sport news See what the stars of the first ever State of Origin game did after footy NSW ... trends now
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.
Queensland and New South Wales met in the first State of Origin game on July 8, 1980
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.
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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
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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.
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