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Irish Times
a day ago
- Sport
- Irish Times
Lions secure first Test victory but Wallabies finish strong in Brisbane
Lions Tour, first Test: Lions 27 Wallabies 19 The Lions roared all right, and there were times in the first 50 or so minutes of this statement win that their lofty ambitions of a 3-0 Series whitewash looked close to probable. That could still come to pass, but there was enough in the Wallabies ' last half-hour rally to ensure they will still believe they can turn this around in Melbourne next week, as they did in the Second Test in both 2001 and 2013. There had been a wonderful sense of occasion all along the bars of the famed Caxton Street and outside this magnificent Suncorp Stadium which lasted until close to kick-off. But, sadly, thereafter it never quite lived up to its billing. For most of the night, everything about this game panned out as the Lions and their fans would have hoped and expected, and as the Wallabies and their supporters feared. Most obviously, the Wallabies' deficit in power caused by the loss of Rob Valetini, Will Skelton and Langi Gleeson was compounded by the bruising Lions pack which Andy Farrell had put together as, yet again, all his marginal selection calls were utterly vindicated. READ MORE Bundee Aki in action for the Lions. Photograph:This included both Ellis Genge and Tadhg Furlong , rolling back the years to something resembling his world-class best with his amalgam of passing skills and power, either side of the all-action Dan Sheehan . Despite the Lions conceding their first scrum penalty of the tour, around the pitch they thorough eclipsed their frontrow opponents. So too did Tadhg Beirne and Tom Curry, the former winning two turnovers on the ground and one in the lineout to set the tone from the off. But then there was no surprise in this, for Beirne is nothing if not a big occasion player. It's in his DNA. In tandem with Jack Conan , Curry typified how the Lions imposed themselves on the Wallabies with his heavy-duty tackling and carrying. So regularly did the Lions win the collisions that they were able to bring a sharper line speed to the contest to pile pressure on the full Test debutant Tom Lynagh, and for all the Wallabies intricate shapes and deft tip-on passes, their attack was regularly engulfed. It said much about the first period that the Wallabies sole try from their only attack of note came through the air. With the Lions also winning the collision when in possession, Jamison Gibson-Park mixed his superb box kicking – which always ensured a real 50-50 contest in the air – with the typically sharp, skilful, high tempo work to provide the heartbeat of the team. Tadhg Beirne and Australia's Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii compete in the air. Photograph: David Gray/AFP via Getty Images And outside him, Finn Russell gave a master call in orchestrating the Lions' game, as the 10-12-13 Scottish axis worked a charm, while Hugo Keenan was at his sharp and composed best. So dominant were they, and so deafened were the crowd by the prematch din that culminated in ACDC's Hells Bells right up to kick-off, that the home supporters especially were quietened virtually from the kick-off. In truth, the most disappointing aspect of the Lions' performance was their finishing and their 10-5 lead over half an hour into the game was bordering on an injustice, whereas their 24-5 lead soon after the interval told an altogether truer tale. Yet, bearing all that in mind, there was enough impact off the bench and in the Wallabies' strong response thereafter to give them real belief. With the cavalry to return next week and some adjustments in the balance between starters and finishers, Joe Schmidt 's side can give the second Test a real do-or-die effort. Russell was afforded a routine three-pointer by Beirne's strength over the ball after Furlong tackled Joseph Suaalii. Soon after the outhalf was taking Furlong's pullback one-handed before offloading to Sheehan, and then used house money with a triple skip pass to find the space for the Australian born Tuipulotu to score untouched. It looked as if their lead had been extended to 17-0 when Gibson-Park, Tuipulotu and Keenan combined for James Lowe to fend Max Jorgensen and find Huw Jones on his inside, but the Australian winger recovered to make the tackle and Jones' finish was ruled out for not releasing the ball before touching down. Instead, the Wallabies were given a lifeline when Jorgensen chased Jake Gordon's boxkick