Category: ‘Flagship’ Sydney Spectaculars

Queensland 2-1 New South Wales (Series)

New South Wales 24-10 Queensland (Final Game)

New South Wales scored 4 tries to win at home in the final game of State Of Origin 2023 as Queensland lift the Shield with a 2-1 series victory.

Over in Brisbane, Story and Victoria Bridges, City Hall, Sandgate Town Hall, the Tropical Dome & Reddacliff Place sculptures were all lit up maroon from sunset at 5:09pm.

Back in Sydney, the event begun just over 2 hours prior to kick-off, at 5:50pm, with an exhibition New South Wales RISE Academy under-15’s men’s rugby league match between RISE Blue & RISE Navy. RISE Blue won 28-6.

The Nine Network, in the pre-match coverage, again showed the team line-ups with pre-recorded footage of the respective states’ iconic bridges in the background lit up in their team’s colours, complete with computer-generated fireworks. The pre-recorded footage (despite claiming it was live) of the Sydney Harbour Bridge lit up blue completely was shown again later.

A surprise drone show over Sydney Showground featured in the lead-up to the match, broadcast on TV on delay (so it started before 7:18pm). It only featured the non-sponsored State of Origin logo in horizontal form (brand image to the left, the words ‘State of Origin‘ in blue to the right). More pre-recorded drone show footage was shown again later (and thus, finished no later than 7:35pm).

Then at 7:30pm, the pre-match entertainment began. Indigenous performances & a light and pyrotechnic show featuring New Zealand’s biggest band, SIX60, featured. The latter opened with a Maori performance, followed by SIX60‘s 2011 song, Don’t Forget Your Roots, which again featured Maori performances including a mid-song haka. This all was in front of a stadium crowd of 75,342 (a new record for a ‘dead rubber’ State Of Origin match) and the multi-million sized TV audience (though the Indigenous performances only featured in the broadcast background & the rest of SIX60‘s set not being televised).

The New South Wales side then walked from their Centre Of Excellence across the road through the former athlete transfer tunnel from The Games of the XXVIIth Olympiad: Sydney 2000 to Stadium Australia where they met the Queensland side on the field, who came from the stadium’s changing rooms.

The customary Welcome To Country, conducted by Aunty Kerrie Kenton and performance of the National Anthem, sung by Courtney Monsma, then immediately preceded the main match,

Anyway, to the game. Queensland took the upper hand at the start with their only converted try scored by David Fifita in the 11th minute.

Brian To’o saved New South Wales from complete domination by diving into the corner a few minutes later to score the 1st unconverted try for New South Wales in the game.

The lack of conversion was quickly reprieved 3 minutes later when New South Wales received a penalty due to Queensland’s Harry Grant tackling in mid-air after a Mitchell Moses kick. They took the penalty’s opportunity to score a field goal which levelled the scores.

A couple of minutes later, Josh Addo-Carr ensured Queensland won’t have the upper hand again for the rest of the series by showcasing his speed & kicking skills in a classic unconverted try.

New South Wales debutant, Bradman Best, met the Origin challenge by backing up Addo-Carr a few minutes later to score his debut Origin try, which was converted, to lead by 10 points.

It looked like New South Wales was going to storm to victory, but Queensland’s Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow reminded them that Queensland doesn’t give up victory without a fight by finding a gap in New South Wales’s defence & to the best of his ability with the space available, recreate Josh Addo-Carr’s try except with a low kick along the ground, to score what would end up being Queensland’s last unconverted try of the series.

A minute before half-time, New South Wales received another penalty thanks again to Harry Grant who crowded the ruck. They used the penalty to score a field goal to add an extra 2-point buffer.

At half-time, the score was 18-10 in favour of New South Wales.

During half-time, a Little Origin match was held between Sacred Heart Mount Druitt & Cessnock Public School.

The 2nd half was fairly even but as time went on, the more likely a New South Wales victory in the game was assured. It began with a couple of arguments after a few minutes & then, around the 60-minute mark, there was a flurry of try attempts by both sides but all were unsuccessful.

Then, in the 64th minute, James Tedesco found a gap ‘in Queensland’s defence and ran to the try line. When confronted with Queensland’s fullback, he quickly passed at the last minute to Bradman Best who made the rest of the journey with no obstacles in the way to score his 2nd Origin try on debut, which was converted. He celebrated with Josh Addo-Carr with dancing. New South Wales now felt assured of victory leading by 14 points.

The rest of the 2nd half was evenly poised though around the 70-minute mark, Queensland had a few unsuccessful try attempts to leave open the potential for a reduced deficit in the game.

