Lq mag june online

LEAGUEQUEENSLAND.COM.AU

mighty maroons

COMPLIMENTARY

(1908-2017)

INSIDE THIS ISSUE:

GAGAI – FOR THE LOVE OF THE GAME SOUTH SYDNEY V NTH QLD COWBOYS KANGAROOS TOO GOOD FOR KIWIS PRIDE OF MACKAY MIGHTY MAROONS – CLASS OF 1922 AND 1980 PART 1 GORMAN’S GREATS V MENINGA’S MEN

LEAGUEQUEENSLAND.COM.AU

1

Thursday 10PM after the Footy

Kick off your weekend with a raucous mix of jokes, banter, pranks and leftfield analysis.

2

LEAGUEQUEENSLAND.COM.AU

Foxtel Play requires internet, data & a compatible device. Foxtel and some services not available to all homes.Foxtel marks are used under licence by Foxtel Management Pty Ltd.

CONTENT 4 6 9 11 13 16 19 20 22 23 24 25 34 41 47 48 51 52

Good deeds in rugby league Lillyman – Old School Gagai – For the love of the game Macca’s View NRL Round-up South Sydney v Nth Queensland Cowboys Hunters benefit from World Cup Residents rise in 2017 Kangaroos too good for Kiwis Women in league More than the Foley Shield James Graham Pride of Mackay Mighty Maroons – The Class of 1922 Mighty Maroons – The Class of 1980 Meninga’s Men 2010 and loyalty counts Part 1 Gorman’s Greats v Meninga’s Men

From the editor

Publisher: League Queensland is wholly owned by Tony and Carmel Price. ABN: 15 808 728 009.

COPYRIGHT 2016 by Tony Price, all rights reserved.

Editor: Tony Price E: tony@leaguequeensland.com.au P: 0427 451 913 A: 2 Andrew Court, Alexandra Hills, Qld, 4171 Subeditor: Simon Price Information and Advertising: Carmel Price P: 0439 675 325 E: admin@leaguequeensland.com.au Graphic Art: Kartia Designs www.kartiadesigns.com.au Printed by: First Proof Press Unit 21, 12 Lawrence Drive Nerang, Qld, 4211

I decided to include our feature on rugby league back in the 1920’s because it would seem as though rugby league in Queensland before ‘Origin’ has been forgotten. My first taste of watching big-time rugby league was North Queensland playing Great Britain in Townsville in 1970 and then the rugged test series that followed. A battered and bruised Australia won the first test in Brisbane but the tough Englishmen recovered to win their last series in Australia.

Digital version at leaguequeensland.com.au

I fully support Mal Meninga in his quest to lift the profile of international rugby league and really enjoyed the recent tests involving Australia, New Zealand, England, Samoa, Tonga, Fiji, PNG and the Cook Islands. It was obvious to me that playing for their country meant a lot to the Pacific Island nations and so it should. Rugby League is in a lucky space – we have a very strong club competition, a magnificent inter-state competition and the ingredients to really create a great international competition.

On the cover: Cameron Smith, Darren Lockyer, Johnathan Thurston, Mal Meninga, Wally Lewis Images: NRL Imagery

We need to grow the game in the Pacific Islands and support the game in the smaller European nations where it’s trying to get a foothold or in the case of France survive. Not many of us would be lucky enough to remember the 1951 and 1955 Frenchmen but records indicate they were two of the toughest, most skilful International teams to ever tour Australia. That’s where we want to be, having a world class game and playing world class opponents.

Our NRL club competition must be the envy of the other codes in Australia. It’s obvious after the double-header in Brisbane where the Titans pipped ladder leaders the Melbourne Storm and the Broncos came from 14-0 down to defeat Manly that there is no clear favourite to win the competition and once again that’s good for the game.

In closing, I hope you enjoy our trip down memory lane in this our 9th edition of ‘League Queensland’.

Over the next three editions we will concentrate on the World Cup and once again bring back old memories.

Kind regards,

Tony Price

Disclaimer:

All material contained in this publication is subject to copyright and may not be reproduced, in part or in whole without written permission of the editor. Whilst the greatest care is taken to ensure that the information in the magazine is correct at the time of going to press, readers are advised to check latest information before visiting. The publisher cannot accept responsibility for errors, inaccuracies or omissions. As it is not possible to ensure that the advertisements which are published in this magazine comply with the Act the responsibility must, therefore, be on the person, company or advertising agency submitting the advertisements for publication.

The views expressed within League Queensland are not necessarily the views of the publisher, but those of individual writers.

LEAGUEQUEENSLAND.COM.AU

3

Photo: NRL Imagery

GOOD DEEDS IN RUGBY LEAGUE HE’S the game’s best player but he’s also one of the most giving. Johnathan Thurston’s on-field heroics are regularly applauded but off the field he’s equally as impressive.

His willingness to give is often caught at the end of the television broadcast. Donating signed kicking tees and his head gear to young fans in the crowd after just about every half of football he plays, there’s no denying the champion No.7 is a champion bloke.

But this story from Mark Hughes just about tops the lot.

With round 11 doubling as ‘Beanies for Brain Cancer’ round, Newcastle great Hughes joined Sterlo On The Couch to share his battle with the disease and the incredibly generous acts from league players both past and present who are helping raise funds and awareness.

While there are several high profile people assisting the two-time premiership winning centre with his Mark Hughes Foundation, there’s none bigger than the North Queensland superstar simply known as JT. “I was on this show a couple of years ago and I think JT was watching and decided from there he wanted to get our beanies and wear it for us,” Hughes said of Thurston’s involvement.

“He’s been amazing. He took us to the Australia game in Newcastle last year and after the game he got us into the sheds and he gave the kids his head gear and he gave me the jersey off his back and said ‘use it for the charity’, which is amazing.”

“But then he took it back off me and said I’m going to wash it for you. He took it all the way home, washed it, signed it and sent it. Things like that are amazing.”

The gesture from Thurston left a lasting impression on Hughes but it’s not just the Australian star who has been so giving.

Brand Brandnew newshow show on onFOX FOXLEAGUE LEAGUE Wednesdays Wednesdays 7pm 7pm (QLD (QLD Time) Time)

4

LEAGUEQUEENSLAND.COM.AU Foxtel Foxtel PlayPlay requires requires internet, internet, datadata & a compatible & a compatible device. device.

Foxtel Foxtel andand some some services services not available not available to alltohomes. all homes.

Foxtel Foxtel marks marks are used are used under under licence licence

by Foxtel

by Foxtel Management Management Pty Ltd. Pty Ltd.

Many of Hughes’ former Knights teammates have given up much of their time to help him out.

From Paul Harragon’s ‘I’m A Celebrity ... Get Me Out Of Here!’ appearance with the MHF his chosen charity, to friends taking turns driving him from Newcastle to the Central Coast where he was heaving chemotherapy. “It was awesome to get oneon-one and chat with them,” Hughes said of his car rides.

“It was 33 sessions of radiation so it was 33 lunches I shouted at the Twin servos. It was starting to come a bit costly. The other funny thing about it was I would let the boys drive my car.

“A few months later I got a letter from the RTA that I lose a point for speeding and a fine. “I was thinking what do I do? I never told anyone who that was and I don’t think Adam Muir would appreciate me telling it was him, so I won’t.

“I had wonderful support and it was great catching up with everyone.”

Hughes has scans every four months as “things can change very quickly” but his last scans presented clear. A veteran of more than 150 first grade games for the Knights, two premiership rings and three Origins for NSW, Hughes had an incredibly successful career.

After retiring at the end of 2006 following a stint in the Super League with Catalans, Hughes started a commercial cleaning business as he transitioned into life after football. But in 2013 the Kurri Kurri product started suffering headaches for days at a time. Everything changed after that.

“We decided to go to the doctors one afternoon. He rushed me in for a scan and from there my world got turned upside down,” Hughes said.

“The scans showed an irregularity in my brain. They weren’t sure if I’d had some kind of a stroke. “I had to wait three or four weeks, re-scanned and then it was confirmed it was a tumour. I was rushed straight to surgery. Life changed from there.”

From signing his first contract as a scrawny teenager for $5000 to having a great career, wife and three children, Hughes has had an incredible journey. With his time spent raising funds for brain cancer, Hughes admits the way he views the world now has also changed. He lives life with a simple outlook and one we can all take a great message from.

“I don’t think too far ahead,” he said. “I try and live for the now and appreciate everything I’ve got now. You’re often guilty of sweating the little things in life. I’m still human and they get on top of me at times but I’m trying not to.

“I’m just grateful I’m still here and making a difference. I’m going to do something special. “Chief (Paul Harragon) said to me ‘you’re up for something special here’ and they’re words that ring in my ears.”

– NATHAN RYAN, Fox Sports Johnathan Thurston – not only the game’s best player but one of the most giving. Origin Fan Day in Proserpine, 2015.

Photos: Courtesy Whitsunday Times

LEAGUEQUEENSLAND.COM.AU

5

Photo: Contributed

LILLYMAN OLD SCHOOL THE surprise Origin selection to some but not to the people who know him was Jacob Lillyman, the New Zealand Warriors prop who has been a constant in Queensland teams since he first made the grade back in 2006. After making his Origin debut while with the Cowboys in 2006 he has had what he calls a sporadic career ever since, playing just four games between 2006 and 2008 and two in 2011. But Queensland selectors backed his form in 2014 with call-ups for games two and three.

“I played games two and three last year and all the games in 2015, the first time I’ve played all three,” Lillyman said.

When Lillyman pulls on the maroon jersey he often recalls driving the hundreds of kilometres as a junior player with the Richmond Tigers to play in Hughenden, Julia Creek and Cloncurry. “Origin back then was just everything to me and to be a part of it is probably the biggest honour in my life.” It is that attitude that impressed Maroons coach Mal Meninga and which paid off for Queensland when they reclaimed Origin supremacy in 2015. Playing his 11th game for the Maroons in the decider, Lillyman tore into the Blues with 13 hit-ups

and 138m with five tackle busts. The big hearted boy from Richmond played two games for the Maroons in 2016 and is one of the veterans of the Queensland side.

Lillyman is so often the forgotten man of Queensland Rugby League as he plies his trade across the Tasman Sea with the Warriors. To say they have had a topsy-turvy season in 2017 is an understatement but one thing that our Queensland selectors have is faith in players who have served them well in the past and that is Jacob Lillyman.

In 2015 when the Cowboys won their maiden premiership Lillyman watched his former team mates from his home town of Richmond with his father, Budge. “I actually watched it out home in Richmond. Myself and my partner were out visiting mum and dad so I actually got to watch it there so it was a great way to watch such a wonderful game. My old man, he’s a big Cowboys’ fan as well. He enjoyed it.” Budge was a great player in his own right, playing for North Queensland from Richmond in 1979 which was unheard of in those days when the Foley Shield teams dominated selection.

Photo: Courtesy of Whitsunday Times

NORTH QUEENSLAND RUGBY LEAGUE TEAM – 1979 BACK (L-R): Jack Grimstead (Manager), Peter Luppi (Captain/Coach), Steve Bax, Frank Daisy, Noah Savuro, Peter Schiavo, Neil Appo, Bobby Abbott, Joe Bakhash (Manager) CENTRE: Bruce Barclay, John Ward, Bill Linnett, Ron Clark, Mick Agius, Doug Austin FRONT: Ron Sestro, Mick Windeatt, Budge Lillyman, Greg Trackson

6

LEAGUEQUEENSLAND.COM.AU

Create new family Create new family memories in the Whitsundays, memories Whitsundays, in the heart in of the the Great Barrier Reef! in the heart of the Great Barrier Reef!

Finding it hard to pick that perfect family holiday for everyone? Here in the Whitsundays, we thrive in family fun! Your kids will be wideeyed with wonder – with places to stay and afor huge range of things to Whitsundays, do. It’s not justwe about the though… imagine being on a Finding it hard to pick thatfun perfect family holiday everyone?

Here in the thrive in kids family fun! Your kids will be widetropical island resort (complete with a kids club) where the adults can relax and unwind indulging in cocktails with a view like no other. eyed with wonder – with fun places to stay and a huge range of things to do. It’s not just about the kids though… imagine being on a tropical island resort (complete with a kids club) where the adults can relax and unwind indulging in cocktails with a view like no other.

Check out our Top 11 fun family activities that will keep busy and entertained, Check outyour our family Top 11 fun family activities that while at the same time relaxed and happy. will keep your family busy and entertained, while at athe time happy.

1. Take daysame trip like norelaxed other to and Australia’s 1 beach Whitehaven Beach!

Along 1. number Take a day trip like no other to Australia’s the journey experience the thrills of the fast number 1 beach Whitehaven Beach! Along day boats –experience Ocean Rafting, Thunder Catfast the journey the thrills of the or Bullet.

You will also getCat to dayWhitsunday boats – Ocean Rafting, Thunder explore our underwater world finding turtles, or Whitsunday Bullet. You will also get to our Maori wrasse friendsworld George & Elvis explore our underwater finding turtles, and of course Nemo.

Your final destination our Maori wrasse friends George & Elvis Whitehaven Beach & Hill leave you and of course Nemo.

YourInlet finalwill destination with the BEST family Whitehaven Beach & holiday Hill Inletpictures. will leave you with the family 2. Visit the BEST Animal Parkholiday at BIG4pictures.

Adventure Resort and the 2. Whitsunday Visit the Animal Park at help BIG4feed Adventure resident chickens, goats, ducks, piglets, Whitsunday Resort and help feed the lambs and calves every day!

There will be resident chickens, goats, ducks, piglets, a brand new waterpark, the BIGGEST lambs and calves every day! There willinbe Australia to be finished by 2017. in a brand new waterpark, theJune BIGGEST Australia to be finished by June 2017.

3. Go croc spotting in the wild on the River and learn about 3. Proserpine Go croc spotting in the wildmore on the the Goorganga wetlands with Whitsunday Proserpine River and learn more about Crocodile Safari.wetlands with Whitsunday the Goorganga Crocodile Safari.

4. Enjoy breakfast with the koalas at WILD Parkkoalas Café. at Bacon, 4. LIFE EnjoyHamilton breakfastIsland with the WILDeggs and browns taste much better when LIFEhash Hamilton Island Park Café.

Bacon, eggs eaten up close and personal to these furry and hash browns taste much better when Aussieup friends! eaten close and personal to these furry

5. Aussie Snorkel,friends! swim and splash amidst thousands colourful coral fish at a daythousands out on the 5. of Snorkel, swim andand splash amidst Great Barrier Reef with Cruise Whitsundays. of colourful coral and fish at a day out on the Greatlike Barrier Reef with Cruise Whitsundays.

6. Feel sailing around 74 islands?

Set out for an adventure like no other with your Eco 6. Feel like sailing around 74 islands? Set out Pirates helping the captain navigate the Eco for an adventure like no other with your Whitsunday tropical watersnavigate on the timber Pirates helping the captain the tallship Derwent Hunter.

Whitsunday tropical waters on the timber 7. tallship ExploreDerwent beautifulHunter.

Bowen’s free waterpark located adjacent the Herbert Street 7. Explore beautifulto Bowen’s free waterpark intersection on Santa Barbara Parade, located adjacent to the Herbert Street with a ‘zero depth’ area and facilities all intersection onplay Santa Barbara Parade,for with ages. also find uncrowded beaches, a ‘zeroYou’ll depth’ play area and facilities for all whether youalso try stand up paddle boarding ages. You’ll find uncrowded beaches, in the calm snorkel straight off the whether youwaters, try stand up paddle boarding beach or enjoy a game of footy!

On off thethe way in the calm waters, snorkel straight home cool off at Cedar Creek Falls just 25 beach or enjoy a game of footy! On the way minutes from Beach. home cool offAirlie at Cedar Creek Falls just 25 minutes from Airlie Beach.

8. Feel the rush of Formula 1 go-cart action in Island’s Palm Valley.

Take the wheel 8. Hamilton Feel the rush of Formula 1 go-cart action in on the exhilarating outdoor track, reaching Hamilton Island’s Palm Valley.

Take the wheel speeds of up to 45 kilometres per reaching hour. on the exhilarating outdoor track, speeds of up to 45 kilometres per hour.

9. Encounter 6 different turtle species in the waterways all year round or watch the 9. Encounter 6 different turtle species in the laying and hatching of their Bowen. waterways all year round or eggs watchinthe Don’t to watchofthe playful layingforget and hatching their eggswhales, in Bowen. a common around Whitsundays Don’t forgetsight to watch thethe playful whales, from June to October. a common sight around the Whitsundays fromthe June to October.

10. For more adventurous water lovers, make family holiday awater sailing holiday.

10. For theyour more adventurous lovers, Skipper yourself your own bareboat make your familyon holiday a sailing holiday. where day you can pick own Skippereach yourself on your ownyour bareboat island explore.

Notcan confident to crew where to each day you pick your own yourself?

You can choose from a island to explore. Not confident tolarge crew range of overnight crewed from sailing trips. yourself?

You can choose a large

range ofsays overnight trips.

11. Nothing familycrewed holidaysailing quite like camping on a remote tropical island.

11. Nothing says family holiday quite likeNo need to bring your equipment Whitsunday camping on acamping remote tropical island.

No need Island Camping Connections will look after to bring your camping equipment Whitsunday you, you can arrange all your food provisions Island Camping Connections will look after with Provisioning.

Be sure to hire you, Whitsunday you can arrange all your food provisions a kayak or a standProvisioning. up paddle board. with Whitsunday Be sure to hire a kayak or a stand up paddle board.

For more family fun inspiration visit For more family fun inspiration visit

www.tourismwhitsundays.com.au www.tourismwhitsundays.com.au LEAGUEQUEENSLAND.COM.AU

7

Dane Gagai

Many in the Cowboys 2015 premiership side were former teammates. “I played a fair bit of football with Matty Scott and JT at the Cowboys and in Origin and also Gavin Cooper.

I also knew a few of the other players. I played a bit with Ben Hannant. I knew Ray Thompson. He went to Kirwan as well.

“The way they’ve played that year, just going from strength to strength. They played such a great brand of footie and they were so strong so I thought that this could be their year. “But you never know. They’re just so hard to win, you never know what’s going to happen so it was good to see them get through and get it.”

Lillyman knows about missing out on the big prize in grand finals. He made his debut for the Cowboys in 2003 against the Newcastle Knights. Two years later he was a member of the

8

LEAGUEQUEENSLAND.COM.AU

Photo: NRL Imagery

Cowboys squad which won through to the club’s first grand final appearance.

“I played in the first two semi-finals and then I missed out on the major semi and the grand final.”

In all Lillyman played 62 games for the Cowboys before opting to take a chance with the Warriors in 2008. Since then Lillyman has played 174 games for the Warriors including their 2011 grand final clash with Manly which they lost 10-24. “We come up a bit short that day,” he quipped. Now Lillyman is aiming up again, first for the Warriors and maybe Origin and maybe third time will be lucky for the lad from Richmond.

GAGAI

– FOR THE LOVE OF THE GAME

DANE Gagai played himself into rugby league folklore in 2016 with his three-try blitz in Game Two of the 2016 Origin Series and the proud Mackay junior is eyeing off an Australian World Cup jersey at season end. Gagai scored a try on debut in Game Three of the 2015 series and only has to continue that form to be a serious contender for Mal Meninga’s World Cup squad.

He started the 2017 on fire with a dominant performance in the Indigenous All Stars 34-8 victory over the NRL All Stars and although he plays for the struggling Newcastle Knights is highly regarded by both Mal Meninga and Kevin Walters.

The classy outside back could play either wing or centre for Queensland and a dominant performance during the Origin series could see him World Cup bound.

