See what the stars of the first ever State of Origin game did after footy NSW Blues vs Queensland

It would not be an exaggeration to suggest rugby league in Australia changed forever 33 years ago with the introduction of State of Origin.

When Queensland and New South Wales players ran out at Lang Park on July 8, 1980 they may not have known they were making history. After all, the suggestion the interstate rivalry should be contested on a state-of-origin basis had been widely panned in the lead-up.

Bob Fulton, the captain of the 1978 Kangaroos, described it as ‘the non-event of the century’ and the response from the media was similarly unenthusiastic.

But with interest in the the interstate rivalry – in which players represented their teams on a residence criteria – slowly waning, senator Ron McAuliffe suggested that the third game of the 1980 series would be contested on a state-of-origin basis.

The cold reception for the idea grew warmer after a Queensland side led by the great Arthur Beetson upset New South Wales 20-10 and the experiment was repeated the following year.

It was the first ever game in which players represented their state of origin rather than their state of residence, a format which would become the norm from 1982

The proverbial dice had been cast and there would be no looking back, as State of Origin developed into a quintessential feature of the Australian sporting landscape.

From Beetson thumping Parramatta teammate Mick Cronin in the first ever Origin game, to Steve Mortimer kissing the SCG turf after the Blues’ first series win in 1985 and Wally Lewis and Mark Geyer squaring off in 1991, the rivalry has fed its own mythology.

Who can forget Mark McGaw’s late tries in 1987 and in 1991 or Mark Coyne’s ‘miracle’ score three years later? Or the 1995 all-in brawl, Gorden Tallis dragging Brett Hodgson across the park like a rag doll in 2002 and Queensland’s incredible run of nine series win in a decade?

All of those moments would not have been possible had it not been for the first Origin game in 1980. So, ahead of the series opener on Wednesday night, Daily Mail Australia takes a look at what happened to the players who featured in the first ever State of Origin.

New South Wales

1. Graham Eadie

A column of the Manly side that won four premierships between 1972 and 1978, Eadie played 14 times for New South Wales but the inaugural State of Origin game proved to be his last for the Blues.

By the time he left the Sea Eagles for Halifax, his 1,917 points in 237 games for the club were an all-time record and he was voted Manly’s greatest ever fullback in 1990 and in 2006.

2. Chris Anderson

Despite being one of the outstanding wingers of his generation, Anderson played only four times for New South Wales. 

A member of the Canterbury team that won the Grand Final in 1980, Anderson followed the Aussie exodus to Britain and won the league and the Challenge Cup with Halifax.

He was arguably even more successful as coach, winning the premiership with Canterbury in 1995 and Melbourne four years later and leading Australia to triumph in the 2000 Rugby League World Cup.

Chris Anderson (left) won the premiership as coach with Canterbury and Melbourne in 1995 and 1999, before leading Australia to the Rugby World Cup title in 2000

3. Steve Rogers

The father of dual-code star Mat, Rogers was rugby league royalty in his own right, playing 24 times each for the Kangaroos and New South Wales.

The star centre played 202 games for Cronulla and 29 for St George, before eventually returning to the Sharks in an executive role after retiring. 

Sadly, Rogers’ life off the the field was marred by tragedy as he lost his parents and his wife to cancer, while his brother took his own life.

Rogers died in 2006 after swallowing a combination of prescription drugs and alcohol and his son subsequently revealed he’d been suffering from depression.

4. Mick Cronin

Cronin’s name was wrote in Origin folklore from the very first game, as he copped a mighty left-arm blow from Parramatta teammate Arthur Beetson in the closing stage of the first contest. 

The incident was arguably the first signpost of the ‘mate against mate’ mantra that Origin would become famous for over the next four decades. 

‘He’d come in like that at training,’ Cronin said as he reflected on the incident years later, insisting the hit ‘was blown out of proportion’.  

The legendary centre won four premierships with the Eels, played 33 Tests for the Kangaroos and represented the Blues in 25 occasions

A bonafide rugby legend, he retired in 1986 as the NSWRL and Australia’s all-time top scorer after winning four premierships with the Eels.

Mick Cronin (right, here with former Eels legend Peter Stirling) copped a mighty left-arm blow from Parramatta teammate Arthur Beetson in the closing stage of the first Origin clash

5. Greg Brentnall

New South Wales’ first Origin try scorer, Brentnall played just four times for the Blues and won the 1980 premiership with Canterbury.

Having retired from rugby league at just 26, he returned to footy to serve as assistant coach under his former Blues and Bulldogs teammate Chris Anderson at the Storm.

6. Alan Thompson

Another member of the all-conquering Manly side of the 1970s, the classy five-eight spent his entire career with the Sea Eagles.

