1984 State of Origin series

Australian rugby league series August 2019 1984 3rd series 100px Logo of the Australian Rugby League 16px Queensland 2–1 91 79309 16px Ross Conlon (18) 16px Kerry Boustead (4) 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. __TOC__ Game I The New South Wales attitude to State of Origin had changed somewhat for the 1984 series, with the Blues squad being excused from their club duties the weekend prior to the first match and undergoing an intensive training camp, signalling the NSWRL's commitment to taking the series seriously. Gallaway Jack Origin: Rugby league's greatest contest 1980 - 2002 University of Queensland Press 2003 50–51 https://books.google.com/books?id=3nDbsx3Hk7QC 978-0-7022-3383-8 Canterbury-Bankstown halfback Steve Mortimer was originally selected as the Blues halfback, but withdrew with a hamstring injury. Mortimer later confirmed he had actually faked the injury as he wasn't happy with the selection of long-time rival Peter Sterling on the bench. Mortimer felt that with Sterling's Parramatta team mate Ray Price as team captain, he would not have a voice or be able to run the team on the field as he wished to. Sterling was elevated to the starting line up after Mortimer's withdrawal with St George's Brian Hetherington selected as the reserve back. #eeeeee Tuesday, 29 May 19841984 State of Origin game 1 https://web.archive.org/web/20120304214927/http://www.nrlstats.com/origin/match.cfm?MatchID=11174 4 March 2012 at nrlstats.com (Report) Queensland 16px 16px New South Wales 29–12 (12 - 3 t) Kerry Boustead (4 - 1 t) Paul Vautin (5 - 1 t, 1 fg) Wally Lewis (4 - 1 t) Gene Miles (4 - 2 g) Mal Meninga Ross Conlon (8 - 4 g) Noel Cleal (4 - 1 t) Lang Park 33,662 Kevin RobertsState Of Origin - Game 1, 1984 https://web.archive.org/web/20071001061219/http://stats.rleague.com/rl/soo/game9.html 2007-10-01 at stats.rleague.com Wally Lewis Queensland were motivated by the announcement that New South Wales coach Frank Stanton had been appointed as Australian national coach for the upcoming Ashes series against Great Britain. Queensland's own coach and favoured Origin son, Arthur Beetson was being dumped in favour of Stanton and notwithstanding that Stanton was merely returning to the helm having previously steered the national side on two triumphant Kangaroo tours, the Maroons were keen to avenge the honour of Beetson who had been dumped as Australian coach following the Kangaroos 19–12 loss to New Zealand at Lang Park in 1983. The Maroons won the match 29–12 with Manly-Warringah winger Kerry Boustead achieving the rare Origin honour of scoring three tries. Mal Meninga had a poor night with the boot, only kicking two goals from eight attempts. It was rumoured that this ultimately cost him a place in the Australian team for the first Ashes test with NSW goalkicking winger Ross Conlon winning a spot on the wing. Game II #eeeeee Tuesday, 19 June 19841984 State of Origin game 2 https://web.archive.org/web/20120304214936/http://www.nrlstats.com/origin/match.cfm?MatchID=11172 4 March 2012 at nrlstats.com (Report) Queensland 16px 16px New South Wales 14–2 (4 - 1 t) Greg Dowling (4 - 1 t) Gene Miles (6 - 3 g) Mal Meninga Ross Conlon (2 - 1 g) Sydney Cricket Ground 29,088 Barry GomersallState Of Origin - Game 2, 1984 https://web.archive.org/web/20070815221028/http://stats.rleague.com/rl/soo/game10.html 15 August 2007 at stats.rleague.com Wally Lewis Game II was played on a cold and wet night that saw almost 30,000 cram into the Sydney Cricket Ground, signalling that the New South Wales public had finally embraced the Origin concept. The mud, rain and tolerant eye of referee Barry Gomersall combined to form an explosive mix. Progress was arduous in the SCG quagmire and handling almost impossible. Blues prop Steve Roach triggered an all-in brawl in the second tackle of the match with players trading blows for more than a minute afterwards in three separate melees. The sight of Chris Close, his jumper torn off, going blow-for-blow with New South Wales lock Ray Price became an enduring Origin image. When order was finally restored, Gomersall merely awarded a penalty against the Blues (which he had already called just as the fight started) and allowed play to continue. Both sides dug in for a slogging defensive contest and not surprisingly, when Gomersall called a halt for half-time, neither side had scored. So bad were conditions, Blues second-rower Noel Cleal attempted a line drop out only for the ball to stick in the gluey mud and trickle a metre forward. In contrast, Wally Lewis had earlier kicked a drop out some 40 metres downfield which drew a glare from Gomersall, especially as a quarter line drop out from Lewis just 10 minutes into the game