5 minutes before full-time, a couple of pitch invaders appeared, which security apprehended & 2 minutes before half-time, Josh Addo-Carr suffered a hamstring injury requiring an interchange with Clint Gutherson.

All successful conversions were kicked by Stephen Crichton for New South Wales & Valentine Holmes for Queensland.

At full time, the final score for the final game was New South Wales 24-10 Queensland & the final score for the 2023 series was Queensland 2-1 New South Wales.

The series presentation followed on a stage in the field’s centre with James Bracey as Master Of Ceremonies & Wally ‘The King‘ Lewis, Queensland rugby league great, Andrew Abdo, Chief Executive Officer of the National Rugby League and Brent Merrick, Ampol Executive General Manager of International & New Business waiting on the stage.

New South Wales coach, Brad Fittler, was invited onto the stage to award the Player of the Match medal, which was awarded to Cody Walker.

The winner of the Wally Lewis Medal, awarded to the player of the series by Wally Lewis, was then announced as Reuben Cotter.

Um, firstly, ah, congrats to New South Wales. Um, congrats to our boys. Ah, it’s been a, you know, a great series. I’ve loved every moment, ah, with youse, in camp.

Um, (breathes deeply) I just want to say thanks to all the Queensland supporters for coming out tonight… (crowd cheers) …& to the 5 million back home, uh, watching. Uh, thanks, thanks for supporting ma-, us all the way through & thanks to the coaching staff. Abuntoo!

Reuben Cotter, Queensland rugby league player

Uh, firstly, I just want to thank, uh, the Queensland boys for the series. Um, they were f-, too good for us the 1st 2 games, um, so congratulations to you boys. Thanks for the series. Oh, thanks all the fans – the New South Wales fans for coming out tonight. Um, we wanted to get some pride back into the jersey & get a win for you so really glad we could, um, though disappointed to lose the 1st 2 but want to thank my team, the staff, the series. Obviously wasn’t, uh, how we wanted to go – going down the 1st 2 games but, um, we fought hard tonight for a win so, uhm, we look forward to next year. Thanks guys.

James Tedseco, New South Wales captain

Yeah, look, I just want to take the time to thank all of the hard work that goes putting this stuff on. All of the corporate partners, the administrators, Queensland Rugby League, thank you so much for getting this on. It’s always a pleasure to play in such, such a big stage.

I want to thank ‘The Blues’ for the series. It’s been a tough series regardless of the result. Theys…These guys played fair all the way, made it a tough series & we had to work every bit of it so thank you very much for ‘The Blues’.

I want to thank everyone that’s come here tonight in particular you Queensland fans… (crowd cheers) …& as Reuben touched on, there’s 5 million of us sitting at home in Queensland. I hope youse enjoy this moment that’s coming up. It’s all for you.

Last but not least, the playing group & the footy staff. It’s been a hell of a lot of hard work gone into this but as Reub said boys, it’s something special here. Enjoy the moment. Abuntoo boys. Let’s go!

Daly Cherry-Evans, Queensland captain

Wally Lewis, Andrew Abdo & Brent Merrick then presented the State Of Origin Shield to Daly Cherry-Evans, who immediately lifted it up to the cheers of the crowd as flamethrowers lit up the stage. The former three people moved out the way for the rest of the Queensland team and staff who gathered around the Shield as Queen‘s iconic song, We Are The Champions, played. Ground fireworks exploded behind the stage as Queensland cheered in victorious glory while their families joined them on stage. That was State Of Origin 2023.

Until next year!

With less than 24 hours to go until the final game of the 2023 State Of Origin rugby league series, a “difficult but necessary” media obligation boycott as part of an industrial dispute regarding a new collective bargaining agreement (CBA) for their players looks set to affect its broadcasts & journalism of the match.

This was decided unanimously at a meeting of the Rugby League Players’ Association (RLPA) last Tuesday night (4th of July) that contained over 50 player “leaders” & was announced by the Rugby League Players’ Association at a press conference at Novotel Sydney Darling Harbour last Wednesday afternoon.

It was in response to an “ultimatum” presented to them by the Australian Rugby League Commission (ARLC) on behalf of National Rugby League (NRL), Australia & New Zealand’s professional franchise rugby league competition, which is a separate event series to State Of Origin but is tied very closely, logistically & on sporting terms. It should be noted most, but not all, of the matters in dispute detailed below do not directly affect State Of Origin but rather the NRL competition.

