 New South Wales |
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| Nickname | The Blues / The Cockroaches | |
| Association | New South Wales Rugby League | |
| Head coach | Craig Bellamy | |
| Captain | Kurt Gidley | |
| Most caps | Brad Fittler (31) | |
| Home stadium | ANZ Stadium (capacity 83,500) | |
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| Most recent series 2009 State of Origin: LOST Queensland 2 - New South Wales 1 |
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Biggest win New South Wales 56 - 16 Queensland  (Stadium Australia, Sydney; 7 June 2000) |
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| Biggest defeat Queensland 36 - 6 New South Wales (Lang Park, Brisbane; 23 May 1989) |
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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. They are known as The Blues (because of their sky-blue jerseys) and are also sometimes nicknamed The Cockroaches.
Contents |
History
Pre-Origin era (1908 - 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 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.[1]
In a 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.[2]
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.
Players
Most recent squad
The team to play Queensland in Game 3 of the 2009 State of Origin series was named on Monday 6 July, 2009
| No. | Position | Player | Current Club (2009) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Fullback | Kurt Gidley (c) | Newcastle Knights |
| 2. | Winger | Jarryd Hayne | Paramatta Eels |
| 3. | Centre | Michael Jennings | Penrith Panthers |
| 4. | Centre | Josh Morris | Bulldogs |
| 5. | Winger | David Williams | Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles |
| 6. | Five-Eighth | Trent Barrett | Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks |
| 7. | Half-Back | Brett Kimmorley | Bulldogs |
| 8. | Front Row | Josh Perry | Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles |
| 9. | Hooker | Michael Ennis | Bulldogs |
| 10. | Front Row | Justin Poore | St George Illawarra Dragons |
| 11. | Second Row | Ben Creagh | St George Illawarra Dragons |
| 12. | Second Row | Trent Waterhouse | Penrith Panthers |
| 13. | Lock | Anthony Watmough | Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles |
| 14. | Interchange | Craig Wing | South Sydney Rabbitohs |
| 15. | Interchange | Tom Learoyd-Lahrs | Canberra Raiders |
| 16. | Interchange | Glenn Stewart | Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles |
| 17. | Interchange | Brett White | Melbourne Storm |
| - | Coach | Craig Bellamy | Melbourne Storm. |
Team of the Century
Before game I of the 2008 State of Origin series, New South Wales named their team of the century[3]:
- 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 | Games 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 | 13 | 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 | 3 | 2009 |
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 | 3 | 2 | 66% |
| Graham Murray | 2006-2007 | 6 | 2 | 33% |
| Craig Bellamy | 2008- | 6 | 2 | 33% |
References
- ^ Coffey and Wood The Kiwis: 100 Years of International Rugby League ISBN 1869710908
- ^ Baker, Andrew (1995-08-20). "100 years of rugby league: From the great divide to the Super era". Independent, The (independent.co.uk). http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/100-years-of-rugby-league-from-the-great-divide-to-the-super-era-1597130.html. Retrieved 2009-09-25.
- ^ ARL (2008). "Australian Rugby Football League 2008 Annual Report" (pdf). Australian Rugby Football League Limited. p. 30. http://www.australianrugbyleague.com.au/files/11726_ARL_Annrep_1.pdf. Retrieved 2009-07-19.
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