New South Wales rugby league team: Difference between revisions
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[[Image:Queensland colours.svg|16px]][[Queensland rugby league team|Queensland]] 30–0 New South Wales [[Image:New South Wales colours.svg|16px]] <br>([[Lang Park]], [[Brisbane]]; 11 June 2008) |
[[Image:Queensland colours.svg|16px]][[Queensland rugby league team|Queensland]] 30–0 New South Wales [[Image:New South Wales colours.svg|16px]] <br>([[Lang Park]], [[Brisbane]]; 11 June 2008) |
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The '''New South Wales Rugby League team''' represents the state of [[New South Wales]] annually in the [[Rugby League State of Origin]] competition against arch-rivals [[Queensland Maroons|Queensland]]. They are known as ''The Blues'' (because of their sky-blue jerseys). They hold the State of Origin record for the largest winning margin of 40 points of their Queensland rivals. They have not won a series since 2005. |
The '''New South Wales Rugby League team''' represents the state of [[New South Wales]] annually in the [[Rugby League State of Origin]] competition against arch-rivals [[Queensland Maroons|Queensland]]. They are known as ''The Blues'' (because of their sky-blue jerseys). They hold the State of Origin record for the largest winning margin of 40 points of their Queensland rivals. They have not won a series since 2005. The mascot for ''the Blues'' is a [[cockroach]].<ref>[http://www.jerseys.com.au/prod30.htm/ Cockroach mascot]</ref>. The opposing Queensland team's mascot is a [[cane toad]]. |
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==History== |
==History== |
Revision as of 09:26, 2 September 2011
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Team information | ||||||
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Nicknames | The Blues The Cockroaches | |||||
Governing body | New South Wales Rugby League | |||||
Head coach | Ricky Stuart | |||||
Captain | Paul Gallen | |||||
Most caps | Brad Fittler (31) | |||||
Top try-scorer | Michael O'Connor (11) | |||||
Top point-scorer | Michael O'Connor (129) | |||||
Home stadium | ANZ Stadium (capacity 83,500) | |||||
Uniforms | ||||||
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Team results | ||||||
First game | ||||||
![]() ![]() (Royal Agricultural Society Ground, Sydney; 1907) | ||||||
First State of Origin game | ||||||
![]() ![]() (Lang Park, Brisbane; 8 July 1980) | ||||||
Biggest win | ||||||
![]() ![]() (Stadium Australia, Sydney; 7 June 2000) | ||||||
Biggest defeat | ||||||
![]() ![]() (Lang Park, Brisbane; 23 May 1989)
![]() ![]() (Lang Park, Brisbane; 11 June 2008) |
The New South Wales Rugby League team represents the state of New South Wales annually in the Rugby League State of Origin competition against arch-rivals Queensland. They are known as The Blues (because of their sky-blue jerseys). They hold the State of Origin record for the largest winning margin of 40 points of their Queensland rivals. They have not won a series since 2005. The mascot for the Blues is a cockroach.[1]. The opposing Queensland team's mascot is a cane toad.
History
Pre-Origin era (1907–1980)
The New South Wales rugby league team pre-dates the Australian national team, playing the rebel New Zealand rugby team on their first ever tour in 1907. In 1910 New South Wales defeated the touring England team in two of their three games.
In 1912 the New South Wales team first toured New Zealand. They also visited New Zealand in 1913 and 1922. In both 1912 and 1913 the New South Wales team played matches against full New Zealand sides.[2]
In a 1954 tour match between Great Britain and New South Wales the referee left the field in disgust at the players' persistent fighting after 56 minutes so the match was abandoned.[3]
State of Origin era (1980 – present)
New South Wales' dominance over Queensland came to an abrupt end with the introduction of 'state of origin' selection rules in the early 1980s.
Due to the Super League war, in 1997 New South Wales was represented by two teams: one made up of players from clubs that remained loyal to the Australian Rugby League, which competed in the 1997 State of Origin series, and another made up of players from clubs that joined the rebel Super League which competed in the one-off Super League Tri-series.
Ricky Stuart, who had previously coached New South Wales in 2005, was announced as the first full time Blues coach in November 2010.
Players
Squad for 2011 series
The New South Wales Blues squad for Game 2 of the 2011 State of Origin series was selected on June 5.