The “ultimatum” involved the ARLC & NRL “taking away” players’ medical information “rights”, ‘exploiting’ their property, ‘controlling’ how ‘the players’ money’ is spent on player funds and benefits & ‘making’ players pay for insurances that “don’t benefit” them.

With the ultimatum not acceptable by the RLPA, CBA negotiations have come to a halt as a result.

The players will abandon all media obligations tomorrow regarding State Of Origin including preview stories, interviews in the broadcasts before, after and at half time of the match as well as press conferences before & after the match.

However, they will still produce content for Queensland & New South Wales Rugby League.

The ARLC, whose Chairman Peter V’landys is on leave, have met to discuss next steps, which are still unclear. The ARLC & NRL released a statement last Wednesday evening saying they are “disappointed” as well as making “corrections” to the RLPA announcement and stating certain facts of their proposal. The full statement can be found at the bottom of this article.

Broadcasters have declined to comment.

As far as we are aware, this is the 1st industrial dispute ever to affect a flagship Sydney Spectacular. For more information, there is a Frequently Asked Questions page found here on the RLPA website.

The final game of State Of Origin 2023 will be held tonight at 8:05pm at Stadium Australia, Sydney.

The players have unanimously decided to take action in response to the current impasse in collective bargaining negotiations with the NRL & ARLC.

Recently, the RLPA submitted a proposal to the NRL and ARLC that is fair, contains numerous concessions by players & does not ask for a single dollar more than what had already been agreed upon. Unfortunately, the NRL and ARLC responded with changes that deviated so significantly from our proposal that they restricted the rights of players to an unacceptable level. They also made it clear that their response was non-negotiable & not open for discussion.

I want to emphasise the gravity of the situation we find ourselves in today. We are witnessing a disappointing breakdown in negotiations & a blatant disregard for the rights and welfare of our players. This is a clear attempt to intimidate players into a deal that undermines their rights, their voice and their control over their own careers & players agree unanimously that they will not roll over to union-busting tactics such as what we are witnessing.

That is why, from Thursday 6 July, our players will be boycotting all broadcast & media engagements on days when…State of Origin matches are scheduled. This includes pre-match, half-time & post-match interviews as well as press conferences & other media opportunities.

I want to take a moment to acknowledge the strength and courage of our players…who continue to break barriers and pave the way for future generations. As a woman in a leadership role within rugby league, I understand the significance of their presence & the importance of their voices being heard. Our sport, our players & our fans deserve better. We stand with them & we urge the NRL and ARLC to do the same.

Doctor Deidre Anderson AM, RLPA Board Chair

As the CEO of the Rugby League Players’ Association, I want to add to the Chair’s message and provide further context.

I would like to thank the recent facilitator of the negotiations for his dedication to achieving a good outcome for all. However, negotiations now require a different approach, but his contribution is greatly appreciated.

This issue hits home for me on a personal level. I have lived and breathed this sport; as a fan, player and administrator for as long as I can remember. I understand the sacrifices our players make and the risks they take every time they step onto the field. Their careers can be fleeting, and they deserve to have their rights and welfare protected.

Over the 20 past months, we have seen a disturbing pattern of behaviour from the…ARLC. What we have seen is a failure to respect the role of the players’ representative body, erosion of fundamental player rights & attempts to buy off players without understanding this CBA is about so much more than money. They have failed to honour their commitments in providing a CBA everyone can be proud of – one that respects the players’ irreplaceable role. They did not properly disclose financial information and payments owed to the players & disregarded their collective concerns. The players have shown tremendous patience & goodwill throughout this process, but their trust & resolve have been tested time & time again.

I want to be clear that we have been forced into this position & importantly our issue is not with the media. Unfortunately, unless we were prepared to fail in our obligations to appropriately represent & protect our members, the only choice we are left with is to take action. It’s important to understand that this action will be seen by some players as not hard enough, but for now, this is considered appropriate action given the NRLs’ take it or leave it position, which now rewinds much of the good outcomes we were optimistic about securing.

We must also remember not to let this dispute overshadow the connection between the players & the fans. While there is no game without players, there is no profession without fans. Fans are the lifeblood of this game & our players are dedicated to playing for them and providing the entertainment they deserve. They have a deep connection with the community because they too, all started their journey as a fan.

We entered into negotiations with the hope of reaching a fair & reasonable agreement that addresses the needs & interests of all players. We made concessions, we engaged in good faith & we presented a settlement proposal that did not ask for a single dollar more than what had already been agreed upon. Yet, the NRL responded with over 100 changes that would have sent players backward in many key areas. This response was unacceptable with clear erosion of player rights, including taking away player rights (medical information), exploiting their player property, controlling how players spend their money on player funds and benefits, increase the amount of matches played without player agreement & making players pay for things they shouldn’t have to (insurances that don’t benefit players).