Dane Gagai’s father, Ray, is a legend in North Queensland having played A Grade for basically 20 seasons. He first came to the attention of the Brisbane Broncos in 1988. Ray was one of the very classy Mackay players who dominated North Queensland rugby league in the early 1990s. A Magpies junior player with blistering pace and great ball skills he played in the Mackay Under 17 team in 1986. By 1988 he was a regular in the Mackay Foley Shield team and that season played for North Queensland and Queensland Country after scoring four tries against Ipswich in his debut North Queensland game. He departed for Brisbane in 1989 after being offered a contract with the Brisbane Broncos but the big-city life never suited the Mackay youngster and he returned north to help Proserpine win the 1990 NQ B Grade crown and once again played for North Queensland. Between 1991 and 2000, Ray Gagai was a permanent fixture in the Mackay backline playing in Foley Shield Finals in 1991, 1992, 1994, 1995 and 2000. His last game for Mackay was in 2006 when he played against

Townsville in Charters Towers. He also played for North Queensland from 1988 until 1997, Queensland Country and Queensland Residents.

There were few more valuable club players in the Mackay competition than Ray Gagai who played club football for Magpies, Sarina, Souths and finally back to Magpies, winning premierships in 1991 (Sarina), 1994, 1998, 2002 and 2003 (Souths) and played in losing Grand Finals in 1999, 2001 and 2005.

Ray Gagai also won a Reserve Grade Grand Final playing for Souths in 2004 and was a member of the Mackay team that won the State League Final against Brisbane Wests in 1994 and Queensland Country Challenge in 1999 against Ipswich and 2000 against Toowoomba. Gagai was still a quality rugby league player in 2008, scoring tries for Magpies in the A Grade competition. Ray Gagai was a man who simply loved the game of rugby league and as recent as 2014 coached the Souths’ Under 18 team to a premiership. When he retired from rugby league he kept fit playing a bit of rugby union and as late as 2014 played rugby league in the annual “All Blacks Carnival”. Yes, Raymond Gagai, a bloke who simply loved the game and played it for 20 seasons at the highest level.

THE 1991 NORTH QUEENSLAND TEAM CELEBRATING THEIR STATE LEAGUE VICTORY (NOT IN PHOTO ORDER) Vince Hollingsworth (2) Ray Gagai (3) Leo Yusia (4) John Skardon (5) Raymond Blackman (6) Brendan Norton (7) Laurie Spina (8) Mark Anderson (9) Jason Erba (10) Dallas Dallay (11) Darryl Subloo (12) Glen Haggath (13) Matt Clifford (14) John Clifford (15) John Filosi (16) David Jones (17) Tupoa Nona The coach was Kerry Boustead. Manager was Ron Read and trainers were John Alloway, Grant Bell and Rod Bathes

LEAGUEQUEENSLAND.COM.AU

9

MACCA’S VIEW

How does your footy tipping go during the State of Origin period?

When I was in tipping competitions, I remember it wasn’t the easiest six weeks.

Teams were missing their rep players or they were backing up with them, sometimes 48 hours after the bruising Origin clashes.

So, here’s my insight into life in the NRL during Origin time.

It’s a period that I’ve enjoyed – I got my first chance in the NRL when my old teammate Peter Wallace was called into the Blues team. The reshuffle at the Broncos enabled me to make my debut off the bench.

I was 18 years old and very nervous, so I have a window into how the young blokes now are feeling. The least of their problems is learning the team victory song – there’s always a few sheets of paper handy with the words on it for those new blokes who haven’t sung it before.

My simple message to new players is to not change a thing.

Just go out there and have fun. These players have made it to the NRL because of their skill set so, why change what’s got them there when their big chance comes?

But the young guys need to buy into team pride. The best way to get through Origin is to look for the teams that have a lot of pride. That’s the key to coping without your big names.

The Broncos had that feeling in 2015 when we won eight games straight, starting with away wins at Newcastle and Canberra in the last week of May. We were a proud club and there was no way we were going to let people think we couldn’t play well without the Origin guys.

We felt pretty good when we knocked off the Storm in Melbourne in a battle of two teams minus their big guns.

I remember the way that Broncos team wanted to win so badly – that was all about pride.

Keep an eye out for the teams that are playing the week 10

LEAGUEQUEENSLAND.COM.AU

after a really good performance.

If there is a demanding travel schedule or, if they’re playing one of the lesser-performed teams, trouble awaits.

That’s because it’s not always easy to back up after you’ve played above expectations.

The NRL is a very good competition so you can’t afford to be flat mentally or other teams will take advantage.

We had that last year in Origin period. Our full-strength team lost to the Cowboys in Townsville by one point. One of those typically draining Broncos-Cowboys matches.

The following week, our Origin players were away and we lost 19-18 to the Wests Tigers in a game that we really should have won. The previous week had flattened us and we couldn’t make the excuse that we were missing our Origin players. But, that’s the NRL. There is also another part to this – how do you prepare to play against teams that are missing their usual stars?

Video analysis comes in handy through the replays of Queensland Cup and NSW Cup matches.

But we’re not huge video watchers at the Broncos.

We tend to focus on ourselves, making sure we control our attack and our defence. If we can’t do that, it doesn’t matter how much video analysis we do.

You may know more than me about some of the up-andcoming stars at other clubs.

I don’t watch massive amounts of NRL games. If it’s a clash between two of the top four teams, then I’ll be watching.

But, if there’s a triple header on a Saturday on television, I’m not the type to sit down and watch all three games.

I know some players love it – they can tell you who’s doing what in which clubs. But we’re all different.

Enjoy Origin period – it’s a great time of year.

– ANDREW McCULLOUGH

OFFICIAL SPIRIT OF THE NRL

LEAGUEQUEENSLAND.COM.AU

11

N O A D - B R E A K S D U R I N G P L AY.

get.foxsports.com.au

12

LEAGUEQUEENSLAND.COM.AU

NRL

season and their come from behind 18-10 defeat of the Cowboys in round 11 was all heart. Keeping the Cowboys scoreless in the second half was heat-warming stuff if you are a Sharks supporter.

Melbourne Storm (2nd) should finish on 40 points with their hard games being the Sharks at Cronulla on 8th June, Broncos at Suncorp Stadium on 30th June, Raiders in Canberra on 22nd July and Cowboys in Townsville on 4th August. Billy Slater is back and playing well although ‘Origin Time’ will affect the Storm. Unlike the Broncos who have the best depth in the NRL, the Storm cannot afford to lose one of their ‘big three’ in Smith, Cronk and Slater.

ROUND UP

BACK in March ‘League Queensland’ gave their tips for the season and suffice to say along with a lot of tipsters we are off the money although with 15 rounds to go there is a lot of rugby league to be played and with Origin on the minds of most players and all coaching staff there will be a few bends in the road before the finals.

One thing is for certain, the Warriors are the disappointment of the NRL. We could expect Newcastle and the Tigers to struggle but there is no excuse for the Warriors. They have several world class players in Kieran Foran, Roger Tuivasa-Sheck, Isaac Luke and Manu Vatuvei but continue to lose after leading well and get beaten constantly in New Zealand where they should be unbeatable.

If history is any guide to end of season results our premier is either going to be Storm, Broncos, Sharks or Roosters while it would be fair to say that the over achievers after eleven rounds has been the Dragons and Manly while the under achievers have been the Cowboys, Raiders and Titans.

League Queensland has looked into their crystal ball and taking into account byes, Origin and home ground advantage, this is how we see the teams finishing the season.

Cronulla Sharks (minor premiers) should finish on 42 points with their only hurdle being late in the season when they meet the Broncos and Cowboys. The Sharks have the oldest roster in the NRL with Paul Gallen, Luke Lewis and Chris Heighington all around the 35-years-old mark but this is one of their strengths. They have basically the same roster who gave them their first premiership last

The Dragons (4th) are the first of the lucky teams who only have to face the Cowboys and Storm once. This favourable draw should see them finish on either 34 or 36 points depending on their round 23 clash with the Titans. Their hurdles will be the Titans (rd 17), Raiders (rd 19), Broncos (rd 24) and Panthers (rd 25). The Dragons surprisingly have the best attack in the NRL which will see them in good stead at season end.

NRL PREMIERSHIP LADDER (21ST MAY 2017) CLUB PLAYED WON DRAW LOSS POINTS STORM 11 9 0 2 18 BRONCOS 11 8 0 3 16 SHARKS 11 8 0 3 16 ROOSTERS 11 8 0 3 16 DRAGONS 11 7 0 5 14 SEA EAGLES 11 6 0 6 12 COWBOYS 11 6 0 5 12 RAIDERS 11 5 0 6 10 BULLDOGS 11 5 0 6 10 EELS 11 5 0 6 10 PANTHERS 11 4 0 7 8 TITANS 11 4 0 6 8 RABBITOHS 11 4 0 7 8 WARRIORS 11 4 0 6 8 TIGERS 11 3 0 8 6 KNIGHTS 11 2 0 9 4

Match Match Day Day Partner Partner Match Day Partner

vs vs vs SUNDAY SUNDAY 16 16 JULY JULY SUNDAY 16 JULY 4:00PM 4:00PMKICK KICKOFF OFF- -BARLOW BARLOW PARK, PARK,CAIRNS CAIRNS 4:00PM KICK OFF - BARLOW PARK, CAIRNS Tickets Ticketsstarting startingfrom fromless lessthan than$16. $16.

Tickets starting from less than $16.

Hurry, Hurry,tickets ticketsare areselling sellingfast. fast.

Hurry, tickets are selling fast.

For Fortickets ticketsvisit visitticketek.com.au/Rabbitohs ticketek.com.au/Rabbitohsororcall call131328284949 For tickets visit ticketek.com.au/Rabbitohs or call 13 28 49

LEAGUEQUEENSLAND.COM.AU

13

Herman Ese’Ese Photo: NRL Imagery

Brisbane Broncos (2nd) should also finish on 40 points with their hard games being the Warriors in New Zealand before Origin, the Titans (rd 22) on the Gold Coast and the Cowboys (rd 26) in Townsville. No club has the depth of the Broncos as seen by Kodi Nikorima’s form since Ben Hunt was injured. The Broncos can score points and keep their line intact although their defeat of lowly Wests Tigers would not be their bench mark.

The Roosters (5th) have to face premiership favourite Melbourne twice which could be enough to see the Dragons displace them in the top four. We feel they will finish on 34 points with their hurdles being Broncos (rd 12), Storm in Adelaide (rd 16), Cowboys (rd 21), Storm (rd 23), Cowboys (rd 23) with an each-way bet on their round 26 clash with the Titans. The Roosters forward pack is the most aggressive in the NRL and several teams in front of them would be looking over their shoulder.

The Cowboys (6th) simply cannot win without Thurston but can beat any team with him. Their biggest problem is going to be finding a place in the top four with as many as five possible Origin players in their ranks. We feel they will finish on 34 points with the Storm (rds 15 and 22), Raiders in Canberra (rd 17) and Roosters in Sydney (rd 21) being their biggest obstacles. The Cowboys have a backline that includes Thurston, Morgan, O’Neill (Australia) and Coote (NSW) yet cannot score points with only six teams out of 16 having a worse attacking record. After 11 rounds of the NRL Coen Hess sits equal as the leading try scorer in the competition on 14

LEAGUEQUEENSLAND.COM.AU

eight but Paul Green must be concerned with this attacking statistic.

Manly (7th) are the second of the lucky teams only having to face the Cowboys and Broncos once and we feel they will finish on 30 points with their biggest obstacles being the Sharks (rd 16), Panthers (rd 18), Dragons (rd 20), Storm (rd 21), Roosters (rd 22) and Dogs (rd 24). Another positive for Manly is they will not be impacted by too many ‘Origin’ selections but realistically cannot be regarded as a premiership threat.

Titans (8th) are our dark-horse to sneak into the top eight on 30 points. We feel that their performance in defeating the Broncos in Brisbane was notable and they are capable of improvement. They will struggle to beat the Cowboys (rd 13), Sharks (rd 19), Panthers (rd 20), Broncos (rd 22) and Dragons (rd 23). The Titans problem is their defence which at 27 points conceded per game is only bettered by the lowly Knights.

League Queensland cannot find room for the Raiders (24/11th), Bulldogs (26/10th), Eels (28/9th) or Panthers (24/12th) in our ‘Top Eight’ while the Rabbitohs, Warriors, Tigers and Knights will make up the field. The Raiders are on the 3rd line in premiership favouritism but their best form is okay and their worst is ordinary while the Panthers are too inconsistent for our liking. The Bulldogs best is good but they struggle to score points with only lowly Wests Tigers having a worse scoring record. The arrival of Kieran Foran in 2018 will be a blessing for the Dogs.

MAKES GREAT ODDS EVEN BETTER

S I T L U M N O E L B A L I A V NOW A REC CUST ONLY. MIN 1 PER DAY ON CERTAIN BET TYPES. MULTIS: $200 MAX BET AND DIV LIMITS APPLY. T&CS APPLY. GAMBLE RESPONSIBLY.

LEAGUEQUEENSLAND.COM.AU

15

SOUTH SYDNEY VS NORTH QUEENSLAND

COWBOYS

but Connor Tracey, Jason Clark and Robert Jennings are all out for the season.

On paper the Cowboys appear the stronger team with Thurston, Morgan, Cooper, O’Neill, Jason Taumalolo and Lachlan Coote all representative players while South Sydney will rely heavily on their NSW representatives in hooker Robbie Farrah and Adam Reynolds plus their English contingent of the Burgess brothers to do a lot of their heavy lifting.

Two of the younger players in Cody Walker (Souths) and Coen Hess (Cowboys) could have a big impact on the game with Hess scoring eight tries in his 11 games and Walker leading the NRL in try assists (11) and second in the NRL in line breaks behind Manly’s Tom Trbojevic.

STATISTICALLY the South Sydney Rabbitohs vs North Queensland Cowboys clash on the 16th July at Barlow Park in Cairns should be won by South Sydney as the two teams have met on 30 occasions with the result being Cowboys 15, Souths 14 and one draw. Based on that logic it’s the Rabbitohs turn but logic is a word that means very little.

Recent history would indicate a Cowboys victory as the northern team has won three of the last four encounters (200 in 2016) and this season defeated the Rabbitohs 20-6 in Townsville. The Cowboys have JT back and are keen to improve on their middle of the ladder position. As of round 11 (18th May) they had won six from eleven which is not a premiership winning statistic but once again it’s only the 18th May. Apart from Matt Scott the Cowboys are relatively injury free and will take a strong squad to Cairns which is a South Sydney home game. As of the 18th May the Cowboys have actually leaked more points than they have scored which must be a worrying sign for Paul Green. In their 11 games to that time they had scored an average of less than 20 points (19.5) while conceding exactly 20. Admittedly there is the ‘Thurston Factor’ but that is something they must plan for soon.

South Sydney have had huge injury worries, the most concerning their Australian and Queensland star Greg Inglis,

16

LEAGUEQUEENSLAND.COM.AU

Another two up-and-coming stars are Damien Cook (Souths) who is a talented player waiting in the wings for an opportunity as understudy to Robbie Farrah and John Asiata (Cowboys), the prop with the ball skills of a five-eighth. Both will prove a handful if given the opportunity.

POSITION FULLBACK WINGER CENTRE CENTRE WINGER FIVE EIGHTH HALF BACK PROP HOOKER PROP 2ND ROW 2ND ROW LOCK BENCH BENCH BENCH BENCH

PROBABLE SQUADS RABBITOHS COWBOYS CODY WALKER LACHLAN COOTE ALEX JOHNSTON KYLE FELDT HYMEL HUNT JUSTIN O’NEILL BRYSON GOODWIN KANE LINNETT AARON GRAY ANTONIO WINTERSTEIN JOHN SUTTON MICHAEL MORGAN ADAM REYNOLDS JOHNATHAN THURSTON THOMAS BURGESS JOHN ASIATA ROBBIE FARAH JAKE GRANVILLE GEORGE BURGESS SCOTT BOLTON KYLE TURNER GAVIN COOPER ANGUS CRICHTON ETHAN LOWE SAM BURGESS JASON TAUMALOLO ROBERT ROCHOW RAY THOMPSON DAMIEN COOK BEN HAMPTON TYRELL FUIMAONO COEN HESS A CHERRINGTON BEN SPINA

Photo: NRL Imagery

S ' D L R O THE W G N I M O C E R A T S E B ADULT

TICKETS FROM

$20 *

?

U O Y ARE CAIRNS B A R LOW PA R K

SCOTLAND V TONGA 29 OCTOBER

IRELAND V ITALY 29 OCTOBER

SAMOA V SCOTLAND 11 NOVEMBER

Get your tickets now RLWC2017.COM

FOR TICKETS & ALL YOUR RLWC2017 INFORMATION GO TO RLWC2017.COM *For pool matches only [excluding opening match] & subject to allocation selling out. Transaction & booking fees may apply.

LEAGUEQUEENSLAND.COM.AU

17

JT, Simply the Best Photo: NRL Imagery

Far North Queensland waits in anticipation for the game which will be played less than a week after the 3rd Origin clash. This will be the fifth straight year the Rabbitohs with the support of Tourism and Events Queensland, Cairns Regional Council, Tourism Tropical North Queensland and the Cairns Rugby League have bought a home game to Cairns and with their membership base growing in the North it’s easy to see why.

In what was an electric atmosphere at last year’s NRL event in Cairns, a sell-out crowd of almost 15,000 Rabbitohs’ and Cowboys’ fans and sports lovers from around the Cairns region, Tropical North Queensland and interstate descended upon Barlow Park. Similar support for the NRL competition fixture is expected again in 2017.

Minister for Tourism, Major Events and the Commonwealth Games, Kate Jones said hosting an NRL Premiership game in Cairns would be a welcome boost for the local tourism industry.

“The Rabbitohs vs Cowboys game at Barlow Park offers visitors the perfect opportunity to indulge their love of NRL with a Tropical North Queensland getaway.

“Our Government, through Tourism and Events Queensland, is proud to support bringing this game to Cairns for the fifth consecutive year.

“Last year’s game attracted more than 15,300 fans and delivered a $4.6 million boost to the local economy.”

The Mayor of Cairns, Cr Bob Manning, encouraged fans to get their tickets ahead of time with last year’s match a sell-out.

“This NRL clash will be just as popular as previous years and it is fantastic that we can bring this top class event to Cairns,” Cr Manning said. “While there’ll be plenty of support for the Cowboys, we have been hosting the Rabbitohs for four years and they are our adopted team. I am sure there’ll be plenty of red and green on show at Barlow in July.

“Games like this showcase our great city as a home of first class events. There’s no better place to cheer on the stars of the NRL than in Cairns. Where else can you combine fantastic sporting entertainment with a spectacular backdrop of the Wet Tropics and Great Barrier Reef?”

“This is a top sporting event which will attract loyal Rugby League fans from all over the state and other parts of Australia to Tropical North Queensland,” she said.

18

LEAGUEQUEENSLAND.COM.AU

Photo: NRL Imagery

NO team in the Intrust Super Cup has benefitted from the upcoming Rugby League World Cup like the PNG Hunters. They lead the competition after eleven rounds (22nd May) with nine wins and a bye. Their only loss was in round six to the Sunshine Coast Falcons who scored six tries in their 38-14 victory. The Hunters who are coached by Michael Marum, who is also the Kumuls coach, have as many as ten PNG representatives in their ranks with Stargrowth Amean, Adex Were, Watson Boas, Ase Boas, Wartova Puara, Stanton Albert, Wellington Albert and Nixon Putt playing recently in the test against the Cook Islands. Asa Boas has notched up more than 100 points in 11 games and will be one of the stars of the World Cup played later in the year. The Hunters have unfinished business as they remain steadfast in top spot on the ladder. They have beaten most of the top teams including Redcliffe (12-10), Souths (22-20) and Easts Tigers (30-20).

The Sunshine Coast Falcons have the best attack in the Intrust Super Cup scoring 301 points in their 11 games to-date and their defence is right up there as well, conceding 155 points which is second to glamour team, Redcliffe who have only let 134 points in this season. The Dolphins fiveeighth Tyson Gamble has relished playing outside Benji Marshall and has recently signed a contract with Wests Tigers in the NRL. Gamble scored three tries and kicked three goals in a recent game against Norths recently. The Dolphins backline with Marshall, Gamble, Tom Opacic, Jonus Pearson, Zach Strasser, Mosese Pangai and Thompson Teteh is the best in the competition.

