The First State of Origin Match (1980)

Sean Fagan of RL1908.com

The State of Origin games between NSW and Queensland have surpassed all expectations to become one of the premier events on the Australian sporting calendar.

However, the arrival of State of Origin in 1980 was greeted with indifference by the rugby league community of NSW. In Queensland it was received with electric anticipation.

The first sign of what was to come was the size of the crowd that walked-up to Lang Park for the Origin debut night - 35,000 Queenslanders!

Instead of the normal 5,000 or so which had come to be expected at inter-state games, this crowd took the rugby league administrators by surprise.

For Queensland, the Origin concept could not have arrived at a more opportune time - players of the calibre of Kerry Boustead, Chris Close, Rod Reddy, John Lang and Arthur Beetson were able to instantly form the core of a formidable opponent for the Blues. But also available was a young breed of locals ready to explode onto the world stage. This group was headed by Wally Lewis and Mal Meninga.

In the transition NSW lost only three players (Lang, Boustead and Reddy) and fielded a test quality line-up including Graham Eadie, Chris Anderson, Michael Cronin, Steve Rogers, Tom Raudonikis and Craig Young.

Beetson's efforts up front, including the now legendary punch on Parramatta team-mate Michael Cronin, led the way for the Queenslanders to a storming win. Ironically the local Maroon youngsters Lewis and Meninga were two of the best players on the field. Lewis played an "annoying" game which unsettled the NSW players while Meninga put in some powerful runs to compliment his seven goals. But the star of the night was undoubtedly Chris Close.

'Choppy' Close rose above his club form with a devastating game of power and speed - it was a glimpse of a pattern repeated by many Queenslanders in the years to come. With the game into the final 20 minutes and still within reach of NSW, Close burst free of three tacklers, fended off another and with sheer speed, burst around Eadie to score a memorable try and seal the win for Queensland.

Lang Park erupted in wild acclaim at the end of the game, but the Origin concept was far from being given another opportunity. Battles off the field had to be won as well, especially against the Sydney clubs.

1980 Game 1 (Lang Park, July 8)
Queensland 20 (Boustead, Close tries, Meninga 7 goals)
d. NSW 10 (Brentnall, Raudonikis tries, Cronin 2 goals)
Crowd: 33,210. Referee: B. Thompson (Great Britain) Man of the Match: Chris Close (Qld)