and rose high to wrestle the ball from Keenan's grasp before going on to score. Harry Potter in action for Australia. Photograph:It was a try out of nothing, but this served only to poke the Lions, who rolled up their sleeves, smashed into the Wallabies with their carries and produced their most dominant spell of the match. Repeatedly turning down three pointers in going for the corner or taking a tap penalty, following Sheehan's tap and charge, Genge carried hard and Curry plunged over for a good finish. That 17-5 lead was extended on the resumption when Curry did brilliantly to pick off an Australian overthrow one-handed and Russell transferred to Jones for him to make one of his big, signature carries. A couple of recycles later, Gibson-Park, Jones and Curry combined slickly for Sheehan to finish well in the corner. Russell's touchline conversion couldn't have been struck better. Joe McCarthy immediately went off to have treatment and while the Lions lost some of their cohesion Schmidt turned to his bench. Angus Bell and Billy Pollard added some oomph, as did Carlo Tizzano when he came on, while Tate McDermott exploited tiring legs in the last quarter. Harry Wilson and Suaalii also grew into the game and, suddenly, the Wallabies were winning collisions and setting up camp in the opposition 22 as the Lions were being penalised regularly. Suaalii was a little unlucky to have a close-range try ruled out on review for not releasing when it seemed as if he'd been stopped initially by Ben Earl's no-arm tackle in one of those interminable reviews that will have been grist to the mill of this code's sceptics in Australia. When they went to the corner Pollard hit Wilson at the front and eight pick-and-jams later Tissano was helped over from close-range by Tom Hooper and another replacement, Ben Donaldson, converted. But in attempting a launch play from a scrum inside their own 22, a stretching Andrew Kellaway dropped Suaalii's no-look pass and when Fraser McReight went off his feet in despairingly looking for one turnover too many, Marcus Smith's close-range penalty sealed the deal. Joe McCarthy during the Lions first Test against the Wallabies. Photograph:Even so the Wallabies' pounded the Lions again for McDermott to hop and twist through a few tackles for a well-taken try. Although their backs had been pretty well shackled, that demonstration of character will give them something to build on next week. Cue the 100,000 or so crowd at the Melbourne Cricket Ground next Saturday. This is far from done. SCORING SEQUENCE – 2 mins: Russell pen 0-3; 9: Tupulotu try, Russell con 0-10; 28: Jorgensen try 5-10; 36: Curry try, Russell con 5-17; Half-time 5-17 ; 42: Sheehan try, Russell con 5-24; 68: Tizzano try, Donaldson con 12-24; 74: Smith pen 12-27; 79: McDermott try, Donaldson con 19-27. AUSTRALIA: Tom Wright (Brumbies); Max Jorgensen (Force), Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii (Waratahs) Len Ikitau (Brumbies); Harry Potter (Waratahs); Tom Lynagh (Red), Jake Gordon (Waratahs); James Slipper (Brumbies), Matt Faessler (Reds), Allan Alaalatoa (Brumbies), Nick Frost (Brumbies), Jeremy Williams (Force), Nick Champion de Crespigny (Force), Fraser McReight (Reds), Harry Wilson (Reds, capt). Replacements: Billy Pollard for Faessler, Angus Bell for Slipper (both 50 mins), Tom Robertson for Ala'alatoa (58), Tom Hooper for Williams, Tate McDermott for Gordon (both 59), Ben Donaldson for Lynagh (61), Carlo Tizzano for Champion de Crespigny (66). LIONS: Hugo Keenan (Leinster Rugby/Ireland); Tommy Freeman (Northampton Saints/England); Huw Jones (Glasgow Warriors/Scotland), Sione Tuipulotu (Glasgow Warriors/Scotland), James Lowe (Leinster Rugby/Ireland); Finn Russell (Bath Rugby/Scotland), Jamison Gibson-Park (Leinster Rugby/Ireland); Ellis Genge (Bristol Bears/England), Dan Sheehan (Leinster Rugby/Ireland), Tadhg Furlong (Leinster Rugby/Ireland), Maro Itoje (Saracens/England) (Capt), Joe McCarthy (Leinster Rugby/Ireland), Tadhg Beirne (Munster Rugby/Ireland), Tom Curry (Sale Sharks/England), Jack Conan (Leinster Rugby/Ireland). Replacements: Ollie Chessum (Leicester Tigers/England) for (43 mins), Andrew Porter (Leinster Rugby/Ireland) for Genge (49), Will Stuart (Bath Rugby/England) for Furlong, Ben Earl (Saracens/England) for Curry, Bundee Aki (Connacht Rugby/Ireland) for Tuipulotu (all 58); Rónan Kelleher (Leinster Rugby/Ireland) for Sheehan (60), Marcus Smith (Harlequins/ England) for (74), Alex Mitchell (Northampton Saints/England) for Gibson-Park (74). Referee: Ben O'Keeffe (NZR).