A four try haul to leading try scorer Jonathon Reuben kept the Blackhawks in touch with the Intrust Super Cup leaders as they scrambled for a 26-26 draw with the Capras in Townsville. Reuben has now scored 16 tries this season which is a very impressive tally indeed. Townsville’s Carlin Anderson leads the Intrust Super Cup point’s scorers with 106 points including eight tries. Anderson cannot be far from a Cowboys callup. The Blackhawks are the “Jeckle and Hyde” team of the Intrust Super Cup and should be much higher up the ladder.

BARTONS BARTONSHOLDEN HOLDEN

500 500

$ COLORADO COLORADO $39 $39 ,990 ,,990 $ COLORADO 4x4 4x4LS LS DRIVEAWAY DRIVEAWAY FROM FROM FROM

HOLDEN HOLDEN HOLDEN

4x4 LS

3.5T 3.5T TOWING 3.5TTOWING TOWING

DONATEDTO TOYOUR YOURLOCAL LOCAL ~ ~ DONATED DONATED TO YOUR LOCAL RUGBY RUGBY LEAGUE LEAGUE TEAM TEAM WHEN WHEN YOU YOU * RUGBY LEAGUE WHEN YOU DRIVEAWAY~ MENTION MENTION THIS THISTEAM AD ADININ STORE STORE MENTION THIS AD IN STORE

FREE FREE AUTO AUTO

PACKED PACKEDWITH WITHFEATURES FEATURES PACKED WITH FEATURES 2.8L 2.8L Duramax Duramax Diesel Diesel Engine Engine

2.8L Duramax Diesel Engine 6-Speed 6-Speed Manual Manual Transmission Transmission 6-Speed Manual Transmission Apple Apple Carplay® Carplay® && Android Android Auto® Auto® Carplay® &Rating Android 5 Apple Star Ancap Safety 5 Star Ancap Safety Rating Auto® 5 Star AncapView Safety Rear Rear Camera Camera View Rating Rear Camera View Lamps LED LED Daytime Daytime Running Running Lamps LED Daytime Running Lamps

WYNNUM WYNNUM HOLDEN HOLDEN WYNNUM HOLDEN 200-218 200-218 Tingal Tingal Road Road

Visit Visit us us online online today today at at www.bartons.net.au www.bartons.net.au Visit us online today at www.bartons.net.au

200-218 Tingal Road

~ Metallic ~ Metallic paint paint at extra at extra cost. cost. * Terms * Terms andand Conditions Conditions apply. apply.

SeeSee in-store in-store at Bartons at Bartons Wynnum Wynnum for details. for details.

3062 3062 7267 30627267 7267

LEAGUEQUEENSLAND.COM.AU

19

BBG51823_0517 BBG51823_051

FOLLOWING a very disappointing 30-16 loss to New South Wales on the same ground in 2016 it was expected that the Blues would be dominant this season but Queensland with their forwards leading the way won 36-6 in a very impressive display. Following the 2016 Residents loss and the mauling Burleigh received in the State Grand Final in Sydney New South Wales Residents must have gone into the game as favourites but a Queensland team full of experience won on the day.

New South Wales would have appeared happy trailing 8-6 at half-time but an incredible mistake rate in the second half made them pay dearly.

The Blues only completed 8 of 18 sets in this half while Queensland completed 14 of 19. The Maroons scored six tries to one in a dominant display and if an Australian Residents team was selected after the game there would be few New South Wales names mentioned.

Queensland led early with a try to Easts Tigers Dean Britt after good lead-up work from Mitchell Cronin and Kyle Laybutt. Britt only played for 30 minutes but his 24 tackles was right up there with the best on the field. The defence of Redcliffe and Broncos centre Tom Opacic was outstanding in the first half as the Blues attempted to breach the maroon line and finally 2016 Indigenous All Stars hooker Craig Garvey slipped a ball to Moses Leota to close the gap at 6-6. Scott Doyle kicked a penalty near half-time to give his team a narrow 8-6 lead.

Queensland had dominated possession in the first half, completing 18 of 20 sets against the Blues 15 from 20. The second half was expected to be a repeat of the first but within minutes the talented Delouise Hoeter had scored two tries to take the Queensland lead to 18-6. The combination of Billy Walters and Kyle Laybutt played all over the Roosters halves of Mitchell Cornish and Jayden Nikorima and was instrumental in the rout that followed. Walters, Tom Opacic and Mitchell Frei all scored converted tries to take the final tally to 36-6.

The best for Queensland was Townsville Blackhawks Blake Leary who won the Man of the Match with his 26 tackles and 18 hit-ups for 149 metres but Nick Slyney who made 18 tackles and 12 runs for 136 metres in his 34 minutes on the field was impressive. Others to play well for the Maroons were Mitchell Frei, Mitchell Cronin, Jahrome Hughes, Kyle Laybutt and Tom Opacic while Cheyne Whitelaw was the pick of the opposition.

XXXX QUEENSLAND RESIDENTS 36 (Delouise Hoeter 2, Dean Britt, Billy Walters, Tom Opacic, Mitch Frei tries; Scott Doyle 6 goals) def NSW INTRUST SUPER PREMIERSHIP RESIDENTS 6 (Moses Leota try; Jayden Nikorima goal) at Suzuki Stadium, Langlands Park.

Half-time: Queensland Residents 8-6 Man of Match: Blake Leary (XXXX Queensland Residents) 20

LEAGUEQUEENSLAND.COM.AU

LEAGUEQUEENSLAND.COM.AU

21

kangaroos too good for kiwis leading into world cup MAL Meninga’s mighty Kangaroos were simply too strong in defence for a New Zealand team which never stopped all game. The opening minutes saw the Kiwis attacking the Australian line but no chink appeared in the defence until the 55th minute of the game when Simon Mannering scored what most would consider a doubtful try. The board was reading 30-0 at this stage and any hope of a New Zealand fight-back was quashed in the 4th minute of the second half when Gillett, Cronk and Boyd combined to send Jake Trbojevic over near the posts.

The final score of 30-12 was a true indication of the game.

Johnathan Thurston was masterful in his return from injury and along with fellow Queenslanders Cooper Cronk and Cameron Smith he dominated the middle of the field. Their opposition in Kieran Foran, Isaac Luke and Shaun Johnson were good in patches but too many bad passes and missjudged short kicks were the order of their game.

New Zealand were better than 12-0 after 17 minutes as they looked like scoring in the corner before the Blake Ferguson intercept on the Australian try-line. Ferguson ran the length of the field to score. His fellow NSW team mate Josh Dugan had scored the opening try from a classic Thurston kick and at that stage the game was open. The middle of the first half saw Sam Thaiday make a 30 metre break before Will Chambers scored to take the Kangaroos lead to 18-0 which was extended to 24-0 when Tyson Frizell capitalised on another Thurston kick which bounced off the goal posts into his arms.

half 12-6. The Mannering try should not have been awarded but the Kiwis to their credit held the Kangaroos at bay for that last 35 minutes of the game. Their classy fullback Roger Tuivasa-Sheck scored from a scrum to narrow the gap to 3012 but the game had been won in the opening 20 minutes of the first half.

The best for Australia were Charles Savory medallist Matt Gillett who had a strong all-round game, followed by Cameron Smith in his 50th test, Boyd Cordner, Sam Thaiday and Thurston while Jesse Bromich, Martin Taupau, Russell Packer, Jordan Kahu and Kieran Foran played well for New Zealand. The normally reliable Isaac Luke was erratic and the New Zealand team responded to Broncos utility Kodi Nikorima when he came on.

Australia – Darius Boyd (Q), Blake Ferguson (NSW), Will Chambers (Q), Josh Dugan (NSW), Valentine Holmes (Q), Johnathan Thurston (Q), Cooper Cronk (Q), Andrew Fifita (NSW), Cameron Smith (Capt Q), David Klemmer (NSW), Boyd Cordner (NSW), Matt Gillett (Q), Trent Merrin (NSW).

Interchange – Michael Morgan (Q), Tyson Frizell (NSW), Jake Trbojevic (NSW), Sam Thaiday (Q).

New Zealand – Roger Tuivasa-Sheck, Dallin WateneZelezniak, Jordan Kahu, Dean Whare, Jordan Rapana, Kieran Foran, Shaun Johnson, Jesse Bromich (Capt), Isaac Luke, Russell Packer, Kevin Proctor, Simon Mannering, Jason Taumalolo. Interchange – Adam Blair, Martin Taupau, Kenny Bromich, Kodi Nikorima.

The defensive effort of the Kangaroos in the first half was outstanding and a sure indication where Australia lies heading into the 2017 Rugby League World Cup. New Zealand can and will improve and actually won the second

AUSTRALIAN RUGBY LEAGUE TEAM – ANZAC TEST 2017 BACK (L-R): Trent Merrin, Shannon Boyd, Tyson Frizell, Will Chambers, Valentine Holmes, Michael Morgan MIDDLE: Will Chambers, Blake Ferguson, Andrew Fifita, Jake Trbojevic, David Klemmer, Josh Dugan, Matt Gillett, Darius Boyd FRONT: Cooper Cronk, Sam Thaiday, Johnathan Thurston, Mal Meninga (Coach), Cameron Smith (Captain), Boyd Cordner, James Maloney.

Photo: NRL Imagery

22

LEAGUEQUEENSLAND.COM.AU

WOMEN IN LEAGUE KUNST STRONG FOR JILLAROOS

Photo: Contributed

NRL Development Officer and former Mackay Magpies player Renae Kunst scored a try and was one of the better players on the field as the Jillaroos made up for their 2016 loss to the Silver Ferns. The Jillaroos scored three tries in their 16-4 victory at GIO Stadium in Canberra in the Anzac Test and along with their win earlier in the season at the Auckland 9’s seem to have the wood on their opponents leading into the World Cup. The Australian team contains a mixtures of veterans with Kunst, Heather Ballinger and Ruan Sims all in the 35-year-old bracket while Zahara Temara heads a group of youngsters at 19. The Jillaroos led 12-4 at half-time and won the game

through defence with Ruan Sims, Kunst, Brittany Breayley brutal in the second half when the Silver Ferns were trying to get back into the game.

Isabelle Kelly from NSW scored a try on debut to open the Jillaroos account before Burleigh Bears Zahara Temara also scored on debut. New Zealand were dangerous in the second half before Renae Kunst scored to take the score to 16-4 and the game out of the Silver Ferns grasp. The Silver Ferns tried to the end but solid defence and lost opportunities cost them dearly.

CENTRAL HIGHGLANDS WIN 47TH BATTALION SHIELD A three-try haul from former Queensland representative Carly Bell and a strong showing from halves Tegan Rolfe and Bonnie Walsh allowed for the Central Highlands to be crowned the number one Women’s team in Central Division with a 26-8 defeat of the Rockhampton Rustlers in the final.

Not to discredit the Rockhampton side, the Rustlers should be proud of their efforts in their debut year, particularly knocking off defending premiers, Sunshine Coast on Saturday night and will be a threat in years to come. The competition was played over two days with the Central Highlands defeating Bundaberg 18-6 in the opening game, Rockhampton defeated South West 38-12, Gladstone defeated Bundaberg 16-8, the Sunshine Coast defeated South West 16-10, the Central Highlands defeated Gladstone 24-4 and in the last game on the Saturday Rockhampton defeated 2016 champions Sunshine Coast 18-16.

The competition had been played in two pools so on the Sunday the two 3rd placed teams faced off with Molly O’Connell scoring three tries to steer South West Queensland to a big 32-0 win over Bundaberg while Gladstone took the 2nd placed game with a 14-6 defeat of the Sunshine Coast.

As mentioned the Central Highlands won the big game with Carly Bell (3), Tegan Rolfe and Elle Waters scoring tries while Mariah Storch kicked three goals. Sarah Field scored a try for Rockhampton while Nicole Collins kicked a goal. At the conclusion of the carnival, the Division named its Central Crows Women’s sides to play at the upcoming state carnival on the Gold Coast on June 2, 3 and 4.

The Central Crows team is - Chelsea Baker (Gladstone), Carly Bell (Central Highlands), Annette Brander (Sunshine Coast), Greta Doherty (Rockhampton), Candice Field (Rockhampton), Sarah Field (Rockhampton), Stefanie Gallagher (Sunshine Coast), Samartha Liesha (South West), Courtney Lockwood (Sunshine Coast), Juanita McDonald (Central Highlands), Melissa Micallef (Central Highlands), Lauren Moss (Rockhampton), Kailah Rogers (Central Highlands), Tegan Rolfe (Central Highlands), Mariah Storch (Central Highlands), Sarah Walker (Sunshine Coast), Elle Waters (Central Highlands). The coach is former Australian winger Alan McIndoe with Michael Jeffs as assistant.

Photo: Courtesy Red in League

LEAGUEQUEENSLAND.COM.AU

23

Photo: Courtesy Mackay Cutters

MORE THAN THE FOLEY SHIELD THERE are three rounds of the Foley Shield remaining and any of the three teams can still win the prestigious trophy with all having two games remaining in the northern competition.

Prior to the vital Mackay Cutters clash against the Blackhawks at BBPrint Stadium in Mackay the ladder read Mackay (34), Townsville (33) and Cairns (30).

The Pride must rely on the Cutters defeating Townsville in Mackay on the 9th June and then winning their home game against the Cutters in Cairns and away game against the Blackhawks in Townsville to force a draw while the Blackhawks, who have defeated both the Pride and Cutters this season, must be favourites to win the shield under the new format.

The Under 20 Pride and Cutters finished the season with seven wins apiece before the Cutters forced their way into

the Grand Final against Redcliffe by defeating the Pride 28-16 in Mackay in the semi-final. Their flying winger Jared Maguire scored four tries while the talented second-row forward Jacob Schill scored a double.

The Grand Final at Langlands Park was a close encounter for more than half the game and when Darcy Head scored in the 39th minute to give his team a narrow 12-10 lead it was expected to remain a narrow margin. But Redcliffe dominated the last 30 minutes to win 34-12.

Jacob Schill won the ‘League Queensland’ Player of the Game for the Cutters.

MACKAY CUTTERS RUGBY LEAGUE UNDER 20 TEAM – GRAND FINALISTS 2017 – FRONT (L to R): Jacob Bourke, George Prior, Kellen Jenner, Jared Maguire, Maloni Soane, Jake Thornton MIDDLE (L to R): Matt Sanders, Brendan White, Grant Rovelli, Luke Schulte, Darcy Head, Eliki Taufahema, Jacob Schill, John O’Brien, Tom Heggie BACK (L to R): Davey Roberts, Danell Curtis, Daniel Boyd, Scott McSherry, Luke Campbell, Jayden Batchelor, Hardi Pomate, Harrison Black, Brendan Barnard

N O A D - B R E A K S D U R I N G P L AY.

24

LEAGUEQUEENSLAND.COM.AU

get.foxsports.com.au

Photo: NRL Imagery

JAMES GRAHAM WE WOULD LIKE HIM IN OUR TEAM

THE clash of England team mates James Graham and Sam Burgess in the 2014 NRL Grand Final bought back memories of a by-gone time when quality forwards ruled the rugby league world. We doubt if there is a better prop forward in the world than James Graham and if England had 13 of him they would be favourites to win the 2017 Rugby League World Cup. In this day when interchange players command as much respect as the run-on 13, champions like James Graham are a rare commodity. Not many front-row forwards in the NRL play the game time of James Graham and when he’s on the field he’s involved heavily.

He has great ball skills, he’s tough, can tackle and takes the ball into the defensive line as hard as any prop in the competition.

Rugby League needs more players like the big England international as he plays with his heart on his sleeve every game.

Australia are hot favourites to win the 2017 World Cup but we would argue that Mal Meninga would not swap his starting front-row of Andrew Fifita or David Klemmer for the big sandy haired Englishman. Can England bring back the prestige of old in Australia in 2017? Gone are the heady days when an English

touring team put fear into the hearts of Australian players and only people with very long memories can go back to 1970 when England last won a series in Australia.

England played well against a Samoan team full of NRL players and with a short preparation we feel that Wayne Bennett would have been pleased with his charges. The Dragons Gareth Widdop was missing through injury while several England regulars like Liam Farrell were overlooked.

England led 14-0 at half-time through tries to Ryan Hall and Stefan Ratchford but Samoa were the first out of the blocks in the second half with a strong try from Joseph Leilua to narrow the gap to 14-6.

The middle of the half saw several unforced errors but England, through Josh Hodgson, James Graham and Jermaine McGillvary, proved too strong in the end winning 30-10.

The Broncos Anthony Milford scored for Samoa in the 65th minute and along with Josh McGuire, Joseph Leilua, Herman Ese’Ese and Nu Brown had a strong game. The best for England were James Graham, Luke Gale, Eliot Whitehead and Kevin Brown.

LEILANI LATU DOES IT FOR TONGA FIJI led 18-14 at half-time and 24-20 late in the game before Leilani Latu crashed over for his second try to give Tonga a gritty 26-24 victory. Fiji went into the game as favourites but it was the Tongan team with Latu, Siliva Havili and former New Zealand international Manu Vatuvei in majestic form that took

the honours. Big Manu, nicknamed the ‘Beast’ had played almost 30 tests for New Zealand but this was his first in the red jersey of Tonga and he played the house down. ‘The Beast’ scored the first try of the game and had a power-house of a game running for 180 metres in his Tongan debut appearance.

LEAGUEQUEENSLAND.COM.AU

25

LEILANI LATU DOES IT FOR TONGA

Leilani Latu – Two-try hero Photo: NRL Imagery

TONGA played the last 10 minutes of the game with only ten men as Tony Williams had to be taken from the field with an ankle injury and his team had ran out of replacements but it was a strong performance from both nations leading into the World Cup. Tonga led 10-0 before Viliame Kikau and then the 35-year-old player/coach James Storer scored converted tries to give Fiji a 12-10 lead. The first half was a rugged encounter with the Tongan forwards probably winning the clash of the big men but the fleet footed Kevin Naiqama and Ben Nakubuwai combined to give Fiji a narrow 18-14 lead at the interval.

Tonga regained the lead when Moses Suli went over after good lead-up work from Ata Hingano but their 20-18 lead was short-lived as Daniel Saifati scored beside the posts for Fiji to give his nation a 24-20 advantage. The last 15 minutes were frantic and when Tony Williams succumbed to his ankle injury it looked as if Fiji would prevail. Costly errors in the closing minutes and a brutal tackle on Kane Evans by Manu Vatuvei saw Fiji lose their way and in the 77th minute big Leilani Latu handled twice in four tackles to score beside the posts and give Tonga their victory.

The dual between Manu Vatuvei and Melbourne Storms Suliasi Vunivalu was a classic with the Warriors veteran and the NRL’s leading try scorer in 2016 in wonderful form.

The best for Fiji were Waqa Blake, Kevin Naiqama, Apasia Kor and Suliasi Vunivalu while Latu, Vatuvei, Will Hopoate, Joe Ofahengaue and Ata Hingano played well for Tonga.

COOK ISLANDS PLAYED PROUD THE middle of Campbelltown Sports Stadium was no place for the faint-hearted when the Cook Islands played the PNG Kumuls. The Cook Island group comprises 15 main islands totalling 240 square kilometres and according to the 2016 estimate has a population of 21,000 people. PNG where rugby league is a religion covers an area of 462,000 square kilometres with an estimated population over 7 million.

The Kumuls were without their captain David Mead and strikecentre Nene Macdonald but on paper would be too strong for the Cook Islands led by Alex Glenn from the Brisbane Broncos but the little nation was not daunted by a team comprising of most of their competition leading Intrust Super Cup team.

26

LEAGUEQUEENSLAND.COM.AU

The Cook Islands could have scored two tries in the opening six minutes but it was the Kumuls who lead 12-0 after 18 minutes of free flowing rugby league. Their strong running centre Adex Were scored the opening try after successive penalties and in the 18th minute Wartovo Puara Jnr scored to extend their lead.

