New South Wales rugby league team
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| Team information | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nicknames | The Blues The Cockroaches | |||||
| Governing body | New South Wales Rugby League | |||||
| Head coach | Brad Fittler | |||||
| Captain | Boyd Cordner | |||||
| Most caps | Wally Prigg (34) | |||||
| Top try-scorer | Ken Irvine (28) | |||||
| Top point-scorer | Michael Cronin (173) | |||||
| Home stadium | ANZ Stadium (84,000) | |||||
| Uniforms | ||||||
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| Team results | ||||||
| First game | ||||||
 New South Wales 8–12 New Zealand  (Royal Agricultural Society Ground, Sydney; 1907) | ||||||
| First State of Origin game | ||||||
 Queensland 20–10 New South Wales (Lang Park, Brisbane; 8 July 1980) | ||||||
| Biggest win | ||||||
| New South Wales 56-16 Queensland (Stadium Australia, Sydney; 26 June 2000) | ||||||
| Biggest defeat | ||||||
| Queensland 52-6 New South Wales (Suncorp Stadium; 8 July 2015) | ||||||
The New South Wales rugby league team has represented the Australian state of New South Wales in rugby league football since the sport's beginnings there in 1907. Also known as the Blues due to their sky blue jerseys, the team competes in the annual State of Origin series against neighbouring team, the Queensland rugby league team. This annual event is a series of three games competing for the State of Origin shield. As of 2018, the team is coached by Brad Fittler and captained by Boyd Cordner.
Prior to 1980 when the "state-of-origin" selection criteria were introduced, the New South Wales team, in addition to playing annually against Queensland, played matches against foreign touring sides and occasionally toured overseas themselves. They have played all their home matches at Stadium Australia, New South Wales' largest stadium, since it was built in 1999.
History
Pre-Origin era (1907–1980)
The New South Wales rugby league team pre-dates the Australian national team, playing their inaugural match against a rebel New Zealand rugby team on the 1907–08 New Zealand rugby tour of Australia and Great Britain under existing rugby union rules. That inaugural "All Blues" side, the first football team assembled by the newly formed NSWRFL was:
Backs: Charles Hedley · Johnno Stuntz · Ed Fry · Dally Messenger · Frank Cheadle · Albert Rosenfeld · Lou D'Alpuget
Forwards: Harry Hamill · Arthur Hennessy · Bob Mable · Peter Moir · Sid Pearce · Billy Cann · Robert Graves · Herb Brackenreg
Two further matches were played against New Zealand before their tour took them to the Northern Hemisphere, with Jim Devereaux also featuring for the Blues. The visiting All Golds won all three games. However, on the return leg of their tour, almost a year later, with the New South Wales Rugby Football League premiership established, the Blues won the first two matches they ever played under 13-a-side rules against New Zealand. Later in 1908 the Queensland team, whose first taste of rugby league football was also against the visiting Kiwis, traveled to Sydney for the first series of games between the two states. New South Wales won all three matches, setting a precedent for interstate dominance that would continue throughout most of the 20th century.
In 1910 New South Wales defeated the touring England team in two of their three games. After that they became the first Blues side to travel to Queensland for the annual interstate series.
In 1912 the New South Wales team first toured New Zealand. They also visited New Zealand in 1913. During the 1913 New Zealand rugby league tour of Australia New South Wales played four matches against the Kiwis, winning three of them.
The New South Wales team lost its first game against Queensland in 1922. This year the Blues also toured New Zealand.
During the 1951 French rugby league tour of Australia and New Zealand New South Wales played one match against the successful France national rugby league team, a 14-all draw.
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.[1]
State of Origin era (1980 – present)
New South Wales' dominance over Queensland came to an end with the introduction of 'state of origin' selection rules in the early 1980s.
