New South Wales rugby league team

Queensland 36–6 New South Wales 
(Lang Park, Brisbane; 23 May 1989)

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. Administered by the New South Wales Rugby League, the team competes in the annual State of Origin series against arch-rivals, the Queensland rugby league team. They are also known as the Blues (because of their sky-blue jerseys), and sometimes as the Cockraches^[1] Previously the New South Wales team, in addition to playing annually against Queensland, played matches against foreign touring sides and toured overseas themselves. The Blues hold the State of Origin record for the largest winning margin of 40 points. However they have not won a series since 2005. They have played all their home matches at Stadium Australia, New South Wales' largest stadium, since it was built in 1999. Currently they are coached by Ricky Stuart.

History

Pre-Origin era (1907–1980)

The New South Wales rugby league team pre-dates the Australian national team, playing their first ever match against a rebel New Zealand rugby team on their first ever tour in 1907 under existing rugby union rules. That inaugural "All Blues" side, the first football team assembled by the newly-formed NSWRFL was:

Charles Hedley · Johnno Stuntz · Ed Fry · Dally Messenger · Frank Cheadle · Albert Rosenfeld · Lou D'Alpuget · Harry Hammill · Arthur Hennessy · Bob Mable · Peter Moir · Sid Pearce · Billy Cann · Robert Graves · Herb Brackenreg

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.

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

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.

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