The mistake rate in the opening 40 minutes would have done any NRL team proud as both teams appeared very well prepared. Former New Zealand International Tony Iro coached the Cook Islanders while the Kumuls were basically the PNG Hunters Intrust Super Cup team with the addition of their captain Rod Griffin and Rhys Martin. The Cook Island team scored in the 25th minute when Geoff Daniels went over

in the corner and Isaac John kicked a great conversion from the sideline. The board read 12-12 in the 35th minute with a try to Oiti Baker who capitalised on a slick pass from Kobe Tararo and at half time it was anybody’s game.

The opening 15 minutes of the second half were a nightmare for the Cook Islanders who turned over possession on numerous occasions. The Kumuls replacement hooker Tommy Butterfield made an immediate impact putting their hard running full-back Stargroth Amean in for a try to take the lead at 18-12 but minutes later the Cook Islanders regained some composure with Geoff Daniela scoring his second try of the afternoon. The conversion missed and the Kumuls 18-16 lead grew to 24-16 in the 56th minute when Man of the Game Stargroth Amean scored his second try.

The Kumuls continued to attack and Tommy Butterfield made a great break before putting Nixon Put in for an easy try and at 30-16 looked home in the 61st minute.

The closing stages were frantic with big Esan Marsters scoring a converted try in the 78th minute to narrow the margin to 30-22 which everybody expected to be the final score. The Kumuls kicked off and on the 3rd tackle with the clock reading 80 minutes were awarded a penalty from 47 metres out which Ase Boas kicked with ease. The little PNG half-back was close to their best in general play and his six goals from six attempts was exceptional. Others to go well for the Kumuls were Rod Griffin, Thompson Teteh, Adex Were, Rhys Martin and Wellington Albert while Isaac John, Alex Glen, Kobe Tararo, Esan Marsters and Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad played well for the losers.

Rod Griffin crunched by Cook Islands Photo: NRL Imagery

SuperWelcome Thursday 6 July, from 4pm riverway Get ready race fans to meet the Virgin Australia Supercars Championship drivers* at this year’s Townsville 400 SuperWelcome event at Riverway!

This is your only opportunity to see all drivers together before the race begins. www.whatson.townsville.qld.gov.au Townsville City Council Events 1300 878 001 #townsvilleshines

Come to Riverway for: >> 25 drivers in attendance >> Autograph signings from 4.30pm >> Your chance to win a 3 day Townsville 400 double pass (incl. paddock access) >> Stage entertainment >> Delicious food and dinner under the stars

*Drivers availability can change without notice.

Information is current at time of print.

iss the Plus don’t m ight n FREE movie O >> T URB !

LEAGUEQUEENSLAND.COM.AU

27

THE BEST OF THE BEST – AUSTRALIAN REPRESENTATIVES 1908 – 2016 Anderson - Vic Andrews - Ned Anlezark - George Armbruster - Vic Aynsley - Cecil Baird - Eddie Banks - Bobby Bartrim - Wayne Beattie - Dud Beetson - Arthur Belcher - Gary Bella - Martin Bennett - Jim Bennett - Wayne Benton - Frosty Berrigan - Shaun Bichel - Henry Boden - Ron Bolewski - Henry Bolewski - Michael Boustead - Kerry Bowe - Eric Bowen - Matt Boyd - Darius Brackenreg - Herb Broadfoot - Neville Brosnan - Eddie Brown - Dave Brown - Edwin Brown - John Buckley - Edward Caples - Harry Carlaw - Dane Carlson - Brian Carne - Willie Carroll - Tonie Cavanagh - Noel Chambers - Will Cherry-Evans - Dally Christie - Bill Civoniceva - Petero Cleary - John Close - Chris Collins - Ed ‘Babe’ Conescu - Greg Connell - Cyril Jnr Connell - Geoff Cowie - Len Coyne - Gary Craig - Jimmy Crear - Steve Crema - Angelo Crocker - Harold ‘Mick’ Crocker - Michael Cronk - Cooper 28

Currie - Tony Dallas - Brett Davies - Brian Day - Ken Dempsey - Dan Denman - Jeff Dickins - Harry Doonar - Frank Dore - Micky Dowling - Greg Doyle - Ian ‘Ripper’ Doyle - Joe Drake - Frank Drew - Bernie Duffin - George Edwards - Arthur Farnsworth - Bill Fewin - Harry Fihelly - Jack Fitzsimmons - Brian Flannery - Dennis Folau - Israel Fraunefelder - Eric Friend - Jake Fullerton Smith Wally Furner - Don Gallagher - Noel Gallagher - Peter Gee - Andrew Gee - Hec Gehrke - Bob Geiger - Nick Gil - Alan Gilbert - Fred Gillett - Matt Gillmeister - Trevor Glasheen - Mick Gleeson - Johnny Gorman - Tom Grant - John Green - Paul Greenhill - Craig Grice - John Griffiths - Ron Guerra - Aiden Hagan - Bob Hall - Duncan Hancock - Michael Hancock - Rohan Hannant - Ben Hardcastle - Bill Hauff - Paul Hazzard - Noel Hegarty - Shannon Heidke - Harold

LEAGUEQUEENSLAND.COM.AU

Heidke - Les Heidke - Bill Henderson - Arthur Hetherington Jason Hey - Vic Higgs - Ray Hodges - Justin Hohn - Mark Holloway - Henry Holmes - Valentine Hornery - Alan Horrigan - Jack Hunt - Ben Hunt - Johnny Hunt - Karmichael Ikin - Ben Inglis - Greg Jackson - Peter Johnson - Dallas Kaufusi - Antonio Kay - Reg Kelly - Noel Kiss - Les Laird - Graham Laird - Ray Lang - John Langer - Allan Larson - Gary Laws - Fred Lewis - Wally Lindner - Bob Little - Jack Lockyer - Darren Madsen - Peter ‘Mick’ Mahon - Bill Manteit - Dennis McCabe - Paul McCaffery - Ken McCrohon - Ken McDonald - John McDonald - Trevor McGovern - Des McGrath - Ted McGregor - Dugald McGuire - Josh McIndoe - Alan McKenna - Chris McLean - Alex Douglas McLean - Douglas McLennan - Ron McMahon - Pat ‘Cocky’ Meninga - Mal

Messenger - Dally Meyers - Bradley Miles - Gene Moore - Billy Moore - Danny Morgan - Lionel Morgan - Michael Morris - Rod Muir - Barry Murphy - Jim Murray - Mark Myles - Nate Neumann - Fred ‘Firpo’ Nicholson - Harold Niebling - Bryan O’Connell - Wally O’Davis - Robbie O’Donnell - Claude Oliphant - Greg O’Neill - Julian O’Neill - Justin Orr - Warren O’Shea - Kel Oxford - Arthur Papalii - Josh Parcell - Gary Parker - Corey Paten - Bill Paterson - Jim Payne - John Payne - Tom Pegg - Len Platz - Greg Platz - Lew Pope - Norm Potter - Norm Price - Steven Prince - Scott Quinn - Graham Rasmussen - Elton Reardon - Jack Reddy - Rod ‘Rocket’ Renouf - Steve Rhodes - John Ribot de Bresac John Richards - Bill Richardson - Geoff Robison - Harry Robson - Ian Rogers - Mat Sailor - Wendell Scott - Colin Scott - Matt Sellars - Les

Shearer - Dale Shillington - David Sing - Matt Slater - Billy Smith - Cameron Smith - Darren Smith - Jason Smith - Bill ‘Circy’ Spencer - Bill Stains - Dan Steinohrt - Herb Stewart - Wayne Strudwick - Ross Sweeney - Tom Tallis - Gordon Tate - Brent Taylor - David Tessman - Brad Thaiday - Sam Thomas - Mark Thompson - Alan Thompson - Duncan Thompson - Billy Thorn - Brad Thorogood - Clarrie Thurston Johnathan Tonga - Willie Tuqiri - Lote Tyquin - Bill Tyquin - Tom Upton - Jack Vautin - Paul Veivers - Greg Veivers - Mick Wagon - Daniel Walker - Bruce Walsh - Pat Walters - Kerrod Walters - Kevin Walters - Steve Watson - Alex Watson - George Webb - Carl Webcke - Shane Weier - Lloyd Weiss - Col Wellington - Gary Westaway - Roy Whittle - Gordon Williamson - Lionel Wilson - Jim Wittenberg - John Woodhead - Charlie Wright - David Yow Yeh - Jharal

LEAGUEQUEENSLAND.COM.AU

29

The Theunited unitedvoice voice The united voice the theindustry industryuses uses the industry uses Supporting SupportingLocal LocalCommunities Communities Supporting Local Communities www. www.tcq.org.au tcq.org.au www. tcq.org.au

30

LEAGUEQUEENSLAND.COM.AU

Taxis are available statewide Taxis are available statewide Taxis Taxisare areavailable availablestatewide statewide

“SAFE, SECURE, RELIABLE” “SAFE, SECURE, RELIABLE” “SAFE, SECURE, SECURE, RELIABLE” RELIABLE” “SAFE, Contact your local taxi company!

Contact your local taxi company!

Contact Contactyour yourlocal localtaxi taxicompany! company!

..all day, every day! ..all day, every day! ..all..all day, day, every every day! day!

In smaller regions of Queensland, please refer to the TCQ website: In smaller regions of Queensland, please refer to the TCQ website: www.tcq.org.au InIn smaller smaller regions regions ofof Queensland, Queensland, please please refer refer toto the the TCQ TCQ website: website: www.tcq.org.au www.tcq.org.au www.tcq.org.au

LEAGUEQUEENSLAND.COM.AU

31

THEY PLAYED THE GAME - QUEENSLAND REPRESENTITIVES (1908-2017) Abdy - Wayne Abrahams - Bill Adams - Brian Adams - Les Adams - Jim Adams - JB Allen - Gavin Allingham - Roy Allman - Jerry Anderson - Chris Anderson - Doug Anderson - H Anderson - Max Anderson - Vic Andrews - Ned Anlezark - George Applebee - David Apps - Peter Armbruster - Vic Armit - Lionel Astill – Bruce Atherton Graeme Aynsley - Cecil Backer - Brad Backo - Sam Baird - Eddie Baker - Joe Baker - Richard Balderson - Noel Ballin - Matt Banks - Bobby Barnes - S Barnes - Ted Barrett - Don Bartier - Paul Bartrim - Wayne Bates - Jack Bates - John Bath - Harry Bath - T Bawden - Babe Bawden - Russell Beatson - Bob Beattie - Chris Beattie - Dud Beauchamp - Ron Beavis - Billy Beetson - Arthur Belcher - Gary Bell - Steve Bella - Martin Bennett - Jim Bennett - M Bennett - Wayne Benson - Trevor Benton - Frosty Bernardin Shane Berrigan - Shaun Bevan - Brian Bichel - Henry Biggam - Billy Biggs - Malcolm Birkett - J Birmingham - V Blaik - Len Blow - Ivan

32

Blowes - Brian Boden - Ron Bolewski - Henry Bolewski Michael Bolewski - Walter Boshammer Kevin Bourke - Johnny Boustead - Ian Boustead - Kerry Bowden - Harry Bowe - Eric Bowen - Matt Bowers - Henry Bowman - Paul Boyd - Darius Brackenreg Herb Braithwaite - Phil Brennan - Barry Brennan - Kelly Brennan - Mitch Brereton - W Brett - Bob Brewer - Billy Brigginshaw Larry Brighton - Ken Broadfoot - Cec Broadfoot - Jim Broadfoot Neville Broham - Darryl Brosnan - Eddie Brown - A Brown - Arch Brown - Chick Brown - Dave Brown - Edwin Brown - Glen Brown - John Brown - R Brown - Russell Brown - W Brunker - Adrian Brunner - Len Buckley - Edward Buckley - Bob Budge - Garth Bullow - Steve Burge - Frank Burns - Harold Busteed - M Butler - Terry Buttigieg - John Cahill - Les Callaghan Neville Callinan - Bill Callus - John Cameron - Harry Campbell - Lex Campion - Kevin Cann - Alan Cannon - Reg Caples - Harry Carey - Eddie Carlaw - Dane

LEAGUEQUEENSLAND.COM.AU

Carlson - Brian Carne - Willie Carr - Norm Carr - Wayne Carroll - Tonie Carter - Steve Cartmill - EJ Cattanach - Ray Cavanagh - C Cavanagh - Noel Challis - Wayne Chambers - Will Chapman - Ron Cherry-Evans Dally Christensen Charlie Christie - Bill Churchill - Clive Churchill - Max Civoniceva Petero Clark - Syd Cleary - John Clifford - Danny Close - Chris Cock - Bob Coles - Bruce Coll - J Collins - Ed ‘Babe’ Collins - Herbert Colwell - Marshall Concannon - Joe Conescue - Greg Connell - Artie Connell - Cyril Connell - Cyril Jnr Connell - Geoff Connell - Peter Cook - Brian Cook - Bobby Cook - Terry Cooke - Reg Cooney - Tom Cooper - Cecil Cooper - Gavin Cooper - Ron Cooper - S Coote - Paul Core - S Cork - S Costello - Eddie Costigan - Neville Coyne - Gary Coyne - Mark Coyne - Peter Craig - Jimmy Cready - Brian Crear - Steve Creedy - Des Crema - Angelo Crilly - John Crocker - Harold ‘Mick’ Crocker - Michael Croft - Noel Cronk - Cooper Crouch - Graham Cruden - Alf

Cuneen - Jack Cunningham Owen Currie - Tony Dallas - Brett Dauth - Ian Davidson - Barry Davidson - Bligh Davies - Brian Davis - Ron Dawson - Les Day - Ken Dean - Topper Dempsey - Dan Denman - Jeff Denny - Henry Dick - Steve Dickins - Harry Dickins - Tom Dimmick - Brian Dines - Dev Dittmar - Len Dobrich - Gary Dobson - Doug Donnelly - Terry Doonar - Frank Dore - Micky Dowling - Barry Dowling - Greg Dowling - John Doyle - Ian ‘Ripper’ Doyle - Joe Doyle - John Doyle - John ‘JD’ Drake - Frank Dreverson - A Drew - Bernie Duffin - George Duggan - Liam Duncan - Bob Dunemann Trevor Dunne - Bill Dutton - Ron Dwyer - Col Dwyer - Leon Dwyer - Phil Eales - John Eastwell - Peter Eaton - John Ebbern - Jack Edwards - Arthur Egan - Jack Evans - Bill Fahey - P Farnsworth - Bill Farquhar - Steve Feeney - Jasper Feneley - Sid Ferguson - Denis Fewin - Harry Fien - Nathan Fihelly - Jack Fitzpatrick - Gerry Fitzsimmons Brian Flanagan - Tom ‘Rat’

Flannery - Chris Flannery - Dennis Flynn - Jimmy Folau - Israel Foley - Arch Foote - Alf Foreman - Jim Fraunefelder Eric French - Brett French - Ian Fritz - Darren Fullerton - JA Fullerton Smith Wally Furner - Don Fyfe - Jeff Gagai - Dane Gallagher - Noel Gallagher - Peter Gardiner - Brian Gayler - Jack Gayton - Stan Gee - Andrew Gee - Hec Gee - Keith Geeves - Les Gehrke - Bob Geiger - Nick Gelling - Eric Gil - Alan Gilbert - Fred Gill - Jeff Gill - Lindsay Gill - Peter Gillespie - Les Gillett - Matt Gillies - D Gillmeister Trevor Gills - Barry Gilmore - Jack Glasheen - Mick Glasson - EH Gleeson - Johnny Goddard - Jamie Goldsmith - H Gordon - Jim Gorman - Tom Grant - John Greaves - D Green - Cliff Green - Paul Greenhill - Craig Greenwood Blondie Grice - John Griffiths - Harry Griffiths - Ron Grogan - Robert Guerra - Aiden Hagan - Bob Hagan - Michael Hall - Duncan Hall - Peter Halley - Rodney Halloway - Arthur Halpin - Athol Hancock -

Michael Hancock - Rohan Hanley - Jack Hanley - Jim Hannant - Ben Hannay - Josh Hardcastle - Bill Hardie - Robert Hardy - Les Hardy - Ossie Harken - Trevor Harris - Eric Harrison - Ashley Harrison - Glen Harvey - Arch Haslet - J Hauff - Paul Haylock - J Hazelton - Dave Hazzard - Noel Healey - T Hearn - Tony Hedges - JS Hegarty Shannon Heidke - Harold Heidke - Les Heidke - Bill Henderson Arthur Hendry - Des Hennessy - Tom Henrick - Ross Hetherington Jason Heugh - Cavill Hey - Vic Hickey - Dobbyn Hickey - Peter Higgins - Max Higgs - Ray Hitchman - A Hodgens - Clarrie Hodges - Justin Hoffman - Ernie Hoffman - Jay Hogan - Vince Hohn - Mark Hohn - Neville Holben - Greg Holborrow - J Holloway - Henry Holmes - G Holzberger - G Hooker - ‘Babe’ Hoolahan - A Horan - Jack Horder - Clarrie Horder - Harold Hornery - Alan Horrigan - Jack Horrigan - Arthur Horsley - J Hourigan - Jack Hoyle - Bevan Hudson - Les Hughes - Keith Hughes - Russell

Hull - Sam Hunt - Johnny Hunt - Karmichael Hunter - Sammy Hutchinson - Lee Ikin - Ben Inglis - Greg Irwin - Vivian ‘Mick’ Jackson - Jimmy Jackson - Joe Jackson - Peter Jackson - Steve Jackwitz - Dennis Jacques - H Jago - Don Jarrott - R Jeffrey - Don Johnson - Dallas Johnson - J Johnson - Leo Johnson Norman Johnson - T Jones - A Jones - Brian Jones - Gavin Jones - Ivan Jones - Sid Jowett - J Kajewski - Tony Kavanagh - W Kaufusi - Antonio Kay - Reg Kearney - Mick Kellaway - Bob Kelly - Dave Kelly - Hugh Kelly - John Kelly - Jim Kelly - Noel Kelly - Ray Kelly - Stuart Kennedy - Barry Kennedy - Brad Kenning - Barry Kenny - Len Keogh - Steve Khan - Paul Kilroy - Joe King - Bennett King - R Kiss - Les Kitching - Harold Kleindienst - Phil Krueger - Sam Kreutzer - Simon Kynaston - John Laing - W Laird - Graham Laird - Ray Lait - V Lam - Adrian Lang - John Lang - Martin Langer - Allan Larson - Gary Law - Bill

THEY PLAYED THE GAME - QUEENSLAND REPRESENTITIVES (1908-2017) Laws - Colin Laws - Fred Leet - Jack Leis - Peter Lena - Graham Lewis - Evan Lewis - Billy Lewis - Wally Liebke - Harry Lill - Michael Lillyman - Jacob Linde - Harry Linde - Neville Lindenberg Wayne Lindner - Bob Lindsay - Roy Lingard - Kevin Little - Edmond Little - Jack Little - Lloyd Lobegeiger Peter Lockie - George Lockyer - Darren Logan - Brendan Lohman - Kevin Luppi - Peter Lynch - W Macrea - Graeme Madden - Frank Madsen - Peter ‘Mick’ Maguire - Jack Mahon - Bill Maitland - Arthur Malcolm - Syd Maloney Michael Mann - Jack Manteit - Dennis Marks - Brian Marrinan - Con Marsh - PJ Marshall - Craig Marshall - Jeff Martin - Allan Martin - Jim Martin - Kevin Massie - Ian Maunders - C McBrien - Jim McCabe - Herbert McCabe - John McCabe - Paul McCaffery - Ken McCarron - Ray McCarthy - Greg McCarthy - Pat McComb - Jug McCrohon - Ken McDermott - Billy McDonald - Brian McDonald - John McDonald Trevor McDonald - Wally McDonaugh - W McGlynn - Rex