BBC News
02-07-2025
- Sport
- BBC News
Talking points as Lions Test team begins to take shape
Fans gathered from mid-afternoon in the pubs of Caxton Street close to the Suncorp Stadium, familiar accents at every turn, reminders of after the Lions had put away the Queensland Reds 52-12 - notching up eight tries and a half-century of points for the second game in succession - these same fans were back where they started, with an eyeful of rugby and a skinful of pints. Lions jerseys everywhere. The first real stirrings of a proper red army in the land of the green and the two games played in Australia and three played in total, we're beginning to see a picture forming, not complete but with more detail than before, some players coming up in rich colour and others beginning to fade to grey as the Lions build towards the first Test at this same stadium on 19 July. The curious situation at full-back A statistic did the rounds during the week, inspired by rugby statistician @topofthemoonGW,, external that fairly knocked everyone to the ground. Elliot Daly had featured in 10 Lions matchday squads in a row before his run 'ended' in Brisbane against the it didn't end. Hugo Keenan dropped out through illness and Daly stepped back in to make it 11 in a row. It's a number that would have had the old boys saluting him, the Lions of the late 1800s and early 1900s who ran themselves into the ground in so many games that half of them lost about two inches off their trouser Daly didn't last the course, and we're now back to where we were this time last week, sweating on an injured Lion. Tomos Williams had to go home, cut down in peak form, and the hope is that Daly, playing fantastically, doesn't suffer the same fate after going off in the second half. As sporting heartbreak goes, it would be beyond a strange situation there is at full-back now. Not a crisis by any means, but curious. Daly is nursing an injury to his arm, Keenan hasn't played since the end of May, and Blair Kinghorn only just landed in the country the other coach Andy Farrell was asked if he was worried. "No, we've lots of full-backs," he he's right. Kinghorn and Keenan will get up to speed soon enough and, in reserve, he has Marcus Smith (admittedly not everyone's cup of tea at 15, but an option) and the versatility of Huw Jones who revived his international career when playing well at full-back for half a season with Harlequins before returning to wants good news on Daly, but if it's bad there is a cavalry coming over the hill in the shape of Kinghorn and Keenan and a cast of others. Meanwhile, it might be an idea to alert Tom Jordan, in New Zealand with Scotland, just in case. Itoje's timely reminder of his excellence Lions captain Maro Itoje was asked on Monday about the high number of minutes he has played this season for club and country and whether he felt tired at the contrary, he said. He felt revived and energised by the Lions around him - and in Brisbane he proved it. One try, 10 carries, 18 tackles - he was an absolute pest just as soon as the Lions settled down after their initial ropey wasn't so hot against the Pumas, but this was Itoje beginning to crank through the gears."I think the whole point of these tours is you're with great players, and you see great players performing well, and it gives you extra motivation to perform well," he said, later."I guess despite my role as captain, I know that if I'm not playing well, it doesn't matter if I'm captain or not, I won't be in the team. So I need to make sure that my performance is where it needs to be." Can Freeman break up the Irish wing duopoly? When Farrell singled out Mack Hansen for praise after the Western Force game last weekend, Tommy Freeman might have gulped hard. The coach of Ireland bigging up an Ireland wing?It can't have been easy listening for Freeman or for Duhan van der Merwe as they attempt to break up the Irish pair for the Test der Merwe, a sensational broken field runner, has lost too much ground on the other three at this point. He was good and bad on Wednesday, but he's clearly fourth of the four wings. His game just didn't fit with what Farrell wants from his delivered a fine performance, scored two tries and kept himself in the hunt. He's a wonderful player who is competing against the odds given Farrell's familiarity with Hansen and James Lowe, but he did everything that could be expected of him. Farrell seeking clarity on some scrum calls In their two games in Australia the Lions have encountered some bumps on the road - desperation and a high penalty count in the first half in Perth, some restart issues, a few unconvincing scrums - but they're clever players and capable of coming up with solutions on the scrum was penalised too often for comfort in Brisbane. It didn't cost them, but the Lions don't want to get a reputation for being ill-disciplined."I think we'll look back on some of the decisions and get some clarity on a few," said Farrell. "I suppose that's how it always is, isn't it? It's hard to referee at the best of times. But I obviously know that we've got a world-class front row."When you hear a coach saying that he will seek "clarity" on scrum interpretation it normally means he didn't agree with the interpretation. There was a strange kind of spikiness around this one."I'm saying we need some clarity on bits, because that's what you'd always want to do, so you can fix things if you need to fix them," he were they harsh calls? "I'm not saying that," said Farrell. "I said we need some clarity." Lions Test squad begins to crystallise Jac Morgan needed a big game - and he delivered. His energy levels were tremendous, his aggression in the tackle, his subtle touches and, of course, his try were of the highest rose up the ranks while Tom Curry fell down. He has lost his mojo at the wrong time. Close to a Test certainty during the season, Curry will now be lucky if he makes the 23. It's all beginning to look very Stuart had a chance to propel himself into the box-seat at tighthead but he got done in defence and gave away three penalties. It wasn't the audition he all odds, Finlay Bealham, not even in the original squad, might just be favourite for a Test spot because the great Tadhg Furlong still hasn't stirred in the way Furlong up sweet thoughts for Daly's fitness, there's a Test 23 beginning to emerge through the fog of uncertainty. Skin and hair will fly in protest, but…Kinghorn (Daly), Hansen, Ringrose, Tuipulotu, Lowe, Russell (F Smith), Gibson-Park (Mitchell); Genge (Schoeman), Sheehan (Cowan-Dickie), Bealham (Furlong), Itoje, McCarthy, Chessum (Beirne), Van der Flier, Conan (Pollock).How's that for a Lions Test match squad?Such is the nature of this trek, what happened in Brisbane will be an after-thought later on Thursday when Farrell names the team to face the Waratahs. So much build-up and yet the Lions have to move on from it in a relative Sydney, then…