During 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; 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. Following the 2012 series, the Blues' seventh consecutive loss, Stuart resigned the role. Stuart took a role as the Parramatta Eels head coach in 2013, citing family reasons for his move. Although the Blues continued their losing streak during Stuart's tenure, he is credited with restoring passion and pride to the NSW jersey and closing the gap between the two states. He was replaced by former Canberra, NSW and Australia teammate Laurie Daley. Daley's appointment as NSW State of Origin coach was announced in August 2012 and effective from season 2013. Daley got job over candidates including Trent Barrett, Brad Fittler and Daniel Anderson. Daley coached the Blues to a series victory in 2014, their first since 2005 and over his coaching rival and long time Canberra & Australian teammate Mal Meninga. Daley ended Meninga's and Queensland's run of eight series wins with victories in Game I and Game II of the 2014 series. In 2015, New South Wales suffered it's biggest origin loss losing 52-6 against Queensland in the decider. In 2016, New South Wales lost the series 2-1 but managed to win the third and final dead rubber game. In 2017, New South Wales were widely tipped to win the series as Queensland had a number of key players injured. In Game 1, New South Wales beat Queensland in convincing fashion 28-4 and in Game 2 were leading the maroons 16-6 at halftime before Queensland won the game in the final two minutes to win 18-16. In Game 3, New South Wales lost the series losing 22-6 in Brisbane. In August of 2017, Daley was terminated as coach of New South Wales.[2] In 2018, Brad Fittler was appointed as the new coach and left out established players such as Aaron Woods, Josh Jackson, Blake Ferguson and Josh Dugan. The Blues went on to win the series 2-1.[3]
Colours and badge
The primary colour of New South Wales Blues is sky blue, which represents the state colour of New South Wales. The secondary colour is navy blue, with additional contrasting colour of white.
Shirt sponsors and manufacturers
| Period | Kit manufacturer | Major Sponsor | Minor Sponsor | Shorts Sponsor |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1980-1990 | Classic Sportswear | No major sponsor* | No minor sponsor | No shorts sponsor |
| 1991-1996 | Classic Sportswear | Tooheys Blue | Tooheys Blue | Tooheys Blue |
| 1997 | Canterbury | Tooheys | Tooheys | Tooheys |
| 1998-2004 | Canterbury | Wizard Home Loans | Wizard Home Loans | Wizard Home Loans |
| 2005-2007 | Canterbury | Wizard Home Loans | PlayStation 2 | Wizard Home Loans |
| 2008 | Canterbury | Wizard Home Loans | nib | Wizard Home Loans |
| 2009-2010 | Classic Sportswear | Aussie Home Loans | nib | Aussie Home Loans |
| 2011–2017 | Classic Sportswear | Victoria Bitter | nib | GIO |
| 2018– | Canterbury | Brydens Lawyers | nib | Tooheys |
* HFC Finance sponsored the NSW Orign team for the one off exhibition game in Los Angeles in 1987
Supporters
The official New South Wales rugby league team supporter group is known as "Blatchy's Blues".[4][5][6][7][8][9][10]
Players
Most recent squad
| Position | Game 1 | Game 2 | Game 3 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fullback |  James Tedesco
|
James Tedesco
|
James Tedesco
|
| Wing |  Tom Trbojevic
|
Tom Trbojevic
|
Tom Trbojevic
|
| Centre | Latrell Mitchell
|
Latrell Mitchell
|
Latrell Mitchell
|
| Centre |  James Roberts
|
James Roberts
|
James Roberts
|
| Wing |  Josh Addo-Carr
|
Josh Addo-Carr
|
Josh Addo-Carr
|
| Five-eighth |  James Maloney
|
James Maloney
|
James Maloney
|
| Halfback | Nathan Cleary
|
Nathan Cleary
|
Nathan Cleary
|
| Prop |  David Klemmer
|
David Klemmer
|
David Klemmer
|
| Hooker |  Damien Cook
|
Damien Cook
|
Damien Cook
|
| Prop | Reagan Campbell Gillard
|
 Matt Prior
|
 Paul Vaughan
|
| Second row | Boyd Cordner (c)
