State of Origin’s Biggest Bolters
NSW and Queensland selectors will assemble their squads for the 2022 State of Origin series opener over the weekend – and there’s sure to be a stack of talking points with one or two surprise selections.
Teenaged sensation Selwyn Cobbo appears set for a Maroons call-up after just 19 NRL games, while a host of debutants are in line to help solve the Blues’ centre injury crisis.
Take a trip through interstate footy’s annals and reminisce about Origin’s biggest bolters.
Brad Izzard (NSW, 1982)
Penrith rookie Izzard had just turned 20 and had only 12 first grade appearances under his belt when he was selected on the NSW bench for the 1982 series opener.
The burly centre crossed for a match-sealing try on debut as the Blues recorded their first Origin win, before scoring a sensational 50-metre individual try in the game two loss after being promoted to the starting side.
Izzard’s outing in the dour decider loss was his last for NSW until 1991 – an Origin record gap between appearances of almost nine years.
Phil Duke (NSW, 1982)
Moree Boomerangs winger Duke was the first of just three players to be selected for the Blues from NSW country clubs – the others were Cootamundra backrower Paul Field (1983) and North Newcastle hooker Rex Wright (1984) – but unquestionably made the biggest impact on the Origin narrative.
The Indigenous winger was a shock selection for the 1982 decider after playing in Country Firsts’ 47-3 loss to City.
Duke scored a dubious first-half try, before being involved in an infamous in-goal mix-up with NSW fullback Phil Sigsworth that allowed Wally Lewis to pounce for the winning try in Queensland’s 10-5 success. He later spent two seasons with Western Suburbs Magpies (1987-88).
Lindsay Johnston (NSW, 1983)
Nineteen-year-old North Sydney prop Johnston held the record as Origin’s youngest player for seven years after being called into the Blues’ squad for the last two games of the 1983 series.
A veteran of just 18 first-grade games, Johnston made 32 tackles and 23 hit-ups on debut as the Blues won game two in Sydney. He later had stints with Easts and Souths but failed to scale the representative heights again.
Kerrod Walters (Qld, 1989)
An understudy to Queensland incumbent and Test veteran Greg Conescu during the Broncos’ 1988 debut season, Walters skipped the Maroons’ No.9 queue – which also included old brother Steve and Gold Coast captain Billy Johnstone – to win an Origin call-up for the 1989 series opener.
Kerrod had started just 14 first-grade matches at hooker but was one of the stars of Queensland’s 3-0 cleansweep, winning man-of-the-match honours in a game three blowout before grabbing the Australian Test role on the subsequent tour of New Zealand.
Brad Fittler (NSW, 1990)
Penrith centre/five-eighth Fittler’s ability was obvious from the moment he burst onto the first-grade scene as a 17-year-old late in 1989, and he needed only 12 appearances for the Panthers to convince Blues selectors he was ready for the Origin cauldron.
Fittler came off the bench in NSW’s series-sealing game two win in 1990, and was virtually an automatic selection for the next decade in racking up a record number of appearances for his state. He remains the youngest-ever Blues debutant at 18 years and 114 days.
The shock call-up also garnered the ‘Freddy’ moniker, after coach Jack Gibson thought the newcomer’s name was Fred.
Willie Carne (Qld, 1990)
Because he developed into arguably the world’s best winger with 18 months, Carne’s insanely rapid rise to Origin status is often overlooked.
The Roma-bred flyer’s first grade career with the Broncos was just six games old when he was drafted into the Queensland for the 1990 game three dead-rubber, replacing Norths’ Les Kiss.
He repaid the Maroons selectors’ foresight by being an outstanding contributor in 12 matches for the Maroons.
Origin flashback: Willie Carne at his best https://t.co/ocGufkYxOr
— Suncorp Stadium(@SuncorpStadium) August 20, 2021
John Simon (NSW, 1992)
Illawarra halfback Simon used a starring role in Country Origin’s historic 1992 win over City Origin as a springboard to the NSW No.7 jersey in the absence of Canberra maestro Ricky Stuart.
The 19-year-old Indigenous playmaker was superb on debut as the Blues won the series opener 14-6 at the SFS but made way for Stuart’s return. Simon later featured in NSW’s 1997 series win and played one Test for Australia that year.
Brett Dallas (Qld, 1993)
Replacing Newcastle’s Adrian Brunker – a shock 1992 debutant himself – in the 1993 dead-rubber, Canterbury winger Dallas became Queensland’s first 18-year-old Origin rep.
The redheaded speedster had just 13 first-grade games to his credit and produced a shaky debut went on to have some memorable moments for the Paul Vautin-coached Maroons during the Super League-affected 1995-97 seasons, finishing with 10 Origin appearances.
Ben Ikin (Qld, 1995)
The Origin ban on Super League-aligned players resulted in Queensland jerseys being handed out to a stack of fringe first-graders and journeymen who otherwise would have never had the opportunity to represent. But the biggest shock came on the form of the bench selection of Gold Coast rookie Ikin.
Ikin had made just four appearances with the lowly Seagulls when he was called into Queensland’s Super League-depleted squad for the 1995 series opener. The centre/five-eighth became the youngest player in Origin history at 18 years and 83 days.