RNZ News
28-05-2025
- Entertainment
- RNZ News
Queensland's 1995 State of Origin miracle is still a tale without an end
By Nick Campton of ABC Paul Vautin and Trevor Gillmeister. Photo: PHOTOSPORT Trevor Gillmeister knows how to spin a yarn better than most but he promises this one is true and that makes sense because when it comes to Queensland's 1995 State of Origin victory there's rarely a need to put any mustard on things. "When I walk down the street in Brisbane in the city or somewhere, usually near Caxton Street and especially this time of year, someone driving past will wind down their window and yell out 'Gilly, 95, how good?' and drive off," Gillmeister said. "That'll happen 40 or 50 times through this series, no worries. It's good to see the people remember what happened. That means a lot." There's not many things in rugby league that inspire the love of strangers three decades on, but when it comes to Queensland and 1995 there are no strangers. It's something people share together, even if they've never met. This week marks 30 years since Paul Vautin's side, the so-called 'Neville Nobodies', pulled off the biggest upset in Origin history and all the old tales are being told again. The best ones are so well known in Queensland, you'd swear they teach them in schools. Like the moment Wayne Bennett stands down as coach before the series and Vautin is pulled off the set of The Footy Show to lead his state when nobody else could, with a host of Queensland stars missing after signing with the breakaway Super League competition. Vautin likes to say he got the call from QRL chairman Ross Livermore midway through filming a skit and had to wipe the lipstick off his mouth to answer the phone. He rang Gillmeister to tell him he was coach and Gillmeister thought it was a joke until Vautin said he had an even funnier one - that the hard-hitting veteran would be captain. Or when Vautin and team manager Chris Close shooed an 18-year-old away from the team hotel, only for him to sheepishly reply his name was Ben Ikin and he was actually in the team after playing just four first-grade games. Vautin wasn't alone in his unfamiliarity - Ikin's own father rang him when the team was announced, shocked that there could be two men named Ben Ikin who both played at the Gold Coast. Or the image of Billy Moore roaring "Queenslander" like a maroon berserker as the team went down the tunnel for Game I in Sydney as the visitors pulled off a 2-0 ambush that might be the most beautifully ugly win in rugby league history. There's the all-in brawl in Melbourne, where Queensland won the fight and the series, and Gillmeister himself defying doctor's orders to play Game III with a blood infection. It could have killed him, but he couldn't dream of a better place to die than Lang Park. They won again that night - Ikin scored the final try and Gillmeister was chaired from the field driven straight back to hospital. Those are the big hitters, the ones that get a run in the documentary series, the TV spots and the written profiles. They get told at the sportsman's lunches, the reunions, the pre-match functions and in the front bars. They never get old but there's always more because this is the gift that keeps on giving, the story that never ends, the series that lives forever. Craig Teevan, who was playing with South Queensland Crushers at the time and came off the bench in all three matches, has one yarn he likes to tell about the moment he found out he'd be playing. "Nobody knew if they'd pick the Super League players and back then they announced the team live on Channel Nine," Teevan said. "After Crushers training I had a beer with Gilly and Bobby Lindner, if they knew about the team they didn't let on. I was on the lounge with the wife watching the news, they got a few names in and it looked like they weren't going with the Super League players. "When they said it was Rowdy [Dale Shearer] and Adrian Lam in the halves I thought I might be a chance somewhere, until they called out 'number 14, Ben Ikin' and I didn't know who Ben Ikin was. "I said 'shit, I missed out here' to the wife, then they get to the rest of the bench - Terry Cook, Mark Hohn and number 17, Craig Teevan. "I jumped off the lounge and the phone started ringing. Ray Hadley was first but, I would have answered 20 phone calls before I even had a chance to ring my parents. It was a fantastic moment, to see a dream come true." Gillmeister's favourite part came before it all happened, right at the start of the series when it was still sinking in that Queensland would be heading out there without players like Allan Langer, the Walters brothers, Steve Renouf, Gorden Tallis and Darren Smith. It meant they had to get creative just to get a team on the park. Halfback Adrian Lam got special dispensation to play after representing Papua New Guinea the year before. Vautin reckoned PNG was connected to Queensland a couple of million years ago, so that was good enough. Hooker Wayne Bartrim was born in Hat Head, New South Wales, and played his junior footy in Kempsey, but he'd spent some time playing in the Gold Coast A-grade competition as a teenager so he was in as well. Broncos