Thompson, who played a combined 17 times for New South Wales and Australia, returned to the club as coach in 1989 to replace Bob Fulton but was dismissed at the end of the season.

7. Tommy Raudonikis (c) 

Raudonikis captained the Blues in the first ever Origin game, which also proved to be his only appearance in the interstate rivalry and the last of 24 games for New South Wales.

The legendary halfback retired in 1983 with 238 premiership games to his name for Western Suburbs and Newtown, but Grand Final success proved elusive.

Capped 29 times for the Kangaroos, Raudonikis coached Wests for four seasons after spells north of the border at Brothers, Ipswich Jets and North Devils.

Tommy Raudonikis captained the Blues in the first ever Origin game and coached New South Wales in the 1997 and 1998 series

He led New South Wales to a 2-1 series win in 1997 and was also in charge when the Blues lost by the same margin the following season. 

Away from rugby league, he even set up his own band whose name – The Cattledogs – was a tribute to the infamous Cattledog call he’d devised for the 1997 series.

‘Tommy was one of a kind,’ Australian Rugby League Commission chairman Peter V’landys said after the former halfback died in 2021. 

‘There will never be another Tommy Raudonikis. Tommy was everything that makes rugby league the greatest game of all.’

8. Jim Leis

Leis represented New South Wales in the second state of residence of game just weeks before the inaugural Origin clash, which proved to be his only appearance for the Blues under the new rules.

The Dally M lock forward and rookie of the year in 1980, Leis retired in 1987 with 89 games to his name for Western Suburbs, Canterbury and Cronulla. 

9. Graeme Wynn

The reigning Rookie of the Year by the time of the inaugural Origin clash, Wynn played just two more games for New South Wales in his career.

In 1982, he was banned for 12 matches for biting Parramatta star Ray Price, becoming the first player in NSWRL to be suspended for such an offence.  

Graeme Wynn was the reigning Rookie of the Year by the time of the inaugural Origin clash, but played just two more games for New South Wales in his career

10. Bob Cooper

Like some of his teammates, Cooper’s appearance in the inaugural State of Origin game marked the only time he represented New South Wales.

Two years later, the second-rower earned the unwanted accolade of receiving the joint-longest suspension in New South Wales rugby league history after he was banned for 15 months for flattening three Illawarra players in a brawl.

Cooper. who died last year, switched codes in 1983 to play Aussie Rules with St George and was named the best and fairest in the Sydney Football League.

11. Craig Young

The Dragons legend was the starting prop for the first Origin game and played another four games for the Blues.

A one-club man, he captained St George from nine seasons and led them in the 1985 Grand Final, which they lost to Canterbury. He returned to the club as coach in 1989 but was sacked less than two years later.

12. Steve Edge

As was the case for Hambly, the inaugural State of Origin game was also Edge’s only appearance in the interstate rivalry and the only time he represented New South Wales.

The legendary retired from rugby league in 1984 after captaining Parramatta to their first three premierships to go with the two Grand Finals he won with St George.

13. Gary Hambly 

Hambly made his New South Wales debut in the inaugural State of Origin contest, but never played another game for the Blues in his career.

The prop played 88 games for South Sydney across five seasons, before joining a number of his fellow Aussies in England as he signed for York in 1983.

Gary Hambly (left) made his New South Wales debut in the inaugural State of Origin contest, but never played another game for the Blues

14. Steve Martin

The first Blues interchange on the night, Martin was the NSWRL Rookie of the Year in 1978, when he made his debut for New South Wales and played in Manly’s triumph over Cronulla in the Grand Final replay.

He played just twice for his state before retiring in 1984 after a spell with Leeds, but returned to rugby league as a coach in 1990 and took North Sydney to the preliminary final the following season.

15. Robert Stone

A premiership winner with St George in 1977 – he scored the opening try in the replay – Stone played just twice for New South Wales and was on the interchange bench in the first ever Origin.

A Dragons legend, he returned to the club as chief executive in 2000 to oversee the nascent joint venture with the Illawarra Steelers and the redevelopment of Jubilee Stadium three years later.

Stone died aged 49 of brain tumour in 2005. 

Coach – Ted Glossop 

The late St George great, who died in 1998, will always be remembered as the first man to coach New South Wales in Origin. 

A premiership winner with Canterbury in 1980, he led the Blues in the 1980 and 1981 series – which both featured one experimental Origin game – and the 1983 series, in which all three games followed the new eligibility rules.

Queensland 

1. Colin Scott 

A bonafide Maroons star, Scott played 33 times for Queensland including 17 State of Origins matches.