McGovern - Des McGrath - Ted McGrath - John McGregor Dugald McGregor - Norm McGrory - P McGulkin - Jim McGuire - Casey McGuire - Josh McIndoe - Alan McIntosh - Peter McIvor - Duncan McKay - Ken McKee - Bill McKenna - Chris McKenna - Jim McLean - Alex Douglas McLean - Douglas McLean - Michael Mclennan - Ron McLeod - John McMahon - Pat ‘Cocky’ McNally - Shane McNeill - H McQueen - Chris McWhirter - Peter Meagher - G Meehan - Don Meekin - K Meibusch - Bob Melrose - Hugh Meninga - Mal Messenger - Dally Matassa - Fonda Meyers - Bradley Miguel - Ray Miles – Gene Milford - Anthony Mills - Alan Milne - Ron Milson - J Moffatt - David Mogg - Adam Mogg - Henry Mohr - Clinton Mooney - Tom Moore - Billy Moore - Danny Moores - Jeff Moran - P Morgan - Lionel Morgan - Michael Morgan - Tom Morris - Des Morris - Rod Morris - Bill Moxley - Arthur Muir - Barry Muirhead - Mal Mulgrew - Mick Muller - Barry Muller - Eddie Munn - Jack Munro - R Murphy - Jim

Murphy - L Murray - Mark Murtagh - J Myles - Nate Nalder - B Napa - Dylan Naylor - Geoff Neill - Mick Neilson - B Neilson - Dane Neumann - Fred ‘Firpo’ Nicholson Robert Niebling - Bryan Norris - Bill Norton - Travis Nutley - Danny Nuttall - Robert Oates - Corey O’Brien - Arthur O’Brien - Clinton Obst - Tony O’Connell - Danny O’Connell - Wally O’Connor - Barry O’Connor - Danny O’Davis - Robbie O’Doherty - Hugh O’Donnell Claude Oliphant - Greg Olsen - A Olsen - O Olsen - P O’Mara - Jim O’Neill - Julian O’Neill - Justin Orchard - Robert Orr - Warren O’Shea - Kel Oxford - Arthur Papalii - Josh Parcell - Gary Park - Alby Park - I Parker - Corey Parker - ST Parkes - A Parry - Henry Pask - L Paten - Bill Paterson - Jim Paterson - Trevor Patrick - Abe Patrick - J Payne - Jim Payne - John Payne - Mark Payne - Tom Pearce - Ian ‘Bunny’ Pearson - Gary Pearson - Bill Pegg - Len Pegg - Reg Perkins - Tony Peut - Michael Peut - Robert

Phelan - Chris Phipps - Stan Pickering - Harry Pioch - Waxie Platz - Greg Platz - Lew Pobar - John Pope - Norm Porter - Hnery Porter - Neil Potter - Norm Poulsen - Richie Powell - Cliff Power - Alan Price - Steven Prickett - Gary Prince - Scott Pritchard - W Proudfoot - Ron Purcell - Frank Purcell - James Purcell - Jack Purtell - Tom Pyers - Paul Quinn - Colin Quinn - Graham Quinn - Greg Quinn - W Radeck - George Raper - Ron Rasmussen Elton Rea - Tony Reardon - Jack Reddington - H Reddy - Rod ‘Rocket’ Renouf - Steve Retchless - Mick Reynolds - Col Reynolds-– Ray Reynolds - S Rhodes - John Ribot de Bresac - John Richards - Bill Richardson Geoff Richmond - W ‘Slogger’ Ridgewell - Les Riipinen - E Rinaldi - J Rissman - Alan Rix - Grant Roberts - H ‘Cocky’ Robertson - Peter Robison - Harry Robson - Eugene Robson - Ian Roche - Richard Roderick - Dave Rogers - Mat Ronald - Hume Rooney - Jack Ross - Ben Ross - C Ross - P.W.

Rousell - G Rowcliffe - B Rowe - Tommy Rowley - D Rudd - Viv Ryan - Peter Ryan - Stan Ryan - Tom Ryan - Bill Ryrie - Jack Sailor - Wendell Salmon - Frank Salter - John Salter - Len Sandy - Jamie Sargood - Jack Sattler - John Sattler - Scott Scanlan - Marty Schifcofske Clinton Schloss - Jeremy Scholtz - A Schultz - Graham Schultz - Roy Scott - Charlie Scott - Colin Scott - Matt Scott - Tony Sear - Phil Seary - Michael Sellars - Les Sergeson - A Shannon - Mick Sharpe - G Shaw - Bob Shearer - Dale Shephard - Len Sherman - Alan Shillington - David Short - Max Sigley - Jim Silver - Ron Simpson - Des Sinclair - A Sinclair - Peter Sing - Matt Slater - Billy Smith - Alan Smith - Athol Smith - Cameron Smith - C Smith - Craig Smith - Darren Smith - G Smith - Gary Smith - Jason Smith - Neville Smith - Robert Smith - Bill Souter - C Spencer - Bill Stacey - Steve Stafford - Jim Stagg - David Stains - Dan Stallard - G Stanley - Ted

Stanton - Reg Stanton - Ron Stapleton - Doug Stapleton - Jack Steinohrt - Arch Steinohrt - Herb Steley - J Stephens - Kevin Stephens - Lex Stevens - H Stewart - Roy Stewart - Wayne Stock - Errol Strudwick - Ross Sugars - Bill Sullivan - William Sweeney - J Sweeney - Tom Swift - C Tait - J Tait - Ron Tallis - Gordon Tarry - Will Tate - Brent Taylor - David Teevan – Craig Tengdahl – Brett Te’o - Ben Tessman – Brad Teys – Gordon Teys – Neil Teys – Ron Thaiday – Sam Thinee – Ian Thomas – Mark Thomas – Bill Thomas - A Thompson - Alan Thompson - Colin Thompson Duncan Thompson - J Thompson - Jack Thompson - Rob ‘Yogi’ Thompson - Billy Thorn - Brad Thornton - Col Thorogood Charlie Thrupp - Pat Thurston Johnathan Tierney - T Tobin - John Tolhurst - Rod Tonga - Willie Towers - Dudley Tronc - Scott Trueman - ES Tubman - Bob Tucker - Graham Tuqiri - Lote Twist – Richie Tyquin – Bill Tyquin - Tom Upton - Jack Van De Velde Darryl

Vasta - Joe Vautin - Paul Veivers - Greg Veivers - Jack Veivers - Mick Verrenkamp - Ted Vowles - Adrian Wacker - WH Wagner - C Wagon - Daniel Walker - Bruce Walker - Chris Wall - Ben Walsh - Brian ‘Tiger’ Walsh - M Walsh - Pat Walters - Kerrod Walters - Kevin Walters - Steve Watson - Alex Watson - George Watterson - Vic Webb - Carl Webcke - Shane Webster - Eric Webster - Reg Wedesweiler - Jim Weier - Lloyd Weir - Col Wesss - Col Wellington - Gary Wesser - Rhys Westaway - Roy White - John White - Noel Whitehead Trevor Whitmore - Bill Whittle - Gordon Whyte - Bill ‘Snowy’ Wilkie - K Willey - Ron Williams - Stan Williams - Steve Williams - Ty Williamson Henry Williamson Lionel Wilson - C Wilson - C Wilson - Colin Wittenberg - John Wixted - J Wood - Lyn Woodger - W Woodhead Charlie Woods - Charlie Woods - L Wright - Charlie Wright - David Wright - T Yow Yeh – Jharal

LEAGUEQUEENSLAND.COM.AU

33

PRIDE OF MACKAY ON the 8th July 2015 when Dane Gagai ran onto Suncorp Stadium in the 3rd Origin game he became the 45th Mackay player to represent Queensland in rugby league at full state level. That is an astonishing figure for any club or area in Australia and when you consider that as many as 15 of them went on to represent Australia it proves that Mackay and District is fertile rugby league territory indeed.

The region’s first Queensland player was Billy Paten who was already an established International when he played for Queensland against New South Wales on the 23rd July 1927 from Mackay.

He had signed to coach Mackay that season and would eventually play 39 games for Queensland.

Mackay’s Best and Fairest Award is named in his honour.

In 1932 Melville ‘Mick’ Glasheen was playing for Gargett in the Pioneer Valley when selected in the North Queensland team to play England in Townsville. Glasheen would go on to play for Queensland from Townsville and tour with the 1933/1934 Kangaroos. In the 1930’s we also had Gordon ‘Scotty’ Macrea and ‘Cocky’ Roberts playing for Magpies. Along with Glasheen they all played against New South Wales in 1934. This made Roberts Mackay’s first home grown Queensland player.

Mackay has always been a great exporter of rugby league talent and in the late 1940’s Ron Griffiths, a Mackay junior who was working in the railway went south to Rockhampton and then Ipswich where he played for Queensland and toured New Zealand with the 1949 Australian team. Griffiths would eventually travel to Cairns where he won several Foley Shield Finals for that city.

The late 1940’s and early 1950’s saw several quality rugby league players come to Mackay including 1946 Australian players John Grice and Eric Bowe.

Bowe was selected to play for Queensland from Mackay and although picked in two tests that year against Great Britain never actually took to the field.

Grice never played for Queensland from Mackay.

In 1948 two opposing centres in the inter-state series were Len Pegg (Queensland) and Ned Andrews (NSW). Pegg would play for Australia against New Zealand in 1949 and later tour with the Kangaroos. In 1950 they both arrived in Mackay as coaches of different club teams. The power of rugby league was so strong in Mackay that season that the local representative team including Pegg and Andrews defeated a Brisbane team containing seven Webster running with ball was injured in this game allowing Graham Laird an opportunity to impress. Laird went on to play for Australia.

current Queensland players 19/8. After starring in the Queensland team that defeated Great Britain Ned Andrews became the first current Mackay player to represent Australia when he ran on to the Brisbane Cricket Ground on the 1st July 1950.

Andrews – Ned (A) Balderson – Noel

The 1950’s were heady times in Mackay and although they never won a Foley Shield until 1959 players from the Mackay district like ‘Blondi Greenwood’, Ron Davis, Hume Ronald, Jim Wedesweiler, Eric Webster, Paul Pyers, Bob Buckley and Don Meeham played for Queensland.

Greenwood was in Sarina’s first premiership team in 1951 and played for Queensland against New Zealand from Bundaberg the following year.

Bella – Martin (A)

One of the great Mackay players of the 1950’s was Graham Laird. He was a Magpies junior who had played for North Queensland in 1953 and 1954. In 1955 he signed with Newtown in Toowoomba and after playing for Queensland against New South Wales he became Mackay’s first home-grown International when he ran onto the Brisbane Cricket Ground on the 2nd July 1955 to play for Australia against France. The irony of his selection is that another Mackay player, Eric Webster was the normal Queensland five-eighth at the time and was injured playing for Queensland with Laird taking his place.

Churchill – Max

It would be hard to argue against the statement that the greatest player who ever wore a Mackay jersey was Elton Rasmussen. Rasmussen was a Magpies junior who had played for North Queensland in 1956 and 1957 and like many players from the north he went south to Toowoomba to find fame and fortune. He played in Toowoomba for two seasons and they won the Bulimba Cup on both occasions. Rasmussen played for Queensland against New South Wales and made his Australian debut against New Zealand as a reserve in 1959 and was then selected to tour with the 1959/1960 Kangaroos. Rasmussen would later sign with the mighty St George club in Sydney where he won five premierships and toured with the 1967 Kangaroos.

All in all, Elton Rasmussen played 15 tests for Australia plus the 1960 World Cup. He also played 126 games for St George, 15 games for Queensland and seven games for New South Wales.

Bowman – Paul Bowe – Eric (A) Buckley – Bob Budge – Garth Campion – Kevin Cherry-Evans – Daly (A) Colwell – Marshall Costigan – Neville Croft – Noel Cunningham – Owen Dallas – Brett (A) Davis – Ron Gagai – Dane Glasheen – Mick (A) Greenwood – Blondi Griffiths – Ron (A) Hannay – Josh Hegarty – Shannon (A) Jackson – Steve Kynaston – John Laird – Graham (A) Laird – Ray (A) Macrea – Gordon McLeod – John Meehan – Don Muller – Eddie Neilsen – Dane Norton – Travis O’Neill – Julian (A) Paten – Billy (A) Powell – Cliff Pyers – Paul Rasmussen – Elton (A) Roberts – ‘Cocky’ Ronald – Hume Sailor – Wendell (A) Schifcofske – Clinton Shearer – Dale (A) Van De Velde – Darryl Webster – Eric Wedesweiler – Jim

34

LEAGUEQUEENSLAND.COM.AU

WHAT DO THESE HAVE IN COMMON WITH SUGAR CANE?

They’re all part of Mackay region’s Proud HISTORY!

MACKAY REGION’S

May 2017 We celebrate our footy legends.

Help us celebrate our sugar cane heritage.

This May, tackle Mackay Region's Sweet Secrets Trail!

Discover a range of delicious desserts from our region.

It’s the rush before the sugar crush… and these secrets won’t last!

> mackay.qld.gov.au/sweetsecrets LEAGUEQUEENSLAND.COM.AU

35

make once in a lifetime last the weekend

Sir Elton John LIVE • Artspace Mackay Fashion Exhibition • Sarina Sugar Shed tours • City Centre Dining • Eungella National Park and more!

September 22 - 24

Outstanding world-class music, culture, food, shopping and nature at its best.

Let the Mackay region make your Once in a Lifetime experience last the weekend. ► Book your Mackay accommodation packages at www.mackayregion.com

36

LEAGUEQUEENSLAND.COM.AU

PRIDE OF MACKAY 1959 Australia vs New Zealand (L-R): Barry Muir, Dud Beattie, Elton Rasmussen, Noel Kelly, Jimmy Paterson and Gary Parcell

The 1960’s were sparse times near the Pioneer Valley with Cliff Powell, Garth Budge and Ray Laird wearing Queensland colours.

Laird, the younger brother of Graham would play for Australia against Great Britain in 1970 and captain Queensland on many occasions. In 1970 Noel Croft also played for Queensland followed by John Kynaston in 1971. One of the stars of the close encounter between North Queensland and Great Britain in 1970 was Mackay’s Darryl Van De Velde who would go on to play for Queensland several years later from Brisbane Souths.

Noel Balderson and Max Churchill were selected in Queensland squads in the late 1970’s and in 1982 Origin arrived after two ‘one-off’ games in 1980 and 1981.

One of the big cultural changes in Queensland Rugby League was the introduction of a State League in 1982 which exposed the quality of Mackay and North Queensland based player to a wider audience. This effectively meant that playing for Queensland from Mackay was a thing of the past and the Mackay district became exporters of rugby league talent.

Julian O’Neill and Paul Bowman commenced their careers with the Whitsunday Brahmans and both went on to bigger and better things with O’Neill playing for Australia while Paul Bowman is still regarded as one of Queensland’s best players to not represent Australia. There can be only one Wendell Sailor with ‘Dell’ wearing his Queensland jersey against New South Wales on 17 occasions and playing 21 rugby league tests. Sailor also had a distinguished rugby union career playing 37 tests and 45 super-rugby games. The big winger from Sarina played his last competitive game of rugby league for the Indigenous All Stars in 2010.

Brett Dallas was regarded as one of Australia’s fastest wingers in the late 1990’s and after playing 119 NRL games, ten Origin and five tests for Australia he went to England and played another 150+ games in the English Super League. Often the forgotten player of the Mackay Rugby League he would be hard to keep out of a best ever Mackay team.

The flood of Mackay players to Brisbane clubs in the early 1980’s was only matched by a bigger threat and that was the flood of Brisbane based players to Sydney clubs.

Two of the last Mackay players to represent Queensland from Mackay were Brothers captain/coach Marshall Colwell who played for Queensland in 1981 and the Sarina legend, Dale Shearer. Shearer toured New Zealand in 1984 with a Queensland team and would go on to play 26 games for Queensland and 20 tests for Australia and in our opinion would fight Elton Rasmussen for the title of Mackay’s best ever player.

During the 1980’s, 1990’s and into the 21st Century, Mackay and District would export many champions like Martin Bella, Julian O’Neill, Brett Dallas, Wendell Sailor, Shannon Hegarty and Daly Cherry-Evans (Australia) and Steve Jackson, Paul Bowman, Travis Norton, Kevin Campion, Clinton Schifcofske, Josh Hannay, Neville Costigan, Owen Cunningham, Dane Neilsen and Dane Gagai (Queensland). Players like Martin Bella (left) shone like a beacon from 1983 when he first made a representative team until the end of the 1997 season at the Gold Coast. Bella played 21 games for Queensland, nine games for Australia and a massive 235 first grade games in the NRL. The big-hearted Martin Bella finished his career where it commenced, playing for Sarina in a reserve grade grand final in 2009!

Martin Bella Photo: NRL Imagery

LEAGUEQUEENSLAND.COM.AU

37

PRIDE OF MACKAY The Moranbah duo of Clinton Schifcofske and Josh Hannay had exceptional careers in the NRL with Hannay still involved in the game today. Shannon Hegarty was another classy back who left Mackay for greener pastures and his 52 tries in the NRL and Queensland and Australian jerseys clearly identify him as a player of talent.

No ‘Best Ever Mackay Team’ would be complete without the half-back and with 11 tests for Australia, six Origins and almost 150 NRL games to his credit that spot belongs to Daly CherryEvans. It is a growing trend in modern rugby league to find players who have played more Internationals that Origins but Cherry-Evans sits behind some very good players in Thurston, Cronk, Milford and Morgan.

It is a fact that Mackay has produced more International and Queensland quality backs than forwards but Steve Jackson, Kevin Campion, Owen Cunningham, Neville Costigan and

38

LEAGUEQUEENSLAND.COM.AU

the versatile Travis Norton can hold their heads high in any company. Mackay players seem to slip through the Cowboys net and although Norton, Campion, Cunningham and to a lesser extent Costigan did play for the Cowboys, it was at the end of illustrious careers. Cunningham was a Manly Warringah legend by the time he headed north, Campion had played for the Brisbane Broncos and the Warriors and Travis Norton had spent nine seasons in the NRL before moving north in 2004.

Steve Jackson was the last of the Mackay players who had actually made his mark in the local competition before heading to fame in the south and also one of the players who returned to Mackay and put back into the game he loved.

Dane Neilsen (South Sydney) and Dane Gagai (Newcastle) are Mackay Origin representatives still playing in the NRL while a new crop is growing in the sugar-city. If newspaper reports are a good guide then Souths junior Kalyn Ponga, currently at the Cowboys but Newcastle bound could be the 46th Mackay player to wear a Queensland jersey. Time will tell. Selecting teams through the ages is always controversial but if you picked a Mackay team based on representative selection it would look something like the side ‘League Queensland’ has selected.

THE PRIDE OF MACK AY Fullback – Ray Laird (Australia) Wing – Wendell Sailor (Australia) Centre – Ned Andrews (Australia) Centre – Dale Shearer (Australia) Wing – Billy Paten (Australia) Five Eighth – Graham Laird (Australia) Half Back – Daly Cherry-Evans (Australia) Lock – Don Meehan (Queensland) 2nd Row – Elton Rasmussen (Australia)

2nd Row – Kevin Campion (Queensland) Prop – Martin Bella (Australia) Hooker – Mick Glasheen (Australia) Prop – Steve Jackson (Queensland) Bench – Brett Dallas (Australia) Bench – Eric Webster (Queensland) Bench – Paul Bowman (Queensland)

Neville C

ostigan

Kevin Campion ay

Josh Hann

Dale Shearer Wende ll

Sailor

Shannon Hegarty

Images: Courtesy of Courier Mail

LEAGUEQUEENSLAND.COM.AU

39

40

LEAGUEQUEENSLAND.COM.AU

MIGHTY MAROONS THE CLASS OF 1922

IT took ten seasons and 22 interstate games before Queensland defeated New South Wales but once the dam had burst the mighty Queenslanders controlled the interstate competition in a similar fashion to Meninga’s Men in the 21st Century. Between the first game of the 1922 series and the end of the 1932 season Queensland won eight series, drew one and lost two. Queensland ruled supreme but it would be another 74 seasons before a comparable dynasty wore maroon jerseys.

Mighty teams have great players, great coaching staff, great leadership and it helps if you have a bit of luck and consistent selections.

Both the teams mentioned had these qualities in spades with the majestic Tommy Gorman playing in and captaining many of the Queensland teams of the 1920’s while Darren Lockyer and Cameron Smith have led by example in the 21st Century.