|
Boyd Cordner (c)
|
Boyd Cordner (c)
|
| Second row | Tyson Frizell
|
Tyson Frizell
|
Tyson Frizell
|
| Lock | Jack De Belin
|
Jack De Belin
|
Jake Trbojevic
|
| Interchange | Paul Vaughan
|
Paul Vaughan
|
Jack De Belin
|
| Interchange | Jake Trbojevic
|
Jake Trbojevic
|
Tariq Sims
|
| Interchange | Angus Crichton
|
Angus Crichton
|
Angus Crichton
|
| Interchange | Tyrone Peachey
|
Tyrone Peachey
|
Tyrone Peachey
|
| Coach | Brad Fittler
| ||
Team of the Century (1908–2007)
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:[11]
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Hall of Fame
Ahead of the 2017 State of Origin series, NSW named the inaugural inductees to the NSWRL Hall of Fame, joining automatic inductees Dally Messenger and the seven Immortals who represented NSW.[12]
| Immortal | Year Inducted | Club/s |
|---|---|---|
| Dally Messenger | Automatic Selection | Eastern Suburbs Roosters
|
| Clive Churchill | Automatic Selection | South Sydney Rabbitohs
|
| Bob Fulton | Automatic Selection | Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles Eastern Suburbs Roosters
|
| Reg Gasnier | Automatic Selection | St George Dragons
|
| Johnny Raper | Automatic Selection |  Newtown Bluebags St George Dragons
|
| Graeme Langlands | Automatic Selection | St George Dragons
|
| Arthur Beetson | Automatic Selection | Eastern Suburbs Roosters
|
| Andrew Johns | Automatic Selection |  Newcastle Knights
|
| Bradley Clyde | 2017 |  Canberra Raiders Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs
|
| Ron Coote | 2017 | South Sydney Rabbitohs Eastern Suburbs Roosters
|
| Laurie Daley | 2017 | Canberra Raiders
|
| Brad Fittler | 2017 | Penrith Panthers Sydney City Roosters
|
| Bob McCarthy | 2017 | South Sydney Rabbitohs Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs
|
| Norm Provan | 2017 | St George Dragons
|
Origin Greats
As part of the 25-year celebrations in 2005, New South Wales named 25 legends for each year before that.[13]
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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 | 16 | 2011, 2012, Game 1 & 2 2013, 2014-2016 |
| Robbie Farah | 2 | Game 3 2013, Game 1 2015 |
| Boyd Cordner | 6 | 2017, 2018 |
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. The list also includes the known coaches from the pre-Origin era and only counts games against Queensland. Games against touring teams from New Zealand, Great Britain and France are not included. Ted Glossop, Frank Stanton and Terry Fearnley are the only coaches to have coached NSW in both State of Residence and State of Origin formats.
NSWRL Hall of Fame inductee and Immortal Brad Fittler is the coach for the 2018 blues team and he has chosen 11 players to debut in game 1 of the 2018 series.[14]
| Coach | Era | Games | Wins | Success % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dick Dunn | 1961 | 4 | 2 | 50% |
| Harry Bath | 1962, 1968–1972 | 11 | 10 | 91% |
| Eddie Burns | 1963–1964 | 2 | 2 | 100% |
| Ian Walsh | 1965 | 1 | 1 | 100% |
| Paul Quinn | 1965 | 1 | 1 | 100% |
| Noel Kelly | 1966 | 3 | 3 | 100% |
| Reg Gasnier | 1967 | 2 | 1 | 50% |
| Ron Saddler | 1967 | 1 | 1 | 100% |
| Graeme Langlands | 1973–1976 | 12 | 9 | 75% |
| Ted Glossop | 1980–1981, 1983 | 9 | 5 | 55% |
| Frank Stanton | 1978–1979, 1982, 1984 | 11 | 7 | 64% |
| Terry Fearnley | 1985 | 5 | 4 | 80% |
| 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 | 24 | 14 | 58% |
| Tommy Raudonikis | 1997–1998 | 6 | 3 | 50% |
| Wayne Pearce | 1999–2001 | 9 | 5 | 56% |
| Ricky Stuart | 2005; 2011–2012 | 9 | 4 | 44% |
| Graham Murray | 2006–2007 | 6 | 2 | 33% |
| Craig Bellamy | 2008–2010 | 9 | 2 | 22% |
| Laurie Daley | 2013–2017 | 15 | 6 | 40% |
| Brad Fittler | 2018- | 2 | 2 | 100% |
Selectors
As of 2018 the current New South Wales State of Origin side's selection panel consists of Danny Buderus, Andrew Johns and Greg Alexander.
