Almanac (New) Books: ‘The Immortals of State of Origin’ by Liam Hauser

 

 

 

 

The Immortals of State of Origin
Gelding Street Press, 2023
Author: Liam Hauser
RRP $39.95

 

The lead-up to any State of Origin rugby league series is full of speculation, particularly as many followers set themselves the task of picking a team for either Queensland or NSW (or both). That’s been in full swing for the past few weeks.

Now here’s a task that goes to another level: try to pick an all-time best State of Origin team for each state. I’ve done my best to achieve (or conquer) this task, and now it’s available in the form of my new book release, The Immortals of State of Origin (Gelding Street Press). With more than 200 Queensland players and over 300 NSW players to choose from in 43 years of State of Origin (1980 to 2022), I can assure you it’s mighty hard to try to pick a starting team (and four interchange players and a coach) for each state.

For my previous State of Origin book (State of Origin 40 years, Gelding Street Press), I set myself the burdensome but very rewarding task of watching every Origin game (from 1980 to 2019) in chronological order. State of Origin (and rugby league in general) changed a little from one year to the next, yet when comparing the inaugural match from 1980 to a match from 1990 (let alone 2019), there was a world of difference. How could I possibly compare matches and players from so many years apart?

The task confronting me left me in a no-win situation because no matter who I select, readers are going to wonder how I could include certain players at the expense of other players. I asked myself about this many times, rest assured! The book is prone to start plenty of discussion and thoughts and, while there are bound to be arguments and disagreements, it must be remembered that there are no right or wrong answers. If 1000 or more people named their best ever State of Origin teams, I don’t think any two people would come up with an identical team. One thing that must be taken into consideration is how well each player fared in State of Origin while forgetting about club and Test football.

I spoke to a former State of Origin player recently to let him know about the book. In jest, he told me that a number of people would never want to speak to me again (after seeing my selections). I resisted the temptation to tell him whether or not I had selected him! I didn’t want to give anything away just yet. Had I told him, what would his reply have been? I’m sure I will find out sooner or later when he discovers whether or not he has been chosen.

Another tricky thing is taking current players into consideration. While a number of current players might be worthy selections in another five years or so, I think it may be a little premature to include them now. Having said that, I have included one current player who is more than 30 years of age and is probably nearing the end of his Origin career. Something else that is hard to decide is: what is the minimum number of Origin games that a player should have played in order to be eligible?

One mistake (at least I call it a mistake) I have tried to avoid is selecting players just because it is popular to name them. One particular winger certainly gained plenty of attention, but can he be picked in my team after scoring just one try in 14 Origin appearances? Also, to give you an idea of how hard it is to pick a best-of Origin team, think of the following options: Should Billy Slater or Darren Lockyer be Queensland’s fullback? Should Darren Lockyer or Wally Lewis be at five-eighth? Should Allan Langer, Johnathan Thurston or Cooper Cronk be at halfback? And then who do you pick on the bench? With the NSW team, can you fit Laurie Daley, Brett Kenny and Brad Fittler into the starting team? Should Ben Elias or Danny Buderus be the hooker? Unavoidably, many deserving players don’t make the cut.

Another vital aspect is that I don’t merely analyse each player (and coach) I’ve chosen, but I also make my case as to WHY I’ve chosen them. If at face value it appears that I’ve made some odd selections, the key is to read why I’ve chosen them.

Let the discussion begin!

 

Liam Hauser is a journalist and sports historian whose other publications on State of Origin include, State of Origin 30 Years (Rockpool Publishing, 2010), State of Origin 35 Years (Rockpool Publishing, 2015) and State of Origin 40 Year (Gelding Street Press, 2020). He is also the author of Rugby League’s Greatest Contests (New Holland, 2017), Rugby League’s Greatest Contests (New Holland, 2019), Rugby League’s Greatest Grand Finals (New Holland,2022) and The Immortals of Australian Rugby League (Gelding Street press, 2019). Liam is also the author of several books on Test cricket, A Century of Cricket Tests (New Holland, 2013), A History of Test Cricket (New Holland, 2016) and The Immortals of Australian Cricket (Gelding Street Press, 2018).

 

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