The early days of inter-state rugby league were a struggle and from the 11th July 1908 when New South Wales won the first ever Interstate encounter 43-0 in Sydney until the end of the 1921 season Queensland was treated with so much contempt that in 1914 when England toured all three tests were played in Sydney. Adding insult to injury Queensland had played two games against England and although they lost both games, the 18-10 and 22-8 results

were considered reasonable. Despite the good showing of the Queenslanders only one player from the north in Bundaberg’s Henry Bolewski played for Australia. That’s one spot in a possible 39 as Bolewski only played in one test!

The interstate competition was interrupted by a bigger event called the First World War but in 1919 when the rivalry commenced again, a more determined Queensland took to the field. Players like Duncan Thompson, Billy Paten, Bill Richards, Norm Potter and Jim McBrien gave the new look maroons some respectability and although they never won a game in 1919 the cricket scores of the 1908-1915 period were avoided and following the first two interstate games where the Blues had won 33-18 and 12-7 in Sydney, an Australian touring team was selected to go to New Zealand which included Duncan Thompson, Billy Paten, Charlie Thorogood, Tom Sweeney, Claude O’Donnell and Norm Potter.

England toured Australia again in 1920 and Queensland found two more rising stars in Edwin ‘Nigger’ Brown and a classy centre by the name of Tommy Gorman. Queensland played England and although they lost 25-15, five of the team were elected in the Australian side for the 1st Test. The Queensland five-eighth Stan Ryan and Duncan Thompson who was now playing for New South Wales were selected but withdrew with injury while Harry Fewin, Norm Potter, Bill Richards and Norm Broadfoot all ran onto the Brisbane

QUEENSLAND RUGBY LEAGUE TEAM – UNDEFEATED 1922 – BACK (L-R): Visitor, Bill Spencer, Alex Brown, Visitor, Visitor, Cec Broadfoot, H Jacques, Visitor STANDING: Claude O’Donnell, Jerry Johnson, Jim Bennett, Ted Stanley, Frank Madden, Tommy Gorman, Eric Frauenfelder SEATED: W Kuder (Co-Mgr), Nev Broadfoot, Norm Potter (Capt), V Jensen (Co-Mgr), Edwin Brown, Jim McBrien, C Noble and son (Co-Mgr) FLOOR: Bowie Brereton, Lou Meibusch, Cyril Connell, Billy Paten Photo: Courtesy Paul Hayes

LEAGUEQUEENSLAND.COM.AU

41

MIGHTY MAROONS - THE CLASS OF 1922 Exhibition Grounds in the team that defeated England 8-4.

Bill Richards and Norm Potter along with Duncan Thompson played in the 2nd and 3rd tests and won the Ashes for the first time in Australia.

The 1921 season saw two more stars emerge on the Queensland scene in Eric Frauenfelder and the tough Jim Bennett. New South Wales again won the inter-state series without a loss although 34-20 in Brisbane was considered respectable. A Kangaroo team was selected to tour Great Britain which included Bill Richards, Norm Potter, Edwin Brown and Norm Broadfoot. Ted McGrath and Duncan Thompson also toured but were playing in Sydney at the time. The blinkers went back on the Australian selectors and although the Kangaroos played a hefty 36 games on tour if you came from Queensland you never got a run.

Norm Potter (10), Brown (4) and Broadfoot (4) never played a test while Bill Richards featured in one test and played a total of (15) games. Duncan Thompson, a New South Wales player at the time, was one of the stars of the tour playing all three tests and 26 games.

The sun rose on the 1922 season and several new players donned the maroon of Queensland for the first time including Cecil Aynsley and Bill Spencer and on the 22nd September they created rugby league history by defeating New South Wales. Tommy Gorman, Bill Spencer, Edwin Brown and Ted Stanley scored tries while Billy Paten kicked five goals in their 25-9 victory. The New South Wales team contained seven Internationals including Duncan Thompson and Ted McGrath. The dam had burst and now the tide was coming in and bringing some talent with it.

One of the stars of Australian rugby league in 1922 was Jimmy Craig who had toured with the Kangaroos, playing in one test and 22 minor games.

He was already a legend in Sydney having played in the great Balmain team which won five premierships in six seasons between 1915 and 1920. In 1923 Jimmy Craig arrived in Ipswich and the player many describe as ‘The Greatest All Round Player to ever grace a rugby league field’ was now wearing a Queensland jersey.

The 1923 season saw Queensland play New South Wales in Sydney on the 25th June, winning 18-13 with Norm Potter (2), Arthur Henderson and John Hunt scoring tries while Jimmy Craig potted three goals and the return game played in Brisbane on the 25th August saw the maroons win 25-10 with Craig and Cecil Aynsley both going over for doubles while Arthur Henderson, Billy Paten and Eric Frauenfelder also scored. The mercurial Craig only kicked two goals.

The 1924 season had seen several more talented players in maroon jerseys including Vic Armbruster and Duncan Thompson who had played for the blues against Queensland in 1922. The maroons played New South Wales twice in Sydney defeating them 22-20 on the 21st May and 20-7 on the 4th June. The Queensland wingers Aynsley and Paten were in outstanding form scoring three tries each in the two games.

QUEENSLAND 1922 Eric Frauenfelder Billy Paten Tommy Gorman Jim McBrien Bill Spencer Edwin Brown Cyril Connell Jerry Johnston Norm Potter Ted Stanley Alex Brown Claude O’Donnell Jim Bennett

QUEENSLAND RUGBY LEAGUE TEAM – UNDEFEATED 1924: BACK (L-R) C Noble (Selector), Jim McBrien, Jim Bennett, Vic Armbruster, John Purcell, Jim Purcell, V Jensen (visitor) STANDING: J Tennison (Selector), J Sigley, Bill Spencer, P Parcells, Norm Potter, Herb Steinohrt, Cec Broadfoot, Cecil Aynsley, P Frawley (visitor) SITTING: G Wilson (Mgr), Duncan Thompson, J Larcombe, Jimmy Craig (Capt), W Kuder (Mgr), Eric Frauenfelder, JG Stephenson (Selector) FLOOR: John Hunt, Tommy Gorman, Bill Paten, Jack Cuneen

42

LEAGUEQUEENSLAND.COM.AU

MIGHTY MAROONS - THE CLASS OF 1922 England returned to Australia in 1924 and unlike 1914 when Queensland was treated with disdain, the Australian team for the first test had a real Queensland flavour. Eric Frauenfelder, Tommy Gorman, Cecil Aynsley and Jim Bennett all made their test debut while Jimmy Craig (captain) and Norm Potter also represented Queensland and despite losing 22-3 all were retained for the second test also played in Sydney. Added to the mix for the 2nd Test were John Hunt and Duncan Thompson in the backs and former New South Wales player Vic Armbruster, now playing in Toowoomba, in the forwards. Harold Horder was the only non-Queensland player in the backline. Once again England won, this time 5-3 so the Ashes were lost when Australia ran onto the Brisbane Exhibition Ground on the 12th July for the 3rd Test.

Billy Paten had earned his spot on the Australian wing so the entire backline of Frauenfelder, Aynsley, Craig, Gorman, Paten, Hunt and Thompson were from Queensland while Armbruster, Jim Bennett and Potter were also in the team that defeated England 21-11.

Following the test series New South Wales came north to Brisbane and on the 30th August were beaten 36-6 by Queensland with Bill Spencer scoring three tries, Arthur Edwards two while Arthur Henderson, Jimmy Craig and Cecil Aynsley also scored. Aynsley also kicked six goals.

By 1925 the sight of Queensland winning was infectious

and the player talent kept arriving. Big Herb Steinohrt made his interstate debut in Sydney on the 30th May in a 23-15 victory to the maroons and also played two days later when we won 2713. All good things must come to an end and when New South Wales won the 3rd game in Sydney 27-16 there was rejoicing in the streets. On the 22nd August in Brisbane the rejoicing stopped when Queensland with Bill Spencer scoring two tries won 26-8 and a week later won their fourth game for the season defeating the blues 23-18 with former New South Wales star Harry Caples getting a double and kicking three goals for the maroons.

Two key players in Eric Frauenfelder and Duncan Thompson were missing from the 1926 Queensland team. Thompson had retired while Frauenfelder had left to play in the country so Jimmy Craig took over the fullback roll while Arthur ‘Fatty’ Edwards remained at half-back. The blues won the first and second games of the 1926 series in Sydney 30-17 and 5-3 respectively but the Maroons, with Cecil Aynsley scoring two tries, got their campaign back on track with a 26-11 victory in Newcastle.

Two weeks later the New South Wales team arrived in Brisbane and an aggressive Queensland team won the first encounter 38-0 to tie the series and then the final game on the 10th July went to Queensland 37-19. Jeff Moores, the Queensland five-eighth, scored three tries while Jack Purcell and Norm Potter both got a double. The accurate Jimmy Craig chipped in with eight goals.

QUEENSLAND RUGBY LEAGUE REPRESENTATIVE TEAM 1926 – BACK ROW (L-R): K. McCormack, C. Aynsley, J. Moores, W. Kavanough, A. Henderson 3RD ROW: W. Spencer, H. Caples, V. Armbruster, H. Steinhort, H. Leibke, W. Parcells, J. Bennett, J. McBrien 2ND ROW: H. Sunderland (Sec), J. Craig, J. Tennison (Mgr & Sel), N. Potter(Capt), Cliff Noble (Mgr & Sel), T. Gorman, J.G. Stephenson (Patron QRL & Sel) FRONT ROW: A. Edwards, G. Allman Photo: Courtesy Paul Hayes

LEAGUEQUEENSLAND.COM.AU

43

MIGHTY MAROONS - THE CLASS OF 1922 The 1927 season arrived and New South Wales for the second season in a row won the first two games in Sydney.

Bunny Wearing who had tormented Queensland for years scored tries in both games with 14-10 and 13-11 being the results. The first on the return games in Brisbane saw Queensland with Arthur Henderson, Bill Spencer and Keith Hughes score tries in their narrow 11-7 victory but the Blues took their first series for six seasons when they won the last game 15-11.

Billy Paten had been recalled from Mackay where he was a player/coach for the Brisbane games and did kick a goal in the last.

The 1928 season was big news in Australia as England was touring. The Kangaroos had been expected to tour England at the end of the 1926 season but politics and bad planning quashed the tour so the rugby league public were eager to see their international stars in action. The first interstate game was played in Sydney on the 12th May and Queensland with Jimmy Craig scoring two tries and kicking two goals won 25-9. A welcome addition to the Queensland forward pack was big Dan Dempsey and Mick Madsen although Norm Potter had retired from big time rugby league. The Blues won the 2nd game 16-7 and following their 1927 success had high expectations of dominating selection in the 1st Test team to be played in Brisbane on the 23rd June.

Eight Queenslanders made the team with the magnificent Tommy Gorman selected as captain. Old hands Jimmy Craig, Cecil Aynsley and Vic Armbruster were there along with debutants Fred ‘Tiger’ Laws, Herb Steinohrt, Arthur Edwards and Dan Dempsey. England won the test 15-12 with Aynsley and Armbruster scoring for Australia. The

Australian selectors must’ve though it was Queensland’s fault as Laws, Edwards and Aynsley along with Viv ‘Bluey’ Freestone (NSW) were dropped.

England won the 2nd Test and the series with a convincing 8-0 victory but Australia won the 3rd Test played in Sydney 21-14. Gorman, Craig, Armbruster, Dempsey and Steinohrt played in all three tests.

The inter-state series resumed on 28th July with Queensland scoring six tries in their 28-17 victory and on 4th August they won their six series in seven seasons with a 21-10 defeat of the Blues. The Queensland lock, Les Sellars scored two tries in this game. He had been a certainty to play for Australia until sent from the field in the England vs Queensland game in Brisbane.

The 1929 season commenced with anticipation as midseason the Kangaroos were going to England and the Maroons were confident of a strong representation if they played well in the inter-state series. Sadly the series was a disaster with Jimmy Craig back in Sydney the Queenslanders lost their way with a 5-0 rout being the result. Queensland used 24 players during the series but NSW with Harry Kadwell, Eric Weisell, Eddie Root, Bill Shankland, Jimmy Craig and Alan Ridley in great form dominated the games in Sydney although the Brisbane games were narrow 16-14 and 11-8 results.

The Kangaroos under the captaincy of Tommy Gorman left in July on the Aorangi and included in the 28-man squad were Arthur Edwards, Jack Upton, Gorman, Dan Dempsey, Vic Armbruster, Herb Steinohrt, Bill Spencer, Fred Laws, Les Sellars, Mick Madsen and Arthur Henderson. Gorman was the first Queenslander to captain the Kangaroos and the 11 Maroons was a record at the time.

AUSTRALIAN RUGBY LEAGUE TOURING TEAM TO ENGLAND 1929/1930 – BACK (L-R): A Justice, C Fifield, Fred Laws, Les Sellars, A Ridley, Mick Madsen, W Brogan, G Bishop, Arthur Henderson STANDING: W Prigg, Dan Dempsey, G Treweeke, Vic Armbruster, A Hennessey (Coach), J Kingston, Herb Steinohrt, W Shankland, Bill Spencer SITTING: H Finch, Jack Upton, P Maher (V/Capt), J Lorne Dargan (Co-Mgr), Harry Sunderland (Co-Mgr), Tommy Gorman (Capt), F McMillan, E Root FRONT: Arthur Edwards, E Weissel, J Busch, J Holmes, H Kadwell Photo: Courtesy Paul Hayes

44

LEAGUEQUEENSLAND.COM.AU

MIGHTY MAROONS - THE CLASS OF 1922 The 1929/1930 Kangaroos were the unlucky team as they actually played four tests after absolutely flogging England in the first test in Hull. Australia won 31-8 but lost the second test a month later 9-3 in Leeds. The 3rd Test, known to this day as ‘Busch’s Test’, was played on the 4th January 1930 and after 80 minutes was declared a scoreless draw.

Joe ‘Chimpy’ Busch had scored what appeared to be a fair try late in the game but it was disallowed. For the first and only time in rugby league history a fourth test was played with a 3-0 victory to England.

The Queensland contingent fared reasonably with Gorman and Bill Spencer playing in all four tests with Armbruster (3), Laws (1), Madsen (2), Dempsey (1) and Steinohrt (3) also wearing test jumpers. The Kangaroos played 35 games on the arduous tour in what was described as the coldest English winter for 50 years.

The Kangaroos returned in 1930 but arrived so late in the season there were only three inter-state games, two played in Sydney. NSW won the first encounter 16-11 on the 7th June while Queensland squared the series taking the second game 25-11. Tommy Gorman played the last of his 43 games for Queensland in the third and deciding game of the 1930 series which the Blues won 15-12.

There was a mixture of anticipation in the air when season 1931 came around with no international teams touring but there were going to be five inter-state games, three in Sydney and two in Brisbane. Herb Steinohrt had taken on the reins as Queensland captain and although the mighty Queensland forward pack was intact the threat of a NSW series win was looking a definite proposition when they won the first game 39-17.

Queensland won the second encounter 23-20 but the Blues picked up game number three with an easy 28-6 victory to head north full of confidence.

were the only players from 1925 so a changing of the guard was imminent. Queensland won the first of the three games contested 23-15 in Sydney with Mick Maloney scoring three tries for the Maroons while a week later the best the Blues could do was a 9-9 draw in game two.

The Australian selectors chose seven Queenslanders in the first test side to play England in Sydney with mighty Herb Steinohrt captaining his country for the first time. Joe Wilson (winger). Jack Little (hooker) and Hec Gee (half-back) made their test debuts while Fred Laws, Dan Dempsey and Mick Madsen also ran on. England won a very physical encounter 8-6 with Valleys hooker Jack Little dislocating his knee-cap and tearing a thigh muscle making him unavailable for the 2nd encounter in Brisbane on the 18th June.

Les Heidke was bought into the team for the second test while Dan Dempsey was moved into the hooker position.

Australia with Hec Gee scoring two tries squared the series with a 15-6 victory.

Australia led 9-0 at half-time in the third test and 11-3 early in the second half but England played all over the top of them late in the game to retain the Ahes with an 18-13 victory. Eight Queenslanders played in the 3rd Test with Fred Neumann and Bill Christie making their test debuts alongside Steinohrt, Jim Wilson, Fred Laws, Hec Gee, Les Heidke and Mick Madsen.

England departed with the Ashes and on the 6th August 1932 in Brisbane Jack Upton scored three tries to give Queensland a 19-9 victory over the Blues and their last series win until the 1940 season.

The sun had set on this great period in Queensland Rugby League history and it would be another 74 seasons before Queensland dominated again. ‘Gormans Greats’ were champion players in a grand era of rugby league and should be remembered as such.

Jack Upton scored two tries to give Queensland a narrow 15-8 victory in game four and although the Blues scored the only try in the 5th game the goal kicking of Mick Maloney gave the Maroons the game 4-3 and the series 3-2.

1932 was the last year in the period of dominance for the Queensland Rugby League and the season also saw England tour Australia. Stalwarts like Vic Armbruster, Bill Spencer and Arthur Edwards had retired and no players remained from the heady days of 1922-1924. Herb Steinohrt and Bill Smith 2nd Test in Brisbane, 18th June 1932. Herb Steinohrt was captain along with seven other players,including: Bill Christie (reserve) making Eight Queensland representatives

LEAGUEQUEENSLAND.COM.AU

45

46

LEAGUEQUEENSLAND.COM.AU

MIGHTY MAROONS THE CLASS OF 1980 BETWEEN 1908 and the end of the 1979 season there had been 217 games played of which Queensland had won a paltry 55 and drawn another six. A more concerning statistic was the fact that since 1932 Queensland had only won three series (1940, 1959, 1960). In 1973 we not only lost the series 3-0 we never scored a point in the three encounters and when less than 1,400 people turned up at Leichardt Oval in Sydney to watch Queensland play New South Wales in 1979 it was obvious the inter-state rugby league concept was on the ropes. The problem wasn’t in Queensland as big crowds flocked to Lang Park in the faint hope that Queensland might spring an upset and every now and then it happened but it was clearly obvious that changes had to happen to ensure that State and International rugby league survived.

The Sydney clubs obviously didn’t care what happened outside of their world but leading Australian administrators including Queensland’s Ron McAuliffe and NSW’s Ken Arthurson and Kevin Humphreys were concerned to the extent they considered playing a game under ‘State of Origin’ selection rules whereby Queensland bred players in the NSWRL were eligible to play for Queensland.

Selection was getting back to the bad days of 1914 and the last two home series prior to 1980 had seen Geoff Richardson, Warren Oar, John Lang and Ray Higgs (1974) selected from Queensland while in 1978 Kerry Boustead, Greg Oliphant, Greg Platz, Lang and Rod Morris had represented Australia from the state. Higgs, Boustead, Lang and Morris would sign with Sydney clubs while Arthur Beetson, Lionel Williamson and Rod Reddy were ex-pat Queenslanders playing for Australia from Sydney clubs. The 1973 Kangaroos toured with only two resident Queenslanders in John Lang and Warren Oar and while Lang did play one test, Warren Oar only played eight minor tour games. The 1978 Kangaroos went away with three resident Queenslanders in Boustead, Rod Morris and Greg Oliphant.

Things had to change and change they did. The first game of the 1980 series was played at Lang Park, Brisbane on the 20th May and as per normal more than 25,000 hungry Queenslanders turned up to see their team in action. The Blues led 12-3 at half-time and ran away with the game 353. A young Mal Meninga scored the only try for Queensland while Kerry Boustead, Rod Morris and Rod Reddy wore the sky blue of New South Wales.

The second game was played a week later at Leichardt Oval in Sydney and when an official 1,368 people came through the gate the inter-state competition had hit a new low.

Queensland trailed 12-4 at half-time and eventually went down 17-7 with former Queenslander John Lang the Man of the Match. Other Queenslanders in the Blues team were Graham Quinn, Boustead and Rod Morris.