Famously mistaken for an autograph-hunting schoolboy by coach Paul Vautin at the team hotel, Ikin made an outstanding contribution to the Maroons’ extraordinary 3-0 series triumph off the bench.
Two years later he was pitched into the five-eighth role – despite having never started a first-grade game in the position – but went on to represent his state 17 times in a stellar Origin career spanning nine seasons.
Trent Barrett (NSW, 1997)
With an eye to the future, 19-year-old Steelers five-eighth Barrett was handed the Blues’ No.6 jumper for the 1997 dead-rubber after just 12 first-grade games as a replacement for the injured Jim Dymock.
Barrett went on to play 11 matches in an Origin career spanning 14 seasons.
Chris Beattie (Qld, 2001)
Arguably the least heralded of Queensland’s 10 debutants selected for the crucial 2001 series opener, Beattie was picked despite boasting just 18 NRL appearances for Cronulla and spending two weeks on the sideline earlier that season on a biting charge.
The 24-year-old Ipswich firebrand enjoyed a sound debut in the game one victory before being dropped in the wake of the Maroons’ comprehensive game two loss.
Beattie made one further Origin appearance as the suspended Petero Civoniceva’s replacement in Queensland’s gripping 26-18 game two win in 2002.
Phil Bailey (NSW, 2003)
A relatively unheralded back-rower/centre at Manly, Northern Eagles and Cronulla, Bailey came from the clouds to win a spot on the NSW bench in 2003 – playing all three games in the Blues’ series win.
An injury crisis helped Bailey get a Kangaroo Tour call-up at the end of the year, playing Tests against New Zealand and Great Britain, but he never figured in representative calculations again and linked with Wigan in 2007.
Jacob Lillyman (Qld, 2006)
Cowboys second-rower Lillyman earned his first Queensland call-up for the must-win game two encounter in 2006 – despite boasting just 19 NRL appearances, including only one hit-out in the previous 10 weeks due to injury.
After a sound debut, he was kept out of the decider by injury, but has gone on to make 14 Origin appearances until his last call-up in 2017, the final season of a nine-year stay at the Warriors.
Adam Mogg (Qld, 2006)
Mogg was a Queensland Cup star with Redcliffe and had developed into a handy outside back for Canberra, but he would have been on very few pundits’ radar as a contender to help alleviate Queensland’s backline injury crisis during the 2006 series.
Mogg was called up to replaced injured teenage sensation Greg Inglis for the must-win Game 2 and his selection was greeted by ‘Adam who?’ headlines, but he sealed a place in Origin folklore with a brilliant double on debut and another spectacular try in the Maroons’ decider triumph.
Mitchell Pearce (NSW, 2008)
Pearce was just 19 years old with 30 NRL games under his belt when he was chosen to replace the injured NSW halfback Peter Wallace for the 2008 decider. The Roosters linchpin and son of ex-Blues skipper Wayne Pearce impressed on debut despite NSW’s 16-10 loss.
The maligned Pearce ultimately played 19 games for NSW – a record for a player who did not play for Australia – and featured in six more series losses before finally getting hold of Origin shield after his last appearance, in the 2019 decider.
Mitchell Pearce is an Origin series winner
— Telegraph Sport (@telegraph_sport) July 10, 2019(
: @philthy295) pic.twitter.com/IS1iGOFK5a
Will Hopoate (NSW, 2011)
The youngest Origin debutant in 16 years, Manly prodigy Hopoate – the son of 1995 one-game wonder John – was just 19 years and 37 days old when he produced a blinder in NSW’s series-levelling win in game two of the 2011 campaign.
Hopoate had played just 15 NRL games but looked very much at home in the Blues’ centres, scoring a try in a stirring 18-8 victory. Injury ruled him out of the decider and he embarked on a Mormon mission after winning the 2011 grand final with the Sea Eagles, later playing four more Origins in 2014-15.
Jamie Buhrer (NSW, 2012)
A veteran of 37 NRL games and a Grand Final victory with Manly, the versatile Buhrer was a controversial selection as NSW’s bench utility for the 2012 series opener, with regular interchange specialist Kurt Gidley on the injured list.
Buhrer was afforded just seven minutes at dummy-half in the Blues’ 18-10 loss in Melbourne and was not been sighted at Origin level again.
Harry Grant (Qld, 2020)
At the start of 2020, few would have tipped the likes of Edrick Lee and Brenko Lee to ever earn an Origin call-up, while Queensland’s depleted stocks saw AJ Brimson, Xavier Coates, Phillip Sami, Tino Faasuamaleeaui and Corey Allan receive debuts much earlier than most expected.
But the most rapid rise among the 14 newcomers used by Wayne Bennett at the end of a COVID-ravaged year came in the form of hooker sensation Harry Grant, who had played just 17 NRL games and won Dally M Rookie of the Year honours after being loaned to Wests Tigers by Melbourne.
Grant scored a brilliant, trademark solo try on debut in the decider as the side described as the worst Queensland team in 40 years by the Sydney press pulled off a boilover 20-14 victory.
The post State of Origin’s Biggest Bolters appeared first on Ladbrokes Blog.
from Ladbrokes Blog https://www.ladbrokes.com.au/blog/2022/05/27/state-of-origins-biggest-bolters/
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