had barely travelled 10 metres. Lewis later admitted that he had distracted Gomersall by calling for his team to stay onside. When Gomersall looked away to check, Lewis kicked the ball but caught it before it hit the ground. The deadlock was only broken when Mal Meninga landed a penalty goal. shortly afterwards Queensland prop Greg Dowling scored a memorable Origin try. Lewis had been peppering the New South wales line with his searching kicks and chipped ahead, aiming for the in-goal area. In a moment of good fortune for the Maroons the ball struck the cross-bar and Dowling who had been following through, took an extraordinary catch on his finger tips centimetres from the rain soaked ground and plunged across the line in a splash of mud to score and give Queensland an 8–0 lead. State of Origin - 1980s The Sydney Morning Herald Australia Fairfax Digital 2010-04-27 http://www.smh.com.au/rugby-league/league-news/state-of-origin--1980s-20100426-tndf.html 2010-04-27 The Blues responded with a penalty goal to winger Ross Conlon reducing the Queensland lead to a converted try but when Maroon centre Gene Miles powered his way over the line from dummy half, the Queensland lead extended to 14–2 and there was no way back for the Blues. Game III With the series decided in Sydney, game III at Lang Park became a dead-rubber but was significant for the selection of Canterbury Bulldogs half-back Steve Mortimer as captain of New South Wales for the first time after Ray Price had elected to stand down from representative football following the third Ashes Test. New South Wales selectors took the opportunity to blood a number of young players for the first time like Chris Mortimer, Pat Jarvis and Peter Wynn who along with Mortimer would play dominant roles in the Blues revival of 1985. #eeeeee Tuesday, 17 July 19841984 State of Origin game 3 https://web.archive.org/web/20120304214942/http://www.nrlstats.com/origin/match.cfm?MatchID=11173 4 March 2012 at nrlstats.com (Report) New South Wales 16px 16px Queensland 22–12 (10 - 5 g) Ross Conlon (8 - 2 t) Brian Johnston (4 - 1 t) Noel Cleal Kerry Boustead (4 - 1 t) Bob Lindner (4 - 1 t) Mal Meninga (4 - 2 g) Lang Park 16,559 Kevin RobertsState Of Origin - Game 3, 1984 https://web.archive.org/web/20070819231323/http://stats.rleague.com/rl/soo/game11.html 19 August 2007 at stats.rleague.com Steve Mortimer Mortimer inspired New South Wales to a 22–12 victory which avoided the embarrassment of a series whitewash and earned for himself the man of the match award. Teams New South Wales Blues PositionGame 1Game 2Game 3 Fullback Balmain 16 Garry Jack Wing Parramatta 16 Eric Grothe, Sr. St George 16 Steve Morris Centre Parramatta 16 Steve Ella Canterbury 16 Andrew Farrar Canterbury 16 Chris Mortimer Centre Parramatta 16 Brett Kenny St George 16 Brian Johnston Wing Canterbury 16 Ross Conlon Five-eighth Manly 16 Alan Thompson Canterbury 16 Terry Lamb Parramatta 16 Brett Kenny Halfback Parramatta 16 Peter Sterling Canterbury 16 Steve Mortimer Canterbury 16 Steve Mortimer (c) Prop Balmain 16 Steve Roach Hooker Country 16 Rex Wright Old Penrith 16 Royce Simmons Prop St George 16 Craig Young Canterbury 16 Peter Tunks St George 16 Pat Jarvis Second row Manly 16 Noel Cleal Second row Balmain 16 Wayne Pearce St George 16 Chris Walsh Lock Parramatta 16 Ray Price (c) Parramatta 16 Peter Wynn Interchange Illawarra 16 Brian Hetherington Parramatta 16 Steve Ella Canterbury 16 Mick Potter Interchange St George 16 Pat Jarvis Canterbury 16 Peter Tunks Coach Balmain 16 Frank Stanton Queensland Maroons PositionGame 1Game 2Game 3 Fullback Wynnum-Manly 16 Colin Scott Wing Manly 16 Kerry Boustead Redcliffe Dolphins 16 John Ribot Centre Souths Magpies 16 Mal Meninga Manly 16 Chris Close Souths Magpies 16 Mal Meninga Centre Wynnum-Manly 16 Gene Miles Wynnum-Manly 16 Brett French Wing Manly 16 Chris Close Souths Magpies 16 Mal Meninga Manly 16 Kerry Boustead Five-eighth Wynnum-Manly 16 Wally Lewis (c) Halfback Redcliffe Dolphins 16 Mark Murray Norths Devils 16 Ross Henrick Prop Wynnum-Manly 16 Greg Dowling Hooker Widnes 16 Greg Conescu Prop Manly 16 Dave Brown Second row Redcliffe Dolphins 16 Bryan Niebling Parramatta 16 Chris Phelan Second row Redcliffe Dolphins 16 Wally Fullerton Smith Lock Manly 16 Paul Vautin Souths Magpies 16 Bob Lindner Interchange Wynnum-Manly 16 Brett French Souths Magpies 16 Bob Lindner Bradford 16 Bob Kellaway Interchange Souths Magpies 16 Bob Lindner Wests Panthers 16 Tony Currie Coach Easts 16 Arthur Beetson See also 1984 NSWRL season Sources 40em Big League's 25 Years of Origin Collectors' Edition, News Magazines, Surry Hills, Sydney External links State of Origin 1984 at rugbyleagueproject.org Category:State of Origin series State of Origin series