prop Gavin Allen got selected straight out of reserve grade. Ikin was the most unheralded pick but only just ahead of Cook, who was originally going to spend the season with bush footy club Atherton before a Crushers signing fell through shortly before the season started and he got their last roster spot. Cook and Teevan played their only Origin games in the 1995 series. Queensland still had some players with Origin pedigree, like Gillmeister and Moore and Gary Larson, and New South Wales were missing Super League stars of their own. But each of the Queenslanders still remember that the Blues had 11 internationals for that first game to Queensland's one. The unheralded Queenslanders had grown up with Origin and the nine debutants were about to live it. The moment they learned what that meant is what Gillmeister treasures most. "Maybe my favourite memory is that first team meeting. Fatty spoke, as did the late, great Dick 'Tosser' Turner [the team manager], I had to say something and then Choppy [Close] got up and got all emotional," Gillmeister said. "Fatty asked what it meant to him to play in the first ever Queensland Origin team, because we had nine debutants and they had to hear what it was like. "He started tearing up and Robbie O'Davis, who was sitting beside me, jumped up and said 'give me a jersey, I'll play them now'. "The hairs on my arms stand up when I think about it - there's a thousand great memories but that one stands out. I think about it all the time." Each of the Queenslanders swear that after that meeting they knew they were going to win. Their eventual victory was a surprise to everyone but themselves. Vautin stressed the importance of what they were doing, how Origin would reveal what lay in their hearts and souls, that they were worthy of this because their time had come and how they'd become part of something bigger than themselves. But never in a way that heaped the pressure on. "I don't know what gets the best out of people, but I do know you have to have that desire and will," Gillmeister said. "It has to be in you. If someone else has to put it into you, you're in trouble. It was in us and Fatty knew how to bring it out." In the midst of the Super League war, where the only thing cheaper than money was a broken word, Queensland's triumph was a reminder of the best parts of rugby league. Even the Maroons greatest foes could see it. New South Wales coach Phil Gould, who hated losing like poison, recognised the significance enough that he addressed the Queensland side after they won the series in Game II and congratulated them on what they'd just achieved. But the lasting effects are even greater and continue to this day in ways far greater than the blokes yelling out of their car windows at Gillmeister. Like all folk heroes, the 1995 Maroons are revered because Queensland sees so much of themselves in them. "I remember when I first finished playing footy a few years later. I went up north to see some relatives. I took my boat, made a whole trip of it, met a lot of people and all they wanted to talk about was Origin," Gillmeister said. "All they wanted to hear about was '95. They were farmers, small business owners and 1995 meant so much to them. "It resonated, because we were battlers ourselves and Queenslanders are battlers nine times out of ten. "We have fires, floods, cyclones, everything but we all just get on with it. There's no kicking cans, we just go and do it. "That was the basis of our team, to just get the job done and it didn't matter what happened along the way. Just work hard for each other and it'll be alright." It's almost impossible to imagine rugby league without State of Origin, but it's worth remembering that in 1995 it was only 15 years old. Predictions of Origin's demise pre-date the concept itself. Plenty of prominent voices in the game were on the record before the first match in 1980 saying with certainty that it was doomed to fail. They were proven wrong as the concept took rugby league by storm and today it's the biggest spectacle the game has to offer. But in 1995, with New South Wales coming off three straight series wins and the very heart of the game in jeopardy due to Super League, the future of Origin was far from assured. Back then, even as old days weren't so old, the physical links to them were fading. The series opener was the first time Queensland had played a match without someone who appeared in the inaugural game in 1980 and Gillmeister was only the fourth captain the state had ever had. The traditions were younger and the legends were newer and it's why 1995 is not just another Queensland triumph but perhaps the great Queensland triumph, the one from which all future wins are measured. It is proof that what makes Origin, and specifically what makes Queensland, can be renewed and remade for a new generation, that it can be passed down through the ages. While we think of the fabled Queensland spirit as being fixed and eternal like the Sun rising, it's not and never has been. Every player who pulls on the jersey has to discover it within themselves when the time comes, and they have to pass it down to whoever follows. It's not a well from which anyone can draw but a chain where new links have to be forged to tie past with present. It can't be summoned through words but must be created through action. It is not a magic charm that saves you because there is no fate in Origin but what you can make for yourself. It is a call that must be answered. It is a responsibility. It's far from foolproof, even for the Queenslanders who know it so intimately, even for the veterans of 1995. The very next year, with Super League players back in the fold for both sides and Vautin coaching again, New South Wales won the series with a clean sweep of their own. But when Queensland have needed it most, like in that first game back in 1980 or in 1995 when the future of the concept felt in the balance, they always seem to find it as it allows them to rise again, harder and stronger. For the many victories they've had in