State of Origin: Sorry Bec, We Have Plenty of Heroes

The message that she was trying very hard to convey was that basically: New South Wales have no heroes, nobody worth looking up to and nobody for our great state to be proud of.

The scenario that this keyboard-wielding cane toad used to make her point was to pretend that she was a marketing guru and that she and others of the same ilk were trying to develop a marketing campaign around a Blues Origin hero.

According to this role-playing menace from the north, she and her other counterparts came up with nothing.

Zilch. Zero. Nada.

The likes of Paul Gallen, Josh Dugan, Robbie Farah, Mitchell Pearce, Matt Moylan, Blake Ferguson and Adam Reynolds were brought up and dismissed quickly using all kinds of subjective reasons.

Gallen was ugly and a drug cheat; Dugan’s body art apparently meant he was part of a bikie gang; Robbie Farah did nothing but fall out with people; Pearce’s trip to Thailand for re-hab apparently doesn’t cut the mustard; she doesn’t know who Matty Moylan is (does she watch the game?); Blake Ferguson is just as bad as Dugan, if not worse and she couldn’t figure out if Adam Reynolds and Josh Reynolds were different people or not.

The Reynolds issue is understandable, I mean, if I was a Queenslander and had two heads I would assume that they have different names.

But when it comes to Adam and Josh Reynolds, rest assured they are two very different people. And they aren’t even joined at the neck.

So, as a proud New South Welshman, I couldn’t help but feel my blood start to boil, not just because some of our boys had been given a rough deal and not just because she went on to tell us how good we used to be (as if we need to be told).

It was the arrogance of saying we have nothing but losers who wear the Sky Blue jersey and that we always will have.

Even the old “we pick and stick” cliché got a run because, after all, that is the apparent secret behind Queensland’s success.

We in New South Wales are very aware of this. In fact, when we had our strong periods in the 90’s and early 2000’s, we did exactly that.

When injury and suspension would allow, the team that ran out in the first game of the series was very similar or dare I say it, the same, as the third game of the series.

It was around this time that Queensland were moaning about the so called “Death of Origin” because the Queensland side just wasn’t competing. And as we have all been told many times, if it wasn’t for Queensland, there would be no Origin.

We don’t hear about the “Death of Origin” these days. Even though, as the Queenslander pointed out, we are one series win from the last ten, Origin seems to be as healthy as it’s ever been. The concept must only be on the rocks when Queensland have run out of excuses to field a competitive team?

But the funny thing is, the current team of Maroons who have created history and will no doubt be considered to be one of the greatest teams ever assembled, grew up watching New South Wales dominate the Origin landscape. The fire in the belly started for them back then.

Do you really think Queensland’s dominance over the past decade won’t do the same thing for the next generation of Blues players?

I admit, things have been tough over the last decade. But our heroes are the Gallen’s and the belted up Morris twins who put in and succeeded when their bodies screamed to them that they couldn’t.

But we also have the Moylan’s and the Reynolds’ and the Cartwright’s and the Bird’s and every other young up and coming star to pick up the Origin mantle and become our heroes of the future.

So, yes, we do have heroes. Every single player who wears the Sky Blue jersey is our hero. However, we don’t expect a Queenslander to understand that.

But let me tell you something, in five years, when New South Wales are dominating State of Origin again and the moans from the north echo the past sentiments of State of Origin begging for the last rites to be read, all of you Queenslanders will be going through what we are currently going through.

And your heroes will also be the ghosts of yesteryear. And anyone brave enough to wear your Maroon.

One era is about to end. Another Blue one is about to begin.

Imagine the heroes we’ll be talking about then.

This article first appeared on TopBetta.