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Rugby league Immortal Wally Lewis has recalled some of the great moments in State of Origin on the 40th anniversary of the showpiece series.
It is immortalised in rugby league folklore as the night Arthur Beetson clocked his Parramatta teammate Mick Cronin to launch a sporting phenomenon.
The night 35-year-old Beetson, after being plucked from the Eels reserve grade side, captained Queensland to a 20-10 triumph over NSW in the inaugural State of Origin match.
And it was 40 years ago on Wednesday.
The only thing that has grown bigger than the myth that Beetson laid out Cronin with an act of ungodly brutality is Origin itself.
It is a beast, so big that not even coronavirus can stop it.
The global pandemic has merely forced the game's annual showpiece series to a November timeslot this year instead of the middle of winter.
Four decades on, Origin legend, 'King' Wally Lewis can still vividly recall how the doubters considered the concept doomed even before kick-off in that famous first fixture on July 8, 1980.
NSW had already clinched the interstate series 2-0 before officials changed the rules to have players represent their "state of origin" - either the state in which he was born or in which he started playing registered first-grade rugby league.
"There'll be plenty of people remembering what they were doing that night," Lewis told Sydney radio 2GB.
"There was a lot of criticism from south of the border that this was a game that was going to get in the way of Sydney club teams and come up with injuries that wouldn't allow them to play.
"But to Queensland it was the great hope that interstate football was going to continue and, thankfully with the dedication of people like Arthur Beetson when he became involved with the game, there was some interest and boy didn't that snowball."
Lewis, who went on to captain the Maroons 30 times and "own" the Origin arena with a record eight man-of-the-match awards, remembers how he and future Immortals Beetson and Mal Meninga, on his 20th birthday, picked up $1000 for winning that first encounter at Lang Park.
"We also got I think it was $260 for our time off work when we were in camp for the game," he said.
"Boy oh boy, haven't times changed."
Haven't they what - nowadays the superstars receive $30,000 a match win, lose or draw, stay in plush hotels and pocket a healthy per diem for the "sacrifice" of representing their state on rugby league's biggest stage.
The 40-year history of Origin has delivered an untold amount of classic chapters; THAT Mark Coyne match-winning try for Queensland in 1994, 34-year-old Allan Langer's fairytale comeback for the Maroons in the 2001 series decider and Andrew Johns' 2005 "perfect 10" masterclass to name just three.
But there have been no more dramatic moments in Origin than the beer-throwing protest from Queensland fans after Sydney referee Mick Stone sin-binned Lewis at Lang Park, sparking wild scenes from Maroons fans, who rained cans onto the field.
"We always used to brag about how much we liked our beer in Queensland but for the high price that they were paying for a can of beer and then being quite prepared to throw it over a fence, it wasn't good," Lewis said.
"It wasn't a good promotion for rugby league.
"We were seen as a bunch of sooks after having two blokes sent to the sin bin, that's the way that we were going to carry on, it's not a good thing for rugby league but I think it was just a typical indication of what they (Queenslanders) were prepared to do to try and gain success for the team."
Lewis featured in another unforgettable flashpoint in 1991 in Sydney when he clashed heatedly with NSW tyro Mark Geyer on the stroke of halftime in game two.
But, to Lewis, their exchange merely symbolises the passion that Origin evokes.
"We were in a little bit of strife. There was a young bloke of course, Mark Geyer, coming in. I think he was 19 years of age at that stage," Lewis recalled.
"He was coming in to the big time, prepared to do anything to upset the Queenslanders, which he did on the night, and I tried to make sure that I could get him removed from the field - forcibly - by the referee.
"But unfortunately the ref didn't agree with that but it was another typical moment in State of Origin which demanded attention from the general public.
"It showed that any player that went out there was prepared to do anything, anytime, anywhere to try and achieve success for their team."
TEAMS FOR INAUGURAL STATE OF ORIGIN FIXTURE IN 1980
QUEENSLAND: Colin Scott, Kerry Boustead, Mal Meninga, Chris Close, Brad Backer, Alan Smith, Greg Oliphant, Wally Lewis, Rod Reddy, Rohan Hancock, Arthur Beetson (capt), John Lang, Rod Morris. Res: Norm Carr, Bruce Astill. Coach: John McDonald.
NSW: Graham Eadie, Chris Anderson, Mick Cronin, Steve Rogers, Greg Brentnall, Alan Thompson, Tommy Raudonikis (capt), Jim Leis, Graeme Wynn, Bob Cooper, Craig Young, Steve Edge, Gary Hambly. Res: Robert Stone, Steve Martin. Coach: Ted Glossop.