Origin One was played at Lang Park on the 8th July 1980 and an official 33,210 people crammed into the arena. Ron McAuliffe had bought the 35-year-old Arthur Beetson back from Parramatta’s reserve grade to captain the Queensland team in his first appearance in a Queensland jumper and the legend was born as mate vs mate and state vs state became the catch-cry that still resonates 37 seasons later.

It’s history now that Queensland won and won well with a 20-10 scoreline. Mal Meninga kicked seven goals from seven attempts, Kerry Boustead and Chris Close scored tries for the Maroons while big Arthur Beetson played himself into rugby league immortality.

Since that day ‘State of Origin’ has grown to be the biggest ticket in town and watched by millions around the world.

It’s like the Melbourne Cup of rugby league, the game that stops a nation. The 1981 inter-state series was played along similar lines to 1980 with the Blues winning 10-2 and 22-9 before ‘Origin’ was played and Queensland won 22-15 after trailing 15-0.

Since 1980 there has been 107 Origin games with Queensland winning 58, New South Wales 47 and two drawn but more importantly the tide has turned with the Maroons winning 20 of 35 series with two drawn.

THE CLASS OF 1980 Fullback – Colin Scott Winger – Kerry Boustead Centre – Mal Meninga Centre – Chris Close Winger – Brad Backer Five Eighth – Alan Smith Half Back – Greg Oliphant

Lock – Wally Lewis 2nd Row – Rod Reddy 2nd Row – Rohan Hancock Prop – Arthur Beetson (C) Hooker – John Lang Prop – Rod Morris Bench – Norm Carr Bench – Bruce Astill

LEAGUEQUEENSLAND.COM.AU

47

MENINGA’S MEN over the next ten seasons as he perfected the words, ‘team spirit’ like no-one before him. Meninga had played the game at the highest level but what meant more to him was his mates. They might have been in the Queensland Police Academy team of the early 1980’s, Brisbane Souths, Canberra, Queensland or Australia but they were all mates to him. Like politics the pressure cauldron of being a NRL coach was not Meninga’s thing but he was born to lead and born to coach the best in the business.

Loyalty was another Meninga strong point and this had already been bred into the maroon culture as statistics would show. Since the first game in 1980 there has been 185 Queensland players and 265 New South Welshmen who have played in the Origin arena.

WHEN Darren Lockyer led Queensland onto the Telstra Stadium for the first game of the 2006 series he had no idea a new chapter had opened in Queensland Rugby League history. Lockyer had played for Queensland for eight hard seasons in which time the Maroons had won only two series and had lost the last three in a row. He was aware of the fact that his team had a new coach and although many thought Mal Meninga was a rugby league ‘immortal’, there was a question mark over his coaching as he had only achieved moderate success at the Canberra Raiders.

Mal Meninga would take the word ‘Origin’ to a new level

Team work was another Mal Meninga trait and in 2006 he selected a group of assistant coaches in Neil Henry and Steve Walters who he knew and old comrades like Billy Johnstone (conditioner), Bobby Lindner (manager), Kevin Walters (manager) and Steve Hooper (trainer) who had all been there before.

Seven debutants were bought into the Queensland team for Origin One in Sydney. They were Matt Scott, Sam Thaiday, Nate Myles, David Stagg, Dallas Johnson, Greg Inglis and Steve Bell while Johnathan Thurston, Matt Bowen, Justin Hodges, Brent Tate, Lockyer, Steve Price, Cameron Smith, Petero Civoniceva, Shaun Berrigan and Carl Webb had played before. The Blues had stuck with a similar team to their 2005 model with only Eric Grothe and Luke O’Donnell blooded.

y a d y n a u d s n t i u s h t i w h r u w o r u o # # y a d y r e y v a e d r y u r o e y v e e SShhaarer yoruwrhitsunnddaayy inin##oouurwhitsu

48

LEAGUEQUEENSLAND.COM.AU

A MAN NAMED SMITH

A crowd of 72,773 mainly Blues supporters packed into Telstra Stadium on the 24th May 2006 expecting a Blues’ victory and that’s what they got but only with a last minute field-goal to Brett Finch. The 17-16 score gave Meninga’s men and their Queensland supporters hope for Origin Two in Brisbane.

Origin Two was played on the 14th June and injuries had seen Greg Inglis replaced by Adam Mogg while Karmichael Hunt and Jacob Lillyman also played their first game for the state. It’s history now that Mogg scored two tries, Darren Lockyer won the Man of the Match and the Maroons squared the series 30-6 in front of 52,468 supporters after leading 14-0 at the interval.

Normally the home team has the advantage so Queensland went to Sydney for Game Three to face a Blues team that had only made one change, bringing a young Paul Gallen into the team. The half-time score was 4-4 with Mogg scoring for Queensland but 40 minutes later the Maroons walked off the field as Origin Champions with a hard fought 16-14 victory. Brent Tate won the man of the match while Darren Lockyer won the Wally Lewis Medal as Player of the Series.

On the international front what a difference success makes as the final of the 2005 tri-nations series played in England saw two Queensland players in Brent Tate (winger) and Petero Civoniceva (prop) in Australia’s starting 13 while only Steve Price made up the 17-man squad. By the end of 2006 the Queensland contingent in the Australian team had grown to Karmichael Hunt, Brent Tate, Justin Hodges, Greg Inglis, Darren Lockyer, Johnathan Thurston, Cameron Smith, Petero Civoncieva, Shaun Berrigan, Antonio Kaufusi and Sam Thaiday.

A COMMON NAME FOR AN UNCOMMON PLAYER

SMITH is a surname originating in England. It is the most prevalent surname in the United Kingdom, Australia and the United States, the second most common surname in Canada, the fifth most common surname in the Republic of Ireland but when you ‘Google’ Cameron Smith your computer lights up. Cameron Smith is arguably the greatest hooker/forward who has ever worn an Australian jersey.

The position has changed more than any other since the halcyon days of 1932 when Dan Dempsey hooked for Australia. It wasn’t until the introduction of the turnover after a set of six tackles in 1983 that the importance of the scrum began to wane. When league was played with unlimited tackles, the scrum was the main way in which the defending side could get hold of the ball. When the four tackle rule was introduced in 1966 (which became six tackles in 1972) a scrum was formed after a completed set of tackles.

Queensland has had some great hookers and in the list of 100 Greats of Queensland Rugby League selected for the Centenary of Rugby League there are Greg Conescue, Dan Dempsey, Brian Fitzsimmons, Noel Kelly, John Lang, Steve Walters and Cameron Smith. Remember this list was chosen in 2008 when Cameron Smith was 25 years old and had a lot of rugby league in front of him.

Meninga had opened his account but as many English soccer managers will testify your job is only as secure as your last game. Big Mal would have to prove time and time again to a sceptical NSW public and press that he was a champion coach leading a champion team and over the next ten seasons he would do that. That 2006 season was a changing of the guard for the Maroons as many of the Class of 2006 would go on to long and distinguished careers in rugby league.

Players like Matt Scott, Sam Thaiday, Greg Inglis and Nate Myles grew in stature in a Maroon jersey and joined their ‘old guard’ of pre-2006 players including Lockyer, Slater, Smith, Hodges, Hodges and Civoniceva to enjoy a dominance in rugby league not seen before on the Origin stage.

Cameron Smith Photo: NRL Imagery

LEAGUEQUEENSLAND.COM.AU

49

A MAN NAMED SMITH Noel Kelly was selected as hooker in both the Queensland and Australian Teams of the Century but the rugged forward from Ipswich played as many tests as a prop as he did as a hooker. Dempsey was a similar player but Brian Fitzsimmons was one of the best strikers of the ball the game has ever seen. Fitzsimmons played around the same time as Kelly and was often overlooked for a more rugged player as in Kelly, Ian Walsh or Elwyn Walters.

Both John Lang and Greg Conescue were old style hookers.

They were tough, skilful and great communicators. Lang basically played his whole career when winning the ball meant everything but Conescue played in both eras at the highest standard. Steve Walters replaced his brother, Kerrod, as Queensland and Australian hooker and he lifted the bar to another level with his general play on the rugby league field. The accolades for Steve Walters were superlative and then along came Smith.

The man with the ordinary name was first spotted playing for Norths Devils during the 2001 season and quickly signed

by Melbourne. He played every game of the 2003 season and scored a try in his Origin debut game on the 16th July.

The Blues had already won the series but the Maroons won the last game 36-6 in Brisbane. Cameron Smith then went onto play 39 games for the Maroons with the only absence being the first game of the 2010 series when he was injured playing for Australia two weeks before. This 39 caps puts him at the pinnacle of Origin games for Queensland. Along the way he took over the role of team captain from Darren

Lockyer, a position he also holds for Melbourne Storm and Australia. The likeable Smith is never flustered and his calmness under pressure has the hallmarks of a champion.

Cameron Smith played his first test for Australia on the 14th October 2006 and since that day has represented his country on 50 occasions, a figure only surpassed by Darren Lockyer. Smith has captained Australia on 27 occasions, once again a figure only surpassed by Darren Lockyer.

The one-club player has been with the Melbourne Storm for an incredible 16 seasons and as of May 2017 had played 345 games, scored 40 tries and kicked 949 goals for his club.

Injuries permitting he will break Darren Lockyer’s record for the most NRL games played towards the end of this season.

Humility is a strong point for Smith, a quality he displayed as the losing captain during the 2016 Grand Final and the 2014 Origin campaign. The many accolades given to Cameron Smith include the Golden Boot Award as the World’s Best Player (2007), Wally Lewis Medal as Best Player in the Origin Series (2007, 2011, 2013, 2016), the Dally M Award as the Best Player in the NRL (2006), the Dally M Representative Player of the Year (2007, 2011, 2013, 2016), the Dally M Captain of the Year (2011, 2013) and numerous awards as the best hooker in the game.

Cameron Smith, one of Meninga’s Men and a Champion in any era of Australian Rugby League.

DON’T FEEL LEFT OUT! Join me, Nathan Reardon for my next fishing adventure in Darwin.

Reardon has a long-standing career as a professional cricketer. He has played over 150 matches for Australia, the QLD Bulls, Brisbane Heat, Adelaide Strikers and Melbourne Renegades.

Now taking bookings for 2018 Find out more online at outsideedgeadventures.com.au

50

LEAGUEQUEENSLAND.COM.AU

2010 & LOYALTY COUNTS BY 2010 the Maroons had won four consecutive series, the first time it had happened. Queensland had won three in a row twice before and the Blues had also achieved it twice so the Maroons’ 2009 victory had taken them into uncharted territory. The opening game was played on ANZ Stadium in Sydney and Queensland bought Matt Ballin into the team to replace Cameron Smith who had been injured in the Anzac Test. Other Origin debutants for Queensland were Cooper Cronk and David Taylor.

The Anzac Test had been played in Melbourne on the 7th May with Australia winning 12-8.

The player distribution was interesting as the Australian side contained nine Blues players and eight Maroons despite the fact Queensland had won the last four Origin series.

If you look back at the history of Origin one of the startling statistics is the number of players each state has used and the 2010 series emphasised this fact. Queensland bought Ballin into the team as Cameron Smith was injured while Cooper Cronk was already an established international.

During the 2010 series Queensland used 19 players while the Blues had to hire an extra bus to accommodate their 30.

Statistically New South Wales should have won the series.

Queensland were heading into a fifth series win which was unheard of, the Blues had two games at home, they had a higher representation of current Australian players and had defeated Queensland 28-16 in Brisbane in the 3rd game of the 2009 series yet they not only lost, they lost 3-0.

The first game played on the 26th May saw Queensland score five tries to the Blues’ three with Thurston kicking four from five to give the Maroons a 28-24 victory. The Blues had led 6-0 early but at one stage in the second half Queensland

led 28-14 before two late tries to NSW. Johnathan Thurston, who had missed the Anzac test through injury, won Man of the Match.

The second game was back in Brisbane on the 16th June and 52,452 maroon fans paid to see their champion’s win 34-6 and clinch consecutive series number five. The Maroons dominated from the whistle and scored 12 tries to a solitary effort to Brett White late in the game when the Maroons led 34-0.

The third game was back in Sydney. The Blues, with everything to prove and nothing to lose, made six changes to their team. The Maroons with nothing to prove and the series already in the bag led 12-0 after 30 minutes and 13-6 at half time. Early in the second half the Blues hit back through a try to Kurt Gidley and at 13-12 it was anybody’s game.

The stadium erupted when Greg Bird scored to take the Blues to an 18-13 lead in the 70th minute but there was still some fight in the Queenslanders.

After a brawl that erupted when Michael Ennis punched Nate Myles the Maroons recovered their composure, took a tap and Billy Slater scored off a great Darren Lockyer pass.

This broke the hearts of the Blues who never recovered as Willie Tonga scored a late try to extend the Maroons’ lead to a final 23-18. The Man of the Match and Wally Lewis Medal winner was Billy Slater.

The season concluded with 13 Queenslanders named in the 25-man Australian squad to play in the Four Nations Series.

They were – Lockyer, Thaiday, Shillington, Cronk, Slater, Smith, Tate, Scott, Tonga, Inglis, Civoncieva, Boyd, Myles and Tuquri.

QUEENSLAND RUGBY LEAGUE TEAM – GAME THREE 2010 – FRONT ROW: Neville Costigan, Cooper Cronk, Billy Slater, Steve Walters (Manager), Darren Lockyer, Mal Meninga (Head Coach), Cameron Smith, Ashley Harrison, Johnathan Thurston SECOND ROW: Allan Langer (Trainer/Analyst), Jason Hetherington (Trainer), Mark Hohn (Media Manager), Darius Boyd, Sam Thaiday, Michael Hagan (Assistant Coach), Matt Scott, Willie Tonga, Trevor Gillmeister (Conditioner), Tony Spencer (Trainer), Troy Thomson (Trainer) THIRD ROW: Scott Thornton (Physiotherapist), Nate Myles, Petero Civoniceva, Israel Folau, David Shillington, Greg Inglis, David Taylor, Ben Lowe, Roy Saunders (Doctor) Photo: Courtesy QRL

LEAGUEQUEENSLAND.COM.AU

51

PART 1 - GORMAN’S GREATS VS MENINGA’S MEN POSITION FULLBACK WINGER CENTRE CENTRE WINGER FIVE EIGHTH HALF BACK LOCK 2ND ROW 2ND ROW PROP HOOKER PROP

GORMAN’S GREATS ERIC FRAUENFELDER CECIL AYNSLEY FRED ‘TIGER’ LAWS TOMMY GORMAN (C) BILLY PATEN JIMMY CRAIG DUNCAN THOMPSON VIC ARMBRUSTER NORM POTTER JIM BENNETT S HERB STEINOHRT DAN DEMPSEY MICK MADSEN

MENINGA’S MEN BILLY SLATER DARIUS BOYD GREG INGLIS JUSTIN HODGES BRENT TATE DARREN LOCKYER JOHNATHAN THURSTON COREY PARKER NATE MYLES AM THAIDAY MATT SCOTT CAMERON SMITH (C) PETERO CIVONICEVA

IN more than 100 seasons of Inter-state rugby league there has only been two periods of sustained Queensland domination and they occurred many seasons apart and light years apart in rugby league opportunity. The first great Queensland era from 1922 – 1932 came after a ten year drought where the Maroons went 22 games without winning while the second period of dominance from 2006 – 2016 came after four seasons of New South Wales dominance.

The 21st Century rugby league is dominated by a club competition comprising 16 teams in the NRL and backed by an Intrust Super Cup with a strong second tier competition in both Queensland and New South Wales. People think this is the greatest rugby league competition in the world but in the 1920’s the Queensland-based Bulimba Cup was a very strong competition while the Sydney club competition had super-stars in every team.

Australia rules the world of International Rugby League in the 21st Century while during the reign of ‘Gorman’s Greats’, Australia lost every series against England.

England ran international rugby league to the extent that in 1925/1926 at the height of Queensland’s domination a proposed Kangaroo tour to England was replaced by a New Zealand tour to England at the insistence of the English Rugby League.

In today’s hurly burly of rugby league we normally play an Anzac test against New Zealand in early May and possibly a four nations tournament at season end in England, New Zealand or Australia. Some players and many officials feel that it interrupts their preparation for the next season but League Queensland agrees with Mal Meninga in that this should be the pinnacle of rugby league.

International rugby league tours in the 1920’s and 1930’s when ‘Gorman’s Greats’ ruled went for many months and involved as many as 37 games. The 1908/1909 Kangaroos played 46 games. During the 11 seasons when Queensland ruled the inter-state competition there were three tours by England to Australia (1924, 1928 and 1932) and Kangaroo tours in 1921/1922, 1929/1930 and 1933/1934. England won every series although the 1929/1930 series had to be decided by the first and only ever 4th Test.

It is hard for our reader to comprehend the inter-state competition back in this day as games would be played two or three days apart and travel would be by train. The first three games of the 1925 series were played on the 30th May, 1st June and 8th June – all in Sydney. The Queensland 52

LEAGUEQUEENSLAND.COM.AU

leg was played on the 22nd and 29th August. The 1926 series was played on the 5th and 7th June in Sydney and the 12th June in Newcastle with the two Brisbane games on the 3rd and 10th July. Another factor that the Queensland teams of the day had to combat was the very unequal spread of the games with only 15 of the 42 games played between 1922 and 1933 played in Queensland.

It should be also pointed out that players were expected to back up and play for their clubs and cities and sometimes played 3-5 games in a week. Club football was tough and the quality of the inter-town competition was such that Toowoomba in 1924/1925 defeated England, New South Wales and New Zealand along with South Sydney who had just won the Sydney premiership. They were different times but great players have similar traits. After studying their careers it’s easy to see why Tommy Gorman would be selected beside Mal Meninga in the Queensland Team of the Century and why six of the players from ‘Gorman’s Greats’ are in the Queensland Team of the Century.

League Queensland has studied the form and selected the 13 players from each era that we feel had the most to do with the rise of Queensland Rugby League. This is their story.

Fullback – ERIC FRAUENFELDER was a sporting marvel. Born in Albury in 1901 he excelled at sport playing Australian Rules as a junior, cricket and boxing. It is recorded that in 1921 at the Brisbane Stadium he won the lightweight boxing championship of Queensland and as late as 1936 he scored 48 runs for Ipswich against England in cricket. Frauenfelder arrived in Ipswich in 1920 and immediately made his mark playing wing in Past Brothers premiership winning team that year. From 1920 to 1926 Frauenfelder’s Past Brothers played in six grand-finals, winning in 1920, 1922, 1923 and 1925.

The champion fullback played the first of his 24 games for Queensland on the 27th September 1921 and the last on the 22nd August 1925. It is no coincidence that while Frauenfelder was the Queensland fullback his team were champions. His grounding in Australian Rules made him an outstanding ball handler and excellent kicker and on the 23rd June 1924 he made his debut for Australia and retained his spot for the entire series. Frauenfelder, along with his team mates played in an era of limited International opportunities and in 1925/1926 when Australia was expected to tour England he was at the top of his game.

Frauenfelder was a great rugby league tactician and in 1927 he was captain/coach of Barcaldine who defeated Brisbane 33-3 in Barcaldine and in 1928 he captained Wide Bay against England.

The 1929 season saw him back as captain/coach of Ipswich Brothers who at season end defeated Brisbane Valleys 17-5 in the QRL Grand Final. During his ten seasons in Ipswich Frauenfelder played in winning Bulimba Cup teams in 1926 and 1929, played for Ipswich against New Zealand (1921, 1925), NZ Maoris (1922) and England (1924).

£100 Townsville Gift during the 1921 season before moving to Brisbane in 1922 to play for Western Suburbs. They won their first premiership that season. On the Bulimba Cup front Cecil Aynsley played in winning teams in 1926 and 1929 while playing in Ipswich.

On August 25th 1923 he made his debut for Queensland in the 2nd game of the inter-state series scoring two tries in Queensland’s 25-10 victory.