the 30 years since, they might never need it so much again. That series is the moment of renewal for that spirit, when the Maroons were able to bring it from the past into the present at their most desperate hour, and it's a gift they've been giving back to their state ever since. "You have to honour your past and then it's up to you to bring it to the future. Choppy played in the first game in 1980 and he gave it to us. We gave it to the teams that came after us," Gillmeister said. "I was lucky enough to give Mal a bit of a hand as part of the staff when the team went on that great run [winning 11 of 12 series from 2006-17] and Mal used to show some clips from '95 to the current blokes. "They're all superstars and they asked how the hell we did it. "But you can't explain it sometimes, it's ingrained into you. As kids we get brainwashed into it - if it wasn't so good it'd be a cult." Because there is no Queensland team more beloved, the celebration and the commemoration of the 1995 side started early this year and shows no signs of slowing down. There was an official reunion in February, with every player from the series except for Lam (who was coaching in England) and Brett Dallas attending. They are older now, and the time that made them heroes was long ago. Things have changed, but not too much. They are still Fatty's miracle Maroons. Vautin addressed the team, just like he did that first day back in 1995 and he told them the same thing he did then - that they were part of something bigger than themselves, and they had done it proud. There was a public lunch, then they went into a private room at the Caxton Hotel, locked the doors and wallowed in the memories. "It was great at the time, but now that I'm a bit older and wiser and mature, 30 years on we're still getting celebrated and so many people point to 1995 as the series that means the most to them," Teevan said. "That'll go down in history, forever. "At the reunion Fatty reminded us we were part of something special and to never forget it and when I look back at it now I'm even prouder than I was back in '95. "You might see 50 per cent of the team around, but that might only be every year or second year. Matt Sing was my roommate, I reckon I'd only seen him twice in 30 years, but the yarns started up straight away, like we'd seen each other the day before. "It made you remember what we did, what we got up too and what made us such a special group." There will be another function at Lang Park the day before Origin I. The Former Origin Greats, Queensland's old boys' group, will be running it but there will be a special focus on the 1995 side. There's also been long lunches, after-dinner speeches, hacks calling them up to plum their memories for fresh anecdotes and all the rest. They're a team in demand around this time and especially this year. They'll be telling the stories of 1995 for the rest of their lives and that's exactly how Gillmeister wants it because it's proof glory days really can last forever. "It always puts a smile on my face, whenever someone brings it up. The 30 years makes me feel old but I never get tired of it," Gillmeister said. "To be part of that history, which means so much to the Queensland teams who went on in the future, who could get tired of that? "You'd re-live it every year if we could, even if it'd put us in early graves. I never laughed so much in my life as I did in that camp - football is a game and you're meant to enjoy it and we did and still do. "Don't tell my missus, but it was the best time of my life." -ABC
ABC News
27-05-2025
- Entertainment
- ABC News
Thirty years on, Queensland's 1995 State of Origin miracle is still a tale without an end
Trevor Gillmeister knows how to spin a yarn better than most but he promises this one is true and that makes sense because when it comes to Queensland's 1995 State of Origin victory there's rarely a need to put any mustard on things. "When I walk down the street in Brisbane in the city or somewhere, usually near Caxton Street and especially this time of year, someone driving past will wind down their window and yell out 'Gilly, 95, how good?' and drive off," Gillmeister said. "That'll happen 40 or 50 times through this series, no worries. It's good to see the people remember what happened. That means a lot." There's not many things in rugby league that inspire the love of strangers three decades on, but when it comes to Queensland and 1995 there are no strangers. It's something people share together, even if they've never met. This week marks 30 years since Paul Vautin's side, the so-called 'Neville Nobodies', pulled off the biggest upset in Origin history and all the old tales are being told again. The best ones are so well known in Queensland, you'd swear they teach them in schools. Like the moment Wayne Bennett stands down as coach before the series and Vautin is pulled off the set of The Footy Show to lead his state when nobody else could, with a host of Queensland stars missing after signing with the breakaway Super League competition. Vautin likes to say he got the call from QRL chairman Ross Livermore midway through filming a skit and had to wipe the lipstick off his mouth to answer the phone. He rang Gillmeister to tell him he was coach and Gillmeister thought it was a joke until Vautin said he had an even funnier one — that the hard-hitting veteran would be captain. Or when Vautin and team manager Chris Close shooed an 18-year-old away from the team hotel, only for him to sheepishly reply his name was Ben Ikin and he was actually in the team after playing just four first-grade games. Vautin wasn't alone in his unfamiliarity — Ikin's own father rang him when the team was announced, shocked that there could be two men named Ben Ikin who both played at the Gold Coast. Or the image of Billy Moore roaring "Queenslander" like a maroon berserker as the team went down the tunnel for Game I in Sydney as the visitors pulled off a 2-0 ambush that might be the most beautifully ugly win in rugby league history. There's the all-in