I KNOW there are critical Round 13 NRL games this weekend, but the first State of Origin next Wednesday in Sydney is the talking point for most people this week.
State of Origin is simply a concept that few, if any sport in the world, can compare with.
I was fortunate enough to be at the very first Origin game in 1980. At that time, I was coaching Norths in Brisbane and attended the game along with most of our Norths players.
Little did we know we were witnessing history in the making. I remember the night like it was yesterday and along with most of Queensland we celebrated like there was no tomorrow. What a game, what vision and what history that night delivered. Simply amazing!
However, to get a call from the QRL inviting me to be the Queensland State of Origin coach in 1991 was something that is impossible for me to describe. For a start, I’m a Kiwi and I was replacing my all-time hero in the late, great Arthur Beetson.
To suggest it was a controversial decision by the QRL may be the biggest understatement in Origin history. I certainly doubt there will ever be a non-Australian appointed to the role again. But I can assure you the pride I felt, and also the responsibility, is still with me today. And the response I got from the players was just fantastic. To this day I love every one of them.
At that time I was coaching Manly in Sydney and it certainly caught them by surprise when my appointment was announced.
But one of my fondest memories was getting a call of support and congratulations from the man himself, Arthur Beetson. Arthur and I had been mates since 1983 when he coached Australia and I coached the Kiwis and it was a friendship I always cherished.