By 1924 he and Billy Paten were regarded as Queensland’s premier wingers and over the next seven seasons he played 24 games for his state. Cecil Aynsley made his test debut on the 23rd June 1924 against England in the 1st Test at the Sydney Cricket Ground. Aynsley scored the only try in Australia’s 22-3 defeat and he retained his spot for the 2nd Test at the Sydney Cricket Ground in which he scored Australia’s only try in their 5-33 defeat. On the 12th July 1924 Cecil Aynsley ran onto the Brisbane Exhibition Grounds in the 3rd test team that defeated England 21-11.

By 1931 Eric Frauenfelder was captain/coach of the Lower Burdekin in North Queensland where he starred in their 3816 defeat of Herbert River in the North Queensland B Grade Final. He was captain/coach of Herbert River which lost to Eacham in 1935 and in 1936 coached North Queensland against England. Eric Frauenfelder was the first of the great Queensland fullbacks and one of ‘Gorman’s Greats’.

During Queensland’s 1925 tour of New Zealand, Cecil Aynsley scored 114 points in ten games. Cecil Aynsley scored a try in his last test for Australia as England won the 1st Test of the 1928 series at the Brisbane Exhibition Grounds 15-12. His try that day meant he had scored in every game he played for Australia. Without fear of contradiction, Cecil Aynsley was one of Australia’s greatest wingers and in June 2008 he was chosen in the Queensland Rugby League’s Team of the Century.

BILLY SLATER is regarded by many as the best in his position in the modern era. A player who first came into prominence when he signed with Melbourne Storm in 2003 he has achieved everything there is to achieve in rugby league. He made his Origin debut as a winger on the 26th May 2004 and in game two of the series he won the Player of the Game. He scored another try in game three and by 2005 he was the Queensland fullback. Between Game two in 2005 and the first game of the 2008 series Slater never played for Queensland but after a successful 2008 season where he made his Australian debut he never looked back.

Billy Slater won the Golden Boot Award in 2008 as the World’s Best Player, the 2009 Clive Churchill Medal as the Best Player in the NRL Grand Final, the 2010 Wally Lewis Medal as the Player of the Origin Series and the 2011 Dally M Medal as the Best and Fairest Player in the NRL. Billy Slater has been an icon of Queensland rugby league, playing for his state on 27 occasions between 2004 and 2015 and representing Australia 33 times between 2008 and 2014. Serious injuries hampered his 2015 and 2016 seasons but in 2017 he is back to his best.

His combination with team mates Cooper Cronk and Cameron Smith is the best in the NRL and a god-send for Queensland and Australia. At a club level he has played more than 280 games for the Storm and is their leading try scorer of all time with 175 (May 2017). Slater has played in premiership winning teams with Melbourne Storm in 2007, 2009 and 2012 and an easy selection as fullback in Meninga’s Men. Winger – CECIL AYNSLEY was the young star of a Charters Towers team that defeated Townsville and Toowoomba during the 1921 season. A natural speedster, he won the rich

DARIUS BOYD is the current Queensland and Australian fullback but the breathtaking ability of Billy Slater and the undoubted class of Boyd must see both included in ‘Meninga’s Men’. Boyd made his Origin debut on June 11th 2008 and since then has played 26 games for Queensland, all as a winger until Slater was injured in 2015. Boyd has not missed a series for the Maroons and has played 29 games for Australia since making his debut against New Guinea in 2008.

Darius Boyd has played almost 260 NRL games with stints at the Brisbane Broncos, St George-Illawarra and Newcastle Knights and he is the current captain of the Brisbane Broncos.

He has won premierships with the Broncos (2006) and St George-Illawarra (2010) where he won the Clive Churchill Medal as Player of the Game. Boyd is a classy outside back with a great knack of being LEAGUEQUEENSLAND.COM.AU

53

in the right place at the right time as his 119 tries in 11 seasons will testify. He has scored two tries in a game for Queensland four times and is as safe as Commonwealth Bank shares in the Queensland and Australian teams.

player he won premierships in Ipswich in 1916, 1918 (West End), 1924 and 1926 (Starlights). Billy Paten also played for Ipswich against New Zealand (1919, 1921,1925) and England (1920, 1924).

BILLY PATEN played the first of his 39 games for Queensland on the 19th July 1919, kicking three goals in his team’s 33/18 defeat.

He was past his best when he arrived in Mackay in 1927 as player/coach but such was his influence on the game that the award for the Best and Fairest Player in the Mackay Club Competition is named in his honour. Paten was captain/ coach of Mackay for three seasons and captained the Central Queensland team that played England in 1928 and in 1936 Billy Paten managed the Australian team against England in the Second Test.

By the time he hung up his boots in the mid-1930s he would be regarded as one of Queensland’s finest wingers.

He played in an era when Queensland was regarded as the best rugby league team in the world and Billy Paten was an automatic selection.

Billy Paten played 17 games against New South Wales between 1919 and 1926 with Queensland winning 12 of them including eight in succession. As a classic finishing winger, Billy Paten scored nine tries in those inter-state games. Paten toured New Zealand with the 1919 Australian team, playing one test. He also played in the 3rd Test in 1924 against England.

On the Inter-town front, Billy Paten played for Ipswich from 1914 until 1929 except for the 1927 and 1928 season when he was in Mackay. He was a member of the magnificent Ipswich team that dominated the Bulimba Cup and InterCity competitions, winning in 1926 and 1929. As a club

BRENT TATE is one of the great survivors of Queensland Rugby League and played in three series before Mal Meninga came along in 2006. This gifted player suffered through three knee re-constructions and a serious neck injury and played for more than 13 seasons in the top grade. Tate made his Origin debut in the second game of the drawn series in 2002 and played most of his early representative career as a centre. He made his test debut against Great Britain on the 12th July 2002 and last appearance in the green and gold on the 23rd November 2013.

Tate suffered a serious neck injury in 2004 and played most of his career with a special cast as protection. His form in 2006 was outstanding including a premiership with the Brisbane Broncos, a State of Origin series win with Man of the Match honours in the deciding game of the series and he played in all three tests in the tri-nations series against Great Britain and New Zealand. Tate also won Player of the Match honours in Game Three of the 2013 series played in front of more than 83,000 people in Sydney.

Tate spent the 2008 – 2010 seasons with the New Zealand Warriors before joining the North Queensland Cowboys in 2011. The straight running Tate added guile and experience to an exciting Cowboys back line and suffered a career ending ACL injury during Origin II in 2014. Despite missing the 2005, 2009, 2010 and 2011 Origin series because of injury Brent Tate still played 23 games for Queensland, 26 games for Australia and 229 NRL games.

Centre – TOMMY GORMAN was good enough to be selected as Mal Meninga’s centre partner in the Queensland Team of the Century but many might ask, ‘Who was Tommy Gorman?’ In a nutshell he holds the distinction of being the first Queenslander to captain a Kangaroo tour to England

54

LEAGUEQUEENSLAND.COM.AU

when selected with the 1929/1930 Kangaroos. ‘The Prince of Centres’ as he was known played in the magnificent Toowoomba teams of the early 1920’s and made his state debut in Brisbane on the 27th September 1921. The Blues won that game 34-20 but big things were on the horizon.

From 1922 until 1928 Queensland with Tommy Gorman in the centres won six of the seven series played. Putting this into perspective the next time the Maroons would have this dominance would be in the 21st Century.

Tommy Gorman made his Australian debut on the Sydney Cricket Ground on the 23rd June 1924 in the first test of the series against England. By 1928 when England toured again he was the Australian captain and rated by the great English test centre, Jim Brough as the only Australian player who caused them concern in the series. Such was the dominance of Queensland at the time that eight of their players were in the first test team. From 1924 until 1930 Gorman played in ten consecutive tests for Australia including all four on the 1929/1930 Kangaroo tour.

Gorman was desperately unlucky to not return from the Kangaroo tour with the Ashes as they had won the first test 31-8, lost the second test 9-3 and had a very controversial 0-0 draw in the third test. The Australian half-back Joe ‘Chimpy’ Busch appeared to have grounded the ball for a fair try but the linesman, not the referee disallowed the try saying he went into touch. For the first and only time in Australian Rugby League history a fourth test was played and England won 3-0 with a try in the 74th minute.

The magnificent Tommy Gorman played the last of his 43 games for Queensland in 1930 and retired from rugby league at the end of the 1931 season.

He had played for Brisbane Brothers from 1926 onwards, winning a premiership in his first season. The next Queenslander to captain the Kangaroos to England was Wally Lewis in 1986.

GREG INGLIS would be a sensational rugby league player in any era. One of only three players to have appeared in every Origin series since the golden run commenced in 2006 the proud Indigenous rugby league player has worn the

Queensland jersey on 30 occasions. A versatile player who has won NRL awards as a fullback, centre and five-eighth he is an automatic selection for Queensland and Australia.

Inglis made his test debut against New Zealand on the 14th October 2006 and has since played 39 games for his country including 26 as a centre. Only six players in Australian Rugby League history have represented their country on more occasions that Inglis.

Greg Inglis is the leading Queensland try-scorer in Origin history with 18 tries from his 30 games and in 2009 won the Wally Lewis Medal as Player of the Series.

On the club scene he won a Clive Churchill Medal as the Best Player in the 2007 NRL Grand Final for the Melbourne Storm, won a premiership in 2014 with South Sydney and in 2008 was selected in the Indigenous Team of the Century. The hard running Inglis has scored 139 tries in 242 NRL games and in 2009 was awarded the Golden Boot as the World’s Best Player.

FRED ‘TIGER’ LAWS makes our ‘Gorman’s Greats’ partnering Tommy Gorman in the centres.

The Toowoomba star played the first of his 33 games for Queensland on the 2nd July 1927 and last on the 1st June 1935. The classy inside back with a great tackling technique made his Australian debut as a five-eighth in the first test of the 1928 series and later toured with the 1929/1930 Kangaroos where he played 15 games including the famous 4th Test which England won 3-0 to win the series.

England toured in 1932 and Fred Laws was one of five Queenslanders to play in all three tests. Laws was held in such high esteem that although New South Wales won the 1933 inter-state series 3-1 he was one of 11 Queenslanders to tour with the 1933/1934 Kangaroos. Laws played 16 games on tour including the 3rd Test won by England 1914. On the Bulimba Cup front Fred Laws played 40 games from 1926-1935 including championships in 1927 and 1928.

The great Fred Laws was a one club player with Newtown in Toowoomba for his entire career.

JUSTIN HODGES is our centre partner in Meninga’s Men, a position he has called his own since making his Origin debut in what he himself describes as a shocker on the LEAGUEQUEENSLAND.COM.AU

55

wing in game two of the 2002 series. During the 2003/2004 seasons Justin Hodges made another two Origin appearances, one on the wing and the other as centre.

During this period he had won a premiership with the Sydney Roosters where he had scored 26 tries in his 58 appearances but in 2005 he headed home to the Broncos where he had started his career in 2000.

The big centre was injury prone for several seasons in the middle of his career so he missed Origin and test opportunities in 2006, 2008, 2009, 2010 (entire season) and 2011. He hit career best form in 2012 and from there until he retired after the Broncos loss in the 2015 NRL Grand Final he never missed an Origin game, finally chalking up game number 24 in 2015.

Hodges made his test debut on the 14th October 2006 against New Zealand and his last appearance also against New Zealand was on the 13th April 2013.

Justin Hodges played 13 times for his country and never played in a losing test with a 20-20 draw in 2009 the only possible blemish.

Towards the end of his career he became a polished advocate for Indigenous Rugby League and was the Broncos captain in their losing Grand Final to the Cowboys in 2015. In an NRL career that spanned 16 seasons he played 251 games, scored 99 tries and won premierships with the Roosters and Broncos (2006). In his last Origin game in 2015 after his team mate had kicked a perfect nine from nine, Justin Hodges kicked his one and only goal of his representative career.

Five Eighth is one of the glamour positions on the rugby league field and when ‘Gorman’s Greats’ player, Jimmy Craig and ‘Meninga’s Men’s’ representative Darren Lockyer both make the Queensland Team of the Century you know we have got it right.

back and hooker for Australia and in ‘Gorman’s Greats’ we have him wearing the number six jersey.

Originally from NSW Jimmy Craig was a Balmain junior and was a key member of their premiership winning teams in 1915, 1916, 1917, 1919 and 1920. Balmain never won the 1918 premiership with Jimmy Craig away in the army.

He played for NSW against England in 1920 and toured Great Britain with the 1921/1922 Kangaroos playing 23 games including his test debut on the 1st October 1921.

Harry Caples and Duncan Thompson also toured with the Kangaroos so in 1923 Jimmy Craig arrived in Ipswich. He played the first of his 33 games for Queensland on the 25th June that year in a team that defeated NSW 18-13 in Sydney.

In 1924 the legendary Jimmy Craig captained Australia in all three tests against England, playing half-back in the 1st Test and centre in the 2nd and 3rd tests. He also captained Ipswich against Great Britain on the 12th June. In 1926 under the leadership of Craig Ipswich won their first Bulimba Cup. Jimmy Craig played for Queensland from 1923 until 1928 with Queensland winning 16 of 23 games in that period.

Craig played in all three tests of the 1928 series against England once again proving his versatility playing fullback and centre.

JIMMY CRAIG would be considered the finest utility player that ever played rugby league. That’s a big call but no other person has played fullback, centre, five-eighth, half56

LEAGUEQUEENSLAND.COM.AU

In 1929 he returned to NSW to play for Western Suburbs and as captain-coach took them to their first ever premiership in 1930. Jimmy Craig was the leading point scorer in the Sydney competition in 1929/1930 and played his last game for NSW in 1929 in a series win over Queensland. While in Ipswich he played in 1923, 1924, 1926, 1927 and 1928 Grand Finals for Starlights winning in 1924, 1926 and 1928.

In 2008 Jimmy Craig was selected in the Queensland Team of the Century.

DARREN LOCKYER did everything possible in the game of

rugby league. A player who grew is stature throughout his career he captained the Broncos, captained Queensland and captained Australia. His statistics tick every possible box as he is second to Cameron Smith as the most capped Queensland player since Origin, third to Johnathan Thurston and Mal Meninga as the most points scored for Queensland since Origin but his record as an Australian player is more impressive. Darren Lockyer has played 59 times for his country with only Cameron Smiths 50 a threat. He has scored 35 tries for Australia to lead the field in front of the magnificent Ken Irvine and has captained his country on 38 occasions with the next best being Clive Churchill on 27.

Lockyer had been playing Origin football for eight seasons prior to Meninga arriving as coach and knew all the highs and lows of the game. His first Origin appearance was on the 22nd May 1998 and for 16 games he wore the fullback’s jersey, winning the Player of the Match in the last game of the 2001 series. During this period Queensland won seven games, drew two and lost nine and had series wins in 1998 and 2001.

Lockyer moved to Queensland five-eighth for the second game of the 2004 series and played in that position until he retired at the end of the 2011 season. During this period Queensland won 13 games, lost seven and won every series from 2006 onwards. Lockyer was injured and never took part in the 2008 series.

The champion Broncos captain played a record 355 games for his club, the most of any player in the history of Australian Rugby League.

He won the prestigious Golden Boot Award as the World’s Best Player twice, the first time in 2003 as a fullback and the second in 2006 as a five-eighth. He won the 2006 Wally Lewis Award as Player of the Origin Series and along the way he won premierships with his beloved Brisbane Broncos in 2000 (Clive Churchill Medal winner) and 2006.

Meninga arrived in 2006 and needed a leader. Darren Lockyer gave him that leadership in spades.

Halfback – DUNCAN THOMPSON, on games played for Queensland, should not be in ‘Gorman’s Greats’ but his impact prior to the great period and influence as a leader and coach gets him into the team. He made his interstate debut back in the hazy days of 1915 when he played in the shellacking dished out by a rampaging New South Wales 53-9 and 39-7.

He must have impressed somebody in Sydney because in 1916 he signed with North Sydney but his rugby league career was interrupted by the First World War and despite his mother’s protests he enlisted. Thompson was shot in the chest during the battle of Dernancourt in 1917 and played his entire career with a fragment of a German bullet lodged in his chest.

Thompson continued playing, lining up for Ipswich and Queensland in 1919. He earned a place in the first Australian Test team to tour New Zealand. On tour Thompson replaced Arthur Halloway in the Third Test, which Australia won 3423. He was then selected at halfback for the fourth test, which Australia won 32-2.

Wests before moving back to Norths. Thompson captained NSW in his first game against his beloved Queensland in 1921. That same season North Sydney finished the season undefeated, claiming their first premiership. At the end of the 1921 season, Thompson was selected in the Australian squad to tour England where he played 26 games including all three tests. In 1922 North Sydney sporting the most impressive backline in the competition annihilated Glebe 35-3 in the Premiership Final to win their second and last ever premiership.

During the 1923 season he was surprisingly charged by the NSWRL with kicking an opposing player and despite having a clean record and the support of the Sydney spectators and media he was sensationally suspended for the season.

Duncan Thompson left Sydney club football forever and with the urging of fellow Queensland Kangaroo, Edwin Brown went to Toowoomba. He was the current New South Wales captain when suspended and a huge loss to that state.

The arrival of Thompson in 1924 saw the Clydesdales rule supreme for two seasons, not losing a game. Queensland with Duncan Thompson at the helm defeated New South Wales 22-20, 20-7 and 36-6. The mighty Queensland team also defeated England 25-10 and putting this into context, England team defeated Australia 2/1 in the test series.

In 2008 Duncan Thompson, the halfback in ‘Gorman’s Greats’, was selected in the Queensland Team of the Century.

JOHNATHAN THURSTON walks into ‘Meninga’s Men’ as the perfect foil for Darren Lockyer. Along with Lockyer, JT as he is known was adaptable and when Lockyer retired at the end of the 2011 season, the talented halfback simply changed the seven jersey for number six and got on with the job. Everything Thurston does on the rugby league field is a joy to watch and it’s been that way since he arrived at the North Queensland Cowboys for the 2005 season. He was already known on the NRL stage having played in the 2004 NRL Grand Final for Canterbury and had been a member of Queensland age teams since 2000.

The North Queensland Cowboys had played well in 2004, getting beaten in the preliminary finals but they went one better in 2005 with the arrival of JT, making an NRL Grand Final for the first time albeit defeated by Wests Tigers in the big game.

2005 was also the start of the Lockyer-Thurston partnership at Origin level with JT making his debut on the25th March at Suncorp Stadium. Although the Maroons won that game 24-20 they lost the return game in Sydney 32-22 and the decider in Brisbane 32-10. That would be the last time Lockyer partnered Thurston in a losing Origin series.

He relocated to Newcastle in 1920 and played for Newcastle LEAGUEQUEENSLAND.COM.AU

57

By the end of the 2016 season Thurston had played 36 games for Queensland and holds the record for consecutive appearances, not missing a game since his first Origin in 2005. He holds the record of most goals in a game with nine from nine in 2015, has scored more Origin points than any other player with 212 and is third on the all-time list of Queensland appearances behind Cameron Smith and Darren Lockyer.

The great Queenslander who is a credit to the game has played 298 games in the NRL, scoring 86 tries, kicking 840 goals and 16 field-goals. When Thurston plays the crowds roll in, he is a magnet for all the good things about rugby league. The North Queensland Cowboys won their only premiership in 2015 on the back of a Clive Churchill Award Best Player performance by Thurston. The award for the Best Player in the NRL is the Dally M Award in recognition of the great Dally Messenger. Johnathan Thurston has won the award a record four times (2005, 2007, 2014, 2015). JT has won the Golden Boot Award as the Best Player in the World (2011, 2013), the Wally Lewis Medal for the Best Player in the Origin Series (2008) and the Ken Stephen Memorial Award for service to rugby league (2012).

But there is more to Johnathan Thurston. He’s a champion for Indigenous communities, he helps any group that he can and his simple gestures like giving away his head gear as often as twice a game has been recorded around the world.

It’s highly likely that the Australian Rugby League public will never see his like again. That he will become a rugby league ‘Immortal’ is unquestionable – an absolute super-star of the game and one of Meninga’s Men.

58

www.cfmeuqld.asn.au LEAGUEQUEENSLAND.COM.AU

LEAGUEQUEENSLAND.COM.AU

59

60

LEAGUEQUEENSLAND.COM.AU