In 1988, Scott joined the NSWRL’ newcomers Brisbane Broncos from Wynnum-Manly, but the Broncos’ inaugural season proved to be Scott’s last in rugby league as he retired at the end of the campaign, after scoring two tries in 14 games.

In 2020, Scott opened up on his battle with depression and revealed he had locked himself in his bedroom for three weeks and drank 15 bottles of lime cordial in the process. 

The former fullback has been a vocal advocate of mental health ever since.

‘I want to be someone that has dealt with it and got on top of it,’ he told NRL.com at the time.

‘I will think about the things I have done in my career […] the good times, the State of Origins, the people I have met, the players I played with.

Colin Scott (left) played 33 times for Queensland including 17 State of Origins matches and was one of the Brisbane Broncos foundation players in 1988

2. Kerry Boustead

Boustead wrote his name in Queensland folklore when he became the Maroons’ first ever Origin try scorer in the first half of the inaugural showdown.

The irony of the achievement was not lost on the winger, who had previously played for New South Wales under residential selection criteria and was reportedly against the Origin concept.

The Easts and Manly star played a further eight games for the Maroons and was capped 25 times by the Kangaroos and his contribution to rugby league was just as significant after retirement.

He played an instrumental role in North Queensland securing the ARL licence in 1995 and joined the Cowboys as chief executive, only to resign after they aligned themselves with the Super League. However, he returned to the club in the same role in 2015. 

3. Mal Meninga

Meninga’s career and Origin are indissolubly linked to one another. The star centre scored the first ever points in a State of Origin clash and finished the inaugural with 14 points on the night of his 20th birthday.

Exactly 25 years later, he coached his final game for the Maroons, winning a nine series in 10 years after leading Queensland to a record eight consecutive series wins between 2006 and 2013. 

One of the finest players to ever grace the game, the 13th Immortal played 32 times for Queensland winning seven Origin series as a player before turned a struggling team into one of rugby league’s greatest dynasties as a coach.

The only man to have ever played in four Kangaroos tours and the only player to captain them on two separate tours, the Canberra legend won the 1992 Rugby League World Cup as a player and led Australia to consecutive titles in 2017 and 2022.

Mal Meninga (right, here with Michael Handcock after Game I of the 1994 series) scored the first ever points in a State of Origin game on the night of his 20th birthday

The rugby league Immortal coached Queensland to nine series win in 10 years in charge

4. Chris Close

Close was voted Man of the Match in the inaugural Origin after scoring a superb try in the second half, as he sped through the New South Wales defence from a standing start without any Blues players getting anywhere near him.

He repeated the feat in the Origin game the following season and was again voted Man of the Match as Queensland won 22-15, when he memorably delivered a thumping back-hander to Eric Grothe’s face.

Close continued to wear his heart on his sleeve long after retirement as he returned to the Queensland set-up as team manager under first Paul Vautin, then Wayne Bennett and Mark Murray.

In 2005, he famously gave Phil Gould the finger after Queensland won Game I in golden point at Suncorp Stadium.

‘I got a great deal of enjoyment out of that,’ he recalled to the Courier Mail a decade later.

‘He used to call the Queensland spirit a myth and claimed we were always lucky, that was just euphoria coming out in that moment.’ 

Chris Close (left) was the man-of-the-match in the inaugural Origin and then became Queensland team manager under first Paul Vautin, then Wayne Bennett and Mark Murray

5. Brad Backer

Backer played 12 times for the Maroons, scoring a try in their win in the State of Origin game –  the other two games were played under residential selection criteria – over New South Wales in 1981.

A stalwart of the Brisbane Rugby League, he won the premiership with Easts in 1978 and 1983.

6. Alan Smith

The first Origin contest proved to be Smith’s seventh and final appearance for the Maroons.

The halfback scored a record four tries as the Maroons lost 35-20 in the final game of the 1979 interstate series and returned to Origin duty as selectors for Queensland in the 1990s. 

7. Greg Oliphant

As was the case for Smith, the inaugural Origin clash also proved to be the final Queensland appearance for Oliphant. 

A great halfback, he found his opportunity to shine with the Kangaroos limited by the presence of Tommy Raudonikis and only played four tour matches in the 1978 tour of Great Britain and France.

8. Wally Lewis

When Lewis took the field in July 1980, he could not have imagined a statue in his image would one day stand proudly outside Lang Park.

Arguably the greatest Queensland Origin legend of them all, the Emperor of Lang Park captained Queensland in 30 of his 31 State of Origin appearances and coached them in 1993 and 1994.

Named the sixth member of ‘The Immortals’ in 1999, Lewis was named in both the Kangaroos and Queensland’s respective teams of the centuries and was the natural choice to be the Broncos’ first-ever captain.