Records
New South Wales Residents rugby league team
New South Wales Women's rugby league team
See also
References
- ^ Baker, Andrew (20 August 1995). "100 years of rugby league: From the great divide to the Super era". Independent, The. independent.co.uk. Archived from the original on 14 November 2009. Retrieved 25 September 2009.
{{cite news}}: Unknown parameter|deadurl=ignored (|url-status=suggested) (help) - ^ https://www.foxsports.com.au/nrl/state-of-origin/teams/new-south-wales/five-burning-questions-after-laurie-daley-sacking-what-nsw-coachs-axing-means-for-blues-favourites/news-story/a8b8fd04b443d492b24eaf1aaf1964f5
- ^ https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2018/jun/24/state-of-origin-2018-new-south-wales-down-queensland-to-win-series
- ^ "Blatchys Blues FAQs". nswrl.com.au. 5 October 2017. Archived from the original on 17 November 2016. Retrieved 24 April 2018.
{{cite web}}: Unknown parameter|deadurl=ignored (|url-status=suggested) (help) - ^ "Blatchys Blues". www.facebook.com. Archived from the original on 4 February 2016. Retrieved 24 April 2018.
{{cite web}}: Unknown parameter|deadurl=ignored (|url-status=suggested) (help) - ^ http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/sport/nrl/origin-fan-club-blatchys-blues-is-on-the-verge-of-being-sold-to-nswrl/story-fni3fqyo-1226962970560?sv=fad52cb61b3e69025999daf43042050
- ^ "Blatchy's Blues". Blatchy's Blues. Archived from the original on 19 February 2016. Retrieved 24 April 2018.
{{cite web}}: Unknown parameter|deadurl=ignored (|url-status=suggested) (help) - ^ http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/sport/nrl/blatchys-blues-given-designated-seating-at-suncorp-stadium-for-origin-iii/story-fni3fqyo-1227259156002
- ^ "Blatchys Blues to take NSW to the World". nrl.com. 22 September 2017. Archived from the original on 7 June 2017. Retrieved 24 April 2018.
{{cite web}}: Unknown parameter|deadurl=ignored (|url-status=suggested) (help) - ^ "Blatchy's Blues exclusive bar at Origin II". nrl.com. 21 September 2017. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 24 April 2018.
{{cite web}}: Unknown parameter|deadurl=ignored (|url-status=suggested) (help) - ^ ARL (2008). "Australian Rugby Football League 2008 Annual Report" (PDF). Australian Rugby Football League Limited. p. 30. Archived from the original (pdf) on 17 March 2012. Retrieved 19 July 2009.
{{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|coauthors=(help); Unknown parameter|deadurl=ignored (|url-status=suggested) (help) - ^ "NSWRL Announces Hall Of Fame Inductees". nswrl.com.au. 5 October 2017. Archived from the original on 26 September 2017. Retrieved 24 April 2018.
{{cite web}}: Unknown parameter|deadurl=ignored (|url-status=suggested) (help) - ^ "League names Origin greats". Archived from the original on 15 June 2008. Retrieved 12 May 2007.
{{cite web}}: Unknown parameter|deadurl=ignored (|url-status=suggested) (help) - ^ Perry, Jodan (29 May 2018). "Brave new era? Blues put faith in fresh faces to break Maroons' Origin stranglehold". ABC Online. Retrieved 28 July 2018.
External links
| Federations |
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| Representative competitions | |
| Representative teams | |
| NRL clubs | |
| NSWRL Junior Representatives | |
| Metropolitan Competitions | |
| Country Competitions |
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| Discontinued competitions | |
| Related Articles | |