brawl in Melbourne, where Queensland won the fight and the series, and Gillmeister himself defying doctor's orders to play Game III with a blood infection. It could have killed him, but he couldn't dream of a better place to die than Lang Park. They won again that night — Ikin scored the final try and Gillmeister was chaired from the field driven straight back to hospital. Those are the big hitters, the ones that get a run in the documentary series, the TV spots and the written profiles. They get told at the sportsman's lunches, the reunions, the pre-match functions and in the front bars. They never get old but there's always more because this is the gift that keeps on giving, the story that never ends, the series that lives forever. Craig Teevan, who was playing with South Queensland Crushers at the time and came off the bench in all three matches, has one yarn he likes to tell about the moment he found out he'd be playing. "Nobody knew if they'd pick the Super League players and back then they announced the team live on Channel Nine," Teevan said. "After Crushers training I had a beer with Gilly and Bobby Lindner, if they knew about the team they didn't let on. I was on the lounge with the wife watching the news, they got a few names in and it looked like they weren't going with the Super League players. "When they said it was Rowdy [Dale Shearer] and Adrian Lam in the halves I thought I might be a chance somewhere, until they called out 'number 14, Ben Ikin' and I didn't know who Ben Ikin was. "I said 'shit, I missed out here' to the wife, then they get to the rest of the bench — Terry Cook, Mark Hohn and number 17, Craig Teevan. "I jumped off the lounge and the phone started ringing. Ray Hadley was first but, I would have answered 20 phone calls before I even had a chance to ring my parents. It was a fantastic moment, to see a dream come true." Gillmeister's favourite part came before it all happened, right at the start of the series when it was still sinking in that Queensland would be heading out there without players like Allan Langer, the Walters brothers, Steve Renouf, Gorden Tallis and Darren Smith. It meant they had to get creative just to get a team on the park. Halfback Adrian Lam got special dispensation to play after representing Papua New Guinea the year before. Vautin reckoned PNG was connected to Queensland a couple of million years ago, so that was good enough. Hooker Wayne Bartrim was born in Hat Head, New South Wales, and played his junior footy in Kempsey, but he'd spent some time playing in the Gold Coast A-grade competition as a teenager so he was in as well. Broncos prop Gavin Allen got selected straight out of reserve grade. Ikin was the most unheralded pick but only just ahead of Cook, who was originally going to spend the season with bush footy club Atherton before a Crushers signing fell through shortly before the season started and he got their last roster spot. Cook and Teevan played their only Origin games in the 1995 series. Queensland still had some players with Origin pedigree, like Gillmeister and Moore and Gary Larson, and New South Wales were missing Super League stars of their own. But each of the Queenslanders still remember that the Blues had 11 internationals for that first game to Queensland's one. The unheralded Queenslanders had grown up with Origin and the nine debutants were about to live it. The moment they learned what that meant is what Gillmeister treasures most. "Maybe my favourite memory is that first team meeting. Fatty spoke, as did the late, great Dick 'Tosser' Turner [the team manager], I had to say something and then Choppy [Close] got up and got all emotional," Gillmeister said. "Fatty asked what it meant to him to play in the first ever Queensland Origin team, because we had nine debutants and they had to hear what it was like. "He started tearing up and Robbie O'Davis, who was sitting beside me, jumped up and said 'give me a jersey, I'll play them now'. "The hairs on my arms stand up when I think about it — there's a thousand great memories but that one stands out. I think about it all the time." Each of the Queenslanders swear that after that meeting they knew they were going to win. Their eventual victory was a surprise to everyone but themselves. Vautin stressed the importance of what they were doing, how Origin would reveal what lay in their hearts and souls, that they were worthy of this because their time had come and how they'd become part of something bigger than themselves. But never in a way that heaped the pressure on. "I don't know what gets the best out of people, but I do know you have to have that desire and will," Gillmeister said. In the midst of the Super League war, where the only thing cheaper than money was a broken word, Queensland's triumph was a reminder of the best parts of rugby league. Even the Maroons greatest foes could see it. New South Wales coach Phil Gould, who hated losing like poison, recognised the significance enough that he addressed the Queensland side after they won the series in Game II and congratulated them on what they'd just achieved. But the lasting effects are even greater and continue to this day in ways far greater than the blokes yelling out of their car windows at Gillmeister. Like all folk heroes, the 1995 Maroons are revered because Queensland sees so much of themselves in them. "I remember when I first finished playing footy a few years later. I went up north to see some relatives. I took my boat, made a whole trip of it, met a lot of people and all they wanted to talk about was Origin," Gillmeister said. "All they wanted to hear about was '95. They were farmers, small business owners and 1995 meant so much to them. "It resonated, because we were battlers ourselves and Queenslanders are battlers nine times out of ten. "We have fires, floods, cyclones, everything but we all just get on with it. There's no kicking cans, we just go and do it. "That was the basis of our team, to just get the job done and it didn't matter what happened along the way. Just