1983 State of Origin series

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1983 State of Origin series
Won by Queensland colours.svg Queensland  (2nd title)
Series margin2–1
Points scored117
Attendance77,116 (ave. 25,705 per match)
Top points scorer(s) Queensland colours.svg Mal Meninga (30)
Top try scorer(s) New South Wales colours.svg Chris Anderson (3)

The 1983 State of Origin series was the second time the annual three-game series between the New South Wales and Queensland rugby league teams was played entirely under "state of origin" selection rules.

Contents

After the Australian team had swept all before them in 1982, including sweeping New Zealand in the mid-season tests, before embarking on the highly successful 1982 Kangaroo tour where they became the first touring side to go through undefeated, winning all three Ashes tests against Great Britain and the two tests against France, the 1983 State of Origin series was billed as something of an unofficial World Championship. The winning state would have bragging rights over who had the best representative team in the world outside of the test team.

Game I

Tuesday, 7 June 1983 [1]
Queensland colours.svg Queensland 2412 New South Wales colours.svg New South Wales
(8 - 2 t) Wally Lewis
(4 - 1 t) Mark Murray
(12 - 6 g) Mal Meninga
(Report)
Phil Sigsworth (4 - 2 g)
Eric Grothe, Sr. (4 - 1 t)
Steve Ella (4 - 1 t)
Lang Park, Brisbane
Attendance: 29,412
Referee: Barry Gomersall [2]
Player of the Match: Wally Lewis

Game I of 1983 was refereed by Barry Gomersall, his second Origin fixture following Game II, 1982. Penrith's Darryl Brohman was making his Origin debut and with his ball skills and strong kicking game had been considered a strong possibility to force his way into the Australian side due to play New Zealand a few days later. Early in the first half Brohman's jaw was broken by a sickening elbow from Blues' second-rower Les Boyd which sidelined him for the rest of the season. [3] Gomersall awarded a penalty for the high shot, but allowed Boyd to stay on the field.

Boyd was later cited by the judiciary and received a twelve-month suspension [4] - the first of two massive barrings that eventually saw him relocate his career to England. It was to be Boyd's last representative appearance after 17 Tests and two Kangaroo Tours. Brohman meanwhile spent three months on the sideline nursing the injury and never represented Australia.

On the scoreboard Wally Lewis took control of the match. He scored twice in the first half and with Mal Meninga landing the conversions and potting three penalty goals, the Maroons lead 18-0 after 30 minutes and were able to ward off a spirited New South Wales comeback.

Game II

For Game II of the series, every member of the Blues' backline came from the defending premiers, the Parramatta Eels, with the exception of Eastern Suburbs fullback Marty Gurr. Players were required to represent their clubs in the season rounds between Origin clashes and a number of New South Wales players from Game I were injured in that weekend's round and unavailable for Game II. The Eels backline consisted of Neil Hunt and Eric Grothe (wings), Mick Cronin and Steve Ella (centres), Brett Kenny (five-eighth) and Peter Sterling (halfback). The club also provided lock forward Ray Price and replacement forward Stan Jurd giving them eight of the Blues' 15 players, the highest ever single club representation for NSW in Origin history.

Tuesday, 21 June 1983 [5]
New South Wales colours.svg New South Wales 106 Queensland colours.svg Queensland
(2 - 1 g) Mick Cronin
(4 - 1 t) Neil Hunt
(4 - 1 t) Steve Ella
(Report)
Mal Meninga (6 - 1t,1g)
SCG, Sydney
Attendance: 21,620
Referee: John Gocher [6]
Player of the Match: Peter Sterling

The match became a battle of attrition on a muddy SCG and the Blues kept the series alive with a 10-6 victory in which the Parramatta connection scored all the points - tries to Hunt and Ella, converted by Cronin. For Queensland Mal Meninga scored and converted a try. Queensland had a chance to take the lead when captain Wally Lewis crossed next to the posts midway through the second half, but referee John Gocher ruled obstruction against Gene Miles and disallowed the try.

Kangaroo tour test halfback Peter Sterling continued his ongoing selection battle with Canterbury-Bankstown half Steve Mortimer and fully repaid the selectors' confidence masterfully orchestrating the Blues' play and winning the first of his four Origin man-of-the-match awards. When Mortimer did come on in the second half it was actually on the wing replacing an injured Eric Grothe, though it did not take him long to get involved in the game as an extra half for the Blues.