Position | Game 2 | |||||
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Fullback | ![]() | |||||
Wing | ![]() | |||||
Centre | ![]() | |||||
Centre | ![]() | |||||
Wing | ![]() | |||||
Five-Eighth | ![]() | |||||
Halfback | ![]() | |||||
Prop | ![]() | |||||
Hooker | ![]() | |||||
Prop | ![]() | |||||
2nd Row | ![]() | |||||
2nd Row | ![]() | |||||
Lock | ![]() | |||||
Interchange | ![]() | |||||
Interchange | ![]() | |||||
Interchange | ![]() | |||||
Interchange | ![]() | |||||
Coach | Ricky Stuart |
1 – Josh Dugan was originally selected to play but withdrew due to injury. He was replaced by Anthony Minichiello.
Team of the Century
Before Game I of the 2008 State of Origin series, to celebrate the game's centenary that year, New South Wales named their team of the century:[4]
- 1. Clive Churchill 2. Ken Irvine 3. Reg Gasnier 4. Graeme Langlands 5. Dally Messenger 6. Bob Fulton 7. Andrew Johns
- 8. Frank Burge 9. Sandy Pearce 10. Glenn Lazarus 11. Ron Coote 12. Norm Provan 13. John Raper
- 14. Wally Prigg 15. Dave Brown 16. Steve Rogers 17. Roy Bull
Captains
Player | Occasions | Game(s) as Captain |
---|---|---|
Tommy Raudonikis | 1 | 1980 |
Steve Rogers | 1 | 1981 |
Max Krilich | 5 | 1982, Games 1 & 3 1983 |
Ray Price | 3 | Game 2 1983, Games 1 & 2 1984 |
Steve Mortimer | 3 | Game 3 1984, Games 1 & 2 1985 |
Wayne Pearce | 10 | Game 3 1985, 1986–1988 |
Peter Sterling | 1 | Game 4 1987 |
Gavin Miller | 3 | 1989 |
Ben Elias | 6 | 1990, 1991 |
Laurie Daley | 10 | 1992, 1993, 1998, Game 3 1999 |
Brad Fittler | 17 | 1994–1996, Games 1 & 2 1999, 2000, 2001 |
Geoff Toovey | 3 | 1997 |
Andrew Johns | 6 | 2002, 2003 |
Danny Buderus | 15 | 2004–2008 |
Kurt Gidley | 5 | 2009, Game 1 & 2 2010 |
Trent Barrett | 1 | Game 3 2010 |
Paul Gallen | 3 | 2011 |
Coaches
New South Wales have had a total of thirteen different coaches at State of Origin level, eight of which have previously played for the Blues.
Coach | Era | Games | Wins | Success % |
---|---|---|---|---|
Ted Glossop | 1980–1981, 1983 | 5 | 1 | 20% |
Frank Stanton | 1982, 1984 | 6 | 2 | 33% |
Terry Fearnley | 1985 | 3 | 2 | 66% |
Ron Willey | 1986–1987 | 7 | 5 | 71% |
John Peard | 1988 | 3 | 0 | 0% |
Jack Gibson | 1989–1990 | 6 | 2 | 33% |
Tim Sheens | 1991 | 3 | 1 | 33% |
Phil Gould | 1992–1996; 2002–2004 | 27 | 14 | 52% |
Tommy Raudonikis | 1997–1998 | 6 | 3 | 50% |
Wayne Pearce | 1999–2001 | 9 | 5 | 56% |
Ricky Stuart | 2005; 2011– | 4 | 3 | 75% |
Graham Murray | 2006–2007 | 6 | 2 | 33% |
Craig Bellamy | 2008–2010 | 9 | 2 | 22% |
Selectors
The current New South Wales State of Origin side's selection panel consists of Bob Fulton, Bob McCarthy and Geoff Gerard. During the Blues five series loss from 2006 to 2010 they came in for criticism.[5]
Notes
- a. ^ Young switched places with Ennis to play in the starting side after being initially selected for the bench.
References
- ^ Cockroach mascot
- ^ Coffey and Wood The Kiwis: 100 Years of International Rugby League ISBN 1-86971-090-8
- ^ Baker, Andrew (20 August 1995). "100 years of rugby league: From the great divide to the Super era". Independent, The. independent.co.uk. Retrieved 25 September 2009.
- ^ ARL (2008). "Australian Rugby Football League 2008 Annual Report" (pdf). Australian Rugby Football League Limited. p. 30. Retrieved 19 July 2009.
{{cite web}}
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(help) - ^ Swanton, Will (22 May 2010). "Selectors are wrong, wrong, wrong, unless they're right, of course". The Sydney Morning Herald. Australia: Fairfax. Retrieved 21 May 2010.