work hard for each other and it'll be alright." It's almost impossible to imagine rugby league without State of Origin, but it's worth remembering that in 1995 it was only 15 years old. Predictions of Origin's demise pre-date the concept itself. Plenty of prominent voices in the game were on the record before the first match in 1980 saying with certainty that it was doomed to fail. They were proven wrong as the concept took rugby league by storm and today it's the biggest spectacle the game has to offer. But in 1995, with New South Wales coming off three straight series wins and the very heart of the game in jeopardy due to Super League, the future of Origin was far from assured. Back then, even as old days weren't so old, the physical links to them were fading. The series opener was the first time Queensland had played a match without someone who appeared in the inaugural game in 1980 and Gillmeister was only the fourth captain the state had ever had. The traditions were younger and the legends were newer and it's why 1995 is not just another Queensland triumph but perhaps the great Queensland triumph, the one from which all future wins are measured. It is proof that what makes Origin, and specifically what makes Queensland, can be renewed and remade for a new generation, that it can be passed down through the ages. While we think of the fabled Queensland spirit as being fixed and eternal like the Sun rising, it's not and never has been. Every player who pulls on the jersey has to discover it within themselves when the time comes, and they have to pass it down to whoever follows. It's not a well from which anyone can draw but a chain where new links have to be forged to tie past with present. It can't be summoned through words but must be created through action. It is not a magic charm that saves you because there is no fate in Origin but what you can make for yourself. It is a call that must be answered. It is a responsibility. It's far from foolproof, even for the Queenslanders who know it so intimately, even for the veterans of 1995. The very next year, with Super League players back in the fold for both sides and Vautin coaching again, New South Wales won the series with a clean sweep of their own. But when Queensland have needed it most, like in that first game back in 1980 or in 1995 when the future of the concept felt in the balance, they always seem to find it as it allows them to rise again, harder and stronger. For the many victories they've had in the 30 years since, they might never need it so much again. That series is the moment of renewal for that spirit, when the Maroons were able to bring it from the past into the present at their most desperate hour, and it's a gift they've been giving back to their state ever since. "You have to honour your past and then it's up to you to bring it to the future. Choppy played in the first game in 1980 and he gave it to us. We gave it to the teams that came after us," Gillmeister said. "I was lucky enough to give Mal a bit of a hand as part of the staff when the team went on that great run [winning 11 of 12 series from 2006-17] and Mal used to show some clips from '95 to the current blokes. "They're all superstars and they asked how the hell we did it. "But you can't explain it sometimes, it's ingrained into you. As kids we get brainwashed into it — if it wasn't so good it'd be a cult." Because there is no Queensland team more beloved, the celebration and the commemoration of the 1995 side started early this year and shows no signs of slowing down. There was an official reunion in February, with every player from the series except for Lam (who was coaching in England) and Brett Dallas attending. They are older now, and the time that made them heroes was long ago. Things have changed, but not too much. They are still Fatty's miracle Maroons. Vautin addressed the team, just like he did that first day back in 1995 and he told them the same thing he did then — that they were part of something bigger than themselves, and they had done it proud. There was a public lunch, then they went into a private room at the Caxton Hotel, locked the doors and wallowed in the memories. "It was great at the time, but now that I'm a bit older and wiser and mature, 30 years on we're still getting celebrated and so many people point to 1995 as the series that means the most to them," Teevan said. "That'll go down in history, forever. "At the reunion Fatty reminded us we were part of something special and to never forget it and when I look back at it now I'm even prouder than I was back in '95. "You might see 50 per cent of the team around, but that might only be every year or second year. Matt Sing was my roommate, I reckon I'd only seen him twice in 30 years, but the yarns started up straight away, like we'd seen each other the day before. "It made you remember what we did, what we got up too and what made us such a special group." There will be another function at Lang Park the day before Origin I. The Former Origin Greats, Queensland's old boys' group, will be running it but there will be a special focus on the 1995 side. There's also been long lunches, after-dinner speeches, hacks calling them up to plum their memories for fresh anecdotes and all the rest. They're a team in demand around this time and especially this year. They'll be telling the stories of 1995 for the rest of their lives and that's exactly how Gillmeister wants it because it's proof glory days really can last forever. "It always puts a smile on my face, whenever someone brings it up. The 30 years makes me feel old but I never get tired of it," Gillmeister said. "To be part of that history, which means so much to the Queensland teams who went on in the future, who could get tired of that? "You'd re-live it every year if we could, even if it'd put us in early graves. I never laughed so much in my life as I did in that camp — football is a game and you're meant to enjoy it and we did and still do. "Don't tell my missus, but it was the best time of my life."
