Pressure, hope, and the chance to make history
SEVENTEEN footballers have woken this morning with the weight of a state resting on their shoulders.
If they’re anything like a man who went before them, they’ll not only accept that load. They’ll jump out of bed, rush outside and look to add to it.
“I used to love going for a walk down Queen Street Mall on game day,” former Queensland star Ben Hannant said on the eve of what is being billed as the biggest State of Origin decider in the 38-year history of rugby league’s crown jewel.
“There’d be so many maroon jerseys and you’d feed off that. You see the enormity of what you’re representing.
“You’ve got families dressed in maroon. You’ve got single blokes and ladies wearing the jersey. You’ve got old people wearing hats and carrying flags as they start their own pregame rituals. You’ve got farmers from out west wearing all their cowboy gear with a jersey over the top.
“You’d realise how much it means to everyone and that would get me excited. You earn the maroon jersey but it’s not yours. You’re just a custodian of it for that game.”
As Queensland and NSW prepare to draw the curtain on an epic 2017 series at Brisbane’s Suncorp Stadium, former
Maroons have revealed personal insights from their own ‘Deciders’, those years when an entire series came down to 80 minutes of football.
The pressure, the expectation, the hope – and, in the case of Chris Walker, the afterparty.
“Honestly sometimes you’d feel like you were a rock star,” said the fleet-footed back who lifted the Origin shield after deciders in 2001 and 2002.
“You come out of the sheds and there are people everywhere wishing you the best … then we went back to the (hotel) and you walk through the foyer to the after-match function and there are hordes of people everywhere.
“Back then the match was on a Sunday so we had a fair while to recover for our next (club) game and I remember me, Wendell (Sailor), Lote (Tuquri) and a few other players didn’t stop partying until Tuesday or Wednesday.”
Walker laughed: “I also remember we played Newcastle on the Friday and got absolutely towelled.”
Former Titan Ashley Harrison played 15 Origins, three of them in what he considers one of league’s ultimate tests.
“If you’re ever going to get found out, it’s in an Origin decider,” said the 36-year-old, who debuted in the 2005 finale when an Andrew Johns-inspired NSW prevailed at Suncorp Stadium.
“I was a young kid so just to experience the occasion at home was a big thing and we
didn’t lose too many deciders after that.”
None in fact, with the Maroons triumphing in winners-take-all battles in 2006, 2008, 2011, 2012, 2013 and 2015.
Tonight Cameron Smith’s men will look to continue that golden run.
“Playing Origin is like playing three grand finals in six weeks and this one is probably one of the biggest buildups I’ve witnessed,” Harrison said.
“All these boys know the significance of this game. What they did (to win Game 2) in Sydney was nothing short of spectacular and now they get an opportunity to come home to win the series and if they do I think NSW will have the wobbles for a long time to come.”