Game III

Tuesday, 28 June 1983 [7]
Queensland colours.svg Queensland 4322 New South Wales colours.svg New South Wales
(4 - 1 t) Gene Miles
(4 - 1 t) Steve Stacey
(4 - 1 t) Bryan Neibling
(4 - 1 t) Dave Brown
(12 - 6 g) Mal Meninga
(4 - 1 t) Greg Conescu
(2 - 1 g) Colin Scott
(1 - 1 fg) Wally Lewis
(8 - 2 t) Mitch Brennan
(Report)
Mick Cronin (6 - 3 g)
Chris Anderson (12 - 3 t)
Steve Mortimer (4 - 1 t)
Lang Park, Brisbane
Attendance: 26,084
Referee: Robin Whitfield [8]
Player of the Match: Wally Lewis

The series decider at Lang Park was billed as "the clash of the decade" but Lewis was brilliant and the game was never a contest. Queensland led 21-0 at half-time [9] and 33-0 before the Blues scored four late consolation tries.

The 43-22 Maroons victory was the biggest since 1955 [10] and set the standing record for the most points scored by Queensland in an Origin match and also featured another record - the first time three tries were scored by a single player in an Origin match (by Blues' winger Chris Anderson). Another record was set a week later when Queensland had nine players selected in the Australian side to meet the Kiwis.

Peter Sterling missed the deciding game due to injury and with Steve Mortimer nipping at his heels it proved an expensive absence enabling Mortimer to go on to retain the New South Wales position, win back his Australian jumper and keep Sterling at bay in their representative rivalry for the next two years.

Teams

New South Wales Blues

PositionGame 1Game 2Game 3
Fullback Canterbury colours.svg Greg Brentnall Eastern Suburbs colours.svg Marty Gurr
Wing Canterbury colours.svg Chris Anderson Parramatta colours.svg Neil Hunt
Centre Manly Sea Eagles colours.svg Phil Sigsworth Parramatta colours.svg Mick Cronin
Centre Parramatta colours.svg Brett Kenny Parramatta colours.svg Steve Ella
Wing Parramatta colours.svg Eric Grothe, Sr. Canterbury colours.svg Chris Anderson
Five-eighth Manly Sea Eagles colours.svg Alan Thompson Parramatta colours.svg Brett Kenny
Halfback Parramatta colours.svg Peter Sterling Canterbury colours.svg Steve Mortimer
Prop Manly Sea Eagles colours.svg Geoff Gerard Parramatta colours.svg Geoff Bugden
Hooker Manly Sea Eagles colours.svg Max Krilich (c) Manly Sea Eagles colours.svg Ray Brown Manly Sea Eagles colours.svg Max Krilich (c)
Prop Parramatta colours.svg Geoff Bugden North Sydney colours.svg Lindsay Johnston
Second row Manly Sea Eagles colours.svg Les Boyd Cronulla colours.svg Gavin Miller Parramatta colours.svg Stan Jurd
Second row Balmain colours.svg Wayne Pearce Country colours.svg Paul Field
Lock Parramatta colours.svg Ray Price Parramatta colours.svg Ray Price (c) Cronulla colours.svg Gavin Miller
Interchange Parramatta colours.svg Steve Ella Canterbury colours.svg Steve Mortimer Eastern Suburbs colours.svg Kevin Hastings
Interchange Manly Sea Eagles colours.svg Ray Brown Parramatta colours.svg Stan Jurd Manly Sea Eagles colours.svg Ray Brown
Coach Canterbury colours.svg Ted Glossop

Queensland Maroons

PositionGame 1Game 2Game 3
Fullback Wynnum-Manly Colours.svg Colin Scott
Wing Manly Sea Eagles colours.svg John Ribot Wynnum-Manly Colours.svg Terry Butler Balmain colours.svg Steve Stacey
Centre Western Suburbs colours.svg Mal Meninga
Centre Wynnum-Manly Colours.svg Gene Miles
Wing Balmain colours.svg Steve Stacey Manly Sea Eagles colours.svg Chris Close Redcliffe colours.svg Mitch Brennan
Five-eighth Valleys colours.svg Wally Lewis (c)
Halfback Redcliffe colours.svg Mark Murray
Prop Western Suburbs colours.svg Brad Tessmann
Hooker Norths Devils colours.svg Greg Conescu
Prop Penrith colours.svg Darryl Brohman Manly Sea Eagles colours.svg Dave Brown
Second row Valleys colours.svg Bryan Niebling
Second row Manly Sea Eagles colours.svg Paul Vautin Redcliffe colours.svg Wally Fullerton Smith
Lock Redcliffe colours.svg Wally Fullerton Smith Manly Sea Eagles colours.svg Paul Vautin
Interchange Wynnum-Manly Colours.svg Brett French Western Suburbs colours.svg Bruce Astill
Interchange Manly Sea Eagles colours.svg Dave Brown Norths Devils colours.svg Ross Henrick Balmain colours.svg Gavin Jones
Coach Eastern Suburbs colours.svg Arthur Beetson

