didn’t exactly come flooding back. Unlike some players, Fittler doesn’t have a photographic memory of his career.

There are isolated moments that spring to mind, but they are few and far between. Two to be precise. The first was Brett Dallas’s length-of-the-field try in the 1995 series, when an understrength Queensland stunned NSW 20-12 before 52,994 at the MCG.

Fittler remembers standing on the opposite side of ground and his only thought as Dallas raced the length of the field was that no one was going to catch the bloke with the flaming red hair.

His other memory of that night is the fight, an ugly all-in brawl which had the stadium in raptures. Fittler ended up tangling with Jason Smith, the pair agreeing that they weren’t the fighting types.

While punches rained down, Fittler and Smith watched from a safe distance. That aside, Fittler can tell you little about what happened at the ground more than 20 years ago.

Even yesterday, as he stood in the centre of the MCG on the eve of his return to the ground as coach of NSW, there were no triggers. At least none that he was willing to share.

His players joined him on the hallowed turf, the empty stands giving them a sense of what to expect, albeit without the deafening noise associated with a crowd of more than 80,000.

That 1995 game provides a cautionary tale for the Blues heading into tonight. Queensland were heavy underdogs in that game, their side ravaged by the fallout from the Super League war.

They were expected to be cannon-fodder for NSW. Instead, the Maroons prevailed with the most storied win in Origin history, Dallas’s try one of the lingering memories for not just Fittler but every Queensland fan.

The Maroons return to the MCG tonight again unfancied — they blew out to $2.70 with the TAB yesterday, their longest odds for an Origin opener in more than a decade.

The Maroons are wounded and undermanned. They are being written off. Many would have you believe they are ripe for the picking. Sound familiar?

Referee Eddie Ward (centre) watches as John Hopoate (left) and Danny Moore slug it out. Photo: File

History would suggest NSW should be on edge. Queensland have their backs to the wall and the Blues know it. They can sense vulnerability in the Maroons, James Maloney one of the few players brave enough to say so publicly.

Fittler has cut a swath through his side and handed NSW jerseys to 11 debutants. He has dispensed with the past and ushered in the present. He has thrown open training sessions and allowed their stories to be told. James Roberts, a recluse in clubland, has become a media darling, his tale providing the most cogent example of rugby league’s redemptive and rehabilitative powers.

There has been analysis of whether this is the fastest Origin side of all time. Whether halfback Nathan Cleary is the calm and composed presence the Blues have lacked in a No 7 jersey for much of the past decade. Whether NSW’s generation next can do what their predecessors have failed to do.

But if they can’t stop the rot, who can? If speed doesn’t kill Queensland, what will? If Cleary isn’t the answer, if he gets suffocated on the Origin stage, does NSW have an alternative?

NSW second-rower David Barnhill and Maroons lock Billy Moore come to blows in 1995. Photo: File

Tonight’s game is important on so many levels for NSW, Fittler acknowledging as much when he said it was vital the Blues won the first game. Melbourne could yet be the scene for the turning of the Origin tide, just as it was 12 years ago when the Maroons won the series in the game’s southern outpost.

On that occasion it was at Etihad Stadium. The MCG now beckons for the Blues. Fittler stressed the ground would hold no fears for his players yesterday. As he pointed out, most of them play regularly at ANZ Stadium, a ground that holds more than 70,000.

Fittler has been gifted an opportunity to change the tide of Origin, just as he did as a player during the halcyon days of the Blues.

A camp like few others is edging to its climax. Last night, Fittler’s players presented each other with their jerseys. A new beginning or more of the same? Time to find out.