Battle at the heart of Origin
Andrew Gee | July 18, 2009
Article from: The Australian
NOTHING tests a rugby league player like State of Origin. In my opinion, it's the toughest arena in sport. Those comments have nothing to do with the violence that occurred in the final Origin game last Wednesday.
In my opinion, the comments which have followed that incident are an over-reaction. Three games were played in this year's series. Yet all the attention seems to be focused on a fight between Brett White and Steve Price that lasted little more than a minute. Two players were involved. White got a good punch in. That was about it.
I know Queensland has been critical of Justin Poore for picking up Steve Price while he was unconscious. I can't argue with that. I agree it was poor form. But I doubt Poore knew the extent of Steve's injury. It certainly didn't worry the 54,000 people who packed Suncorp Stadium on Wednesday night.
I was in the ground and every one of them loved it. It wasn't just the fight. Origin is an enthralling spectacle. It highlights everything which makes rugby league a special sport. Violence is not part of that. To be fair, the NRL has done a great job in stamping it out of the game.
What happened on Wednesday night was an aberration rather than the norm.
Because of the body contact in rugby league, things like that will occasionally happen. It's different to rugby union and the AFL. Comparisons are futile but that hasn't stopped criticism coming from southern quarters. I know Weekend Australian columnist Patrick Smith has been critical of what went on in Origin III. He is welcome to his opinion. The thing is he is a hard-core AFL man. He is not educated in rugby league.
AFL is not without its problems. From my perspective, I see a lot of cheap shots in the AFL. Players use elbows and knees. They may not be allowed to punch, but that doesn't mean the cheap shots have been removed from the game.
As I said, comparisons are a waste of time. The two codes are different. I admit I don't know that much about the AFL and how it operates. What I do know is that Origin is played under intense pressure. The people who play it spend more than a week preparing for the toughest test they will encounter during their rugby league careers.
It is intense and sometimes emotions boil over. Yet, in all the time I played Origin, what happened on the field stayed on the field. To me, that's the essence of sport.
Once you cross the white line, it's game on. When you walk off at the end of the game, it's over. You can socialise with the other players. You can share a beer and talk about it years after you retire. Steve Price summed that up. he had no problem with Brett White.
The criticism of the fighting in Origin III is symbolic of where sport in general is heading. Political correctness is ambushing sport.
No one wants to see blokes' heads taken off. But they do want to see a brutal encounter. It's like the V8 Supercars. What do people go there for? The prangs. As for comments that the game's prospects of growing were damaged by Wednesday night, I can't agree.
Patrick Smith is writing about it so it's clearly had an effect on him. It's great that an AFL commentator is talking about rugby league. The game is doing a fairly good job of spreading its wings at the moment.
South Sydney sold out a game in Perth earlier this year. The Melbourne Storm is doing a great job. Next season they will move into a new stadium. Whatever happened on Wednesday night will have no impact on that.
At the end of the day, rugby league and AFL are two good sports. There's room for it all. We want all sports to grow and I believe rugby league will. If you want evidence, consider last night. Two nights after Origin, I sat at Suncorp Stadium with 54,000 people to watch two more games of rugby league.
The game isn't going too bad.
Andrew Gee is an Origin great who made 17 appearances for Queensland.