See also

Sources

  1. 1983 State of Origin game 1 Archived 4 March 2012 at the Wayback Machine at nrlstats.com
  2. State Of Origin - Game 1, 1983 Archived 1 October 2007 at the Wayback Machine at stats.rleague.com
  3. Gallaway, Jack (2003). Origin: Rugby league's greatest contest 1980 - 2002. University of Queensland Press. p. 41. ISBN   978-0-7022-3383-8.
  4. Steve Ricketts; Barry Dick; Paul Malone (23 May 2012). "The 30 greatest controversies in 30 years of State of Origin series". The Courier-Mail . Retrieved 26 May 2012.
  5. 1983 State of Origin game 2 Archived 4 March 2012 at the Wayback Machine at nrlstats.com
  6. State Of Origin - Game 2, 1983 Archived 23 July 2007 at the Wayback Machine at stats.rleague.com
  7. 1983 State of Origin game 3 Archived 4 March 2012 at the Wayback Machine at nrlstats.com
  8. State Of Origin - Game 3, 1983 Archived 19 August 2007 at the Wayback Machine at stats.rleague.com
  9. Barrow, Tim (6 July 2011). "State of Origin: The deciders". The Sydney Morning Herald . Retrieved 7 July 2011.
  10. foxsports.com.au (1 July 2008). "Classic State of Origin IIIs". Fox Sports . Australia: Premier Media Group. Retrieved 20 February 2011.

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The 2005 State of Origin series saw the 24th time that the annual three-game series between the Queensland and New South Wales representative rugby league football teams was contested entirely under 'state of origin' selection rules. The three matches drew a total attendance of 187,309 and New South Wales won the series 2-1, their third consecutive series victory, and their last until 2014.

The 1980 State of Origin game was the first game between the Queensland Maroons and the New South Wales Blues rugby league teams to be played under "state of origin" selection rules. It was the third match of 1980s annual interstate series between the Blues and the Maroons, and was only allowed to go ahead because the first two matches were already won by New South Wales under established 'state of residency' rules. It was played on 8 July 1980 under the newly configured rules by which a player would represent his "state of origin", i.e. the state in which he was born or in which he started playing registered first grade rugby league football.

The 1981 State of Origin game was the second such match between arch rivals Queensland and New South Wales to be played under State of Origin selection rules. Again it was played as the third game of an already-decided 3-game series. New South Wales' victories in the first two games under the "state of residency" selection rules were, however, the last matches of this kind to ever be played as the following year the Origin concept was fully embraced.

The 1991 State of Origin series saw the tenth time the annual three-match State of Origin series between the New South Wales and Queensland representative rugby league teams was played entirely under 'state of origin' selection rules. It was notable as Wally Lewis' farewell from Origin football and featured his half-time stoush with Mark Geyer in Game II which match culminated in Michael O'Connor's sensational match-winning sideline conversion in teeming rain.

The 1989 State of Origin series was the eighth time the annual three-game series between New South Wales and Queensland was contested entirely under 'state of origin' selection rules. It was Queensland's second consecutive Origin clean-sweep and an unpleasant inauguration for New South Wales' new coach Jack Gibson who, along with a new captain in Gavin Miller and eight new players, was brought into a dramatically overhauled Blues side that had lost its five last State of Origin matches.

The 1985 State of Origin series was the fourth time the annual three-match series between New South Wales and Queensland was contested entirely under 'state of origin' selection rules. It was the year that New South Wales finally ended Queensland's dominance which had arisen with the State of Origin concept.

The 1986 State of Origin series was the fifth year that the annual three-match series between New South Wales and Queensland was contested entirely under "state of origin" selection rules. It was the year that New South Wales finally asserted some dominance and won the series in the first ever 3-0 Origin whitewash. It was an inauspicious introduction to Origin coaching for Wayne Bennett who soon afterwards began plotting a reversal of fortunes that would lead to a pending period of Queensland dominance.

The 1984 State of Origin series was the third time the annual three-game series between the representative rugby league football teams of New South Wales and Queensland was played entirely under "state of origin" selection rules. With Queensland wrapping up the series in the first two matches it produced the first dead rubber finish and an infamous opening minute brawl in game II.

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