Typically, he led from the front in the club’s inaugural campaign, finishing as Brisbane’s leading tryscorer. 

After retiring he forged a successful media career with Channel Seven and then with Channel Nine, which he joined in 1999.

In January, he announced he would step back from the role due health concerns. He has recently made headlines with new partner Lynda Adams after his marriage to wife of 36 years Jacqui ended in February 2021. 

Wally Lewis captained Queensland in 30 of his 31 State of Origin games between 1980 and 1991 and is arguably the greatest Maroons legend of all

The Emperor of Lang Park has forged a great TV career on Channel Seven and Channel Nine, but recently stepped back from his commitments to safeguard his health

9. Rod Reddy

Reddy played 14 times in the interstate rivalry but the first Origin match remains his only appearance for Queensland.

A member of the Invincibles tour in 1982, the legendary lock played 237 games with St George and the Steelers and won the premiership in 1977 and 1979.

Reddy, who coached the Adelaide Rams for their only two seasons in the Super League, has fathered a sporting dynasty of his own.

His eldest son Liam made 350 A-League appearances across six different clubs, while his youngest son Joel played 136 NRL games and won the 2014 premiership with South Sydney.

Reddy’s daughter Bianca, meanwhile, played for the Adelaide Thunderbirds in netball.

10. Rohan Hancock 

Hancock made his Queensland debut in the 1978 interstate series and played a total of 11 games for the Maroons before retiring four years later after playing nine tour matches and one Test match on the Invincibles tour.

His daughter Steph won two Women’s Rugby League World Cups in 2013 and 2017, captaining the Jillaroos for three years. 

11. Arthur Beetson (c)

By the time Beetson captained Queensland in the first Origin game, he had 18 appearances under his belt and would go on to play only twice more for his home state.

Yet few – if any – players embody the Queensland Origin spirit more than the late rugby league Immortal. 

Beetson set the tone with a brutal hit on Parramatta teammate Mick Cronin, which left a lasting impression on a young Wally Lewis. 

‘Arthur probably felt like he had a bunch of schoolboys around him,’ the Queensland great told Channel Nine in 2019.

‘We were hanging off every word, and we asked him a few questions, but to be honest we were probably too embarrassed to ask a few more. […] It was a thrill to play alongside Arthur, it was quite extraordinary.’ 

Beetson led Queensland to consecutive series victory as coach between 1981 and 1984 and in 1989, before joining ABC’s Saturday Afternoon League broadcast two years later.

Arthur Beetson (here celebrating the 1974 Grand Final triumph) captained Queensland in the first ever State of Origin

Beetson then led Queensland to consecutive series victory as coach between 1981 and 1984 and in 1989

12. John Lang  

The inaugural Origin clash proved to be the final game for Queensland for the star hooker, who won three Brisbane premierships with Easts in 1972, 1977 and 1978.

One of the few Queenslanders to have donned a sky blue jersey, Lang starred for New South Wales in the first game of the 1980 series as players were selected under the residency criterion.

After retiring, Lang won two premierships with Easts as coach and took Cronulla to the Super League Grand Final in 1997 before winning the 2003 premiership with Penrith.

13. Rod Morris

Having played six games each for Queensland and New South Wales under the old selection criterion, Morris was the Maroons starting prop for the first ever Origin.

He’d go on to play for his state three more time, delivering a man-of-the-match performance as Queensland levelled the 1982 series in Game II.

After hanging up his boots he briefly worked as commentator for Channel Nine for the 1989 series, before turning to the fast food industry and owning a number of McDonald’s franchise in Brisbane’s south-eastern suburbs.

Rod Morris (left) with fellow Queenslander Kerry Bouestad on Kangaroos duty in 1979

14. Norm Carr

A Brisbane Rugby League premiership stalwart, Carr spent his entire career in Queensland winning the title with Souths and Wests.

An unused reserve in the 1980 game, he made his first appearance in the Origin match the following year and was in the starting 13 for Game II and Game III of the 1982 series. 

15. Bruce Astill 

Like Carr, Astill also did not see any action as Queensland incredibly opted against using any of their reserves. 

He captained the Souths Magpies to the 1981 Brisbane Rugby League premiership and was again an interchange in Game Three of the 1983 series.

Coach – John McDonald

Queensland’s first ever Origin coach, McDonald had taken charge of the Maroons a year earlier and one can only wonder how his career would have turned out had they lost.

Instead, the former Manly great became president of the Queensland Rugby League by the end of the decade and subsequently joined the NRL executive committee and was named chairman of the QRL and ARL boards of directors.