We urge the NRL and ARLC to come to the table & provide the players with a fair deal.

As one of the leaders in our game, I am fearful and concerned about the trajectory of our game – with all major stakeholder agreements unsigned, unresolved & unannounced. These include the…NSWRL and QRL member agreements…. We need to come together & provide certainty for everyone. This must be a non-negotiable.

Let us not forget: Our game is the only game in world sport that started due to a workers’ and player rights dispute & more the 100 years on here we are again except it’s with our own governing body.

We are standing up and stepping forward to represent the will and conviction of the players & we will continue to stand firm for the benefit of current, past and future players & the overall health and success of the game.

Rugby League Players’ Association Chief Executive Officer, Clint Newton OAM

The NRL’s offer to the RLPA represents a landmark deal for the players. The NRL…have provided substantial improvement in player payments, benefits and conditions.

• The players will share an unprecedented $1.347 billion in total player payments from 2023-2027.
• This represents a 37.4% increase as compared to the $980 million total player payments agreed for 2018-2022.
• The minimum wage will progressively increase reaching $150,000 by 2027.
• Introduction of a past Player Medical Support program, Transition and Past Player programs and General Hardship Fund with a combined allocation of $10 million to establish these new programs.
• An expanded Injury Hardship Fund will be created, with a dedicated allocation of $9 million.
• An expanded and jointly managed Wellbeing & Education program will be available to all players with an allocation of $25 million.
• Beyond financial benefits, the Players will receive improved conditions compared to the previous CBA including…mandated entry and exit medicals to ensure accurate medical data is kept up to date to better serve the recovery of players.

The NRL is disappointed that the RLPA has decided to take this unnecessary action, which is damaging to the game and to the detriment of broadcast partners, sponsors and importantly fans.

It is important to correct a number of statements made by the RLPA today that are incorrect.

The NRL’s offer provides increased agreement and consultation rights for the RLPA and players. The NRL and Clubs have spent well over 12 months negotiating and carefully considering the players requests. This includes recognising the players priorities to provide greater support to players transitioning from the game and support players in retirement and hardship.  In listening to the players, the NRL offer meets the RLPA’s request on the Injury Hardship Fund, and establishment of new and expanded funds including the General Hardship Fund, Past Player Medical Support and Past Player Transition Program. 

The ARLC is the governing body of rugby league in Australia & has an obligation to act in the best interests of the game both in the immediate and long-term including protecting the interests of all of stakeholders in the game.

ARLC & NRL

Queensland 32-6 New South Wales

A dominant Queensland side scored 6 tries to achieve ultimate victory in Game 2 of State Of Origin 2023 to secure the Shield.

The event begun just over 3 hours prior to kick-off, at sunset at 5:02pm when the Story and Victoria Bridges, City Hall, Sandgate Town Hall, the Tropical Dome & Reddacliff Place sculptures were all lit up maroon.

At 6pm, an exhibition Queensland RISE Academy under-14’s men’s rugby league match between RISE Maroon & RISE Silver was held. These teams are based on the Sunshine Coast where the Academy, open to boys and girls, aims to give players the tools to reach their potential. RISE Silver won 12-4.

Then at 7:30pm, the pre-match entertainment began. Indigenous performances & a light and pyrotechnic show featuring Aussie legend, Shannon Noll, featured (though the Indigenous performances only featured in the broadcast background & Shannon Noll, not at all). QLD Origin greats, Wally Lewis & Darren Lockyer concluded the pre-match entertainment by bringing out the State Of Origin shield, accompanied by junior rugby league players from both states, onto the ground for the stadium crowd of 52,433 and the multi-million sized TV audience.

The Nine Network again showed the team line-ups with pre-recorded footage of the respective states’ iconic bridges in the background lit up in their team’s colours, complete with computer-generated fireworks. The Story Bridge lit up maroon complete was shown again later.

A surprise drone show on Brisbane’s Southbank Parklands near the Victoria Bridge featured in the lead-up to the match, broadcast on TV on delay (so it happened before 8pm), It featured 3 sequences. First, was the words ‘STATE OF ORIGIN’, with the latter word in maroon and the 2 former words in blue, above a italised ‘2‘. in the colours of green & orange. Second, was a blue rugby league ball flying in between the game’s goalposts, orange in colour with a white ‘dot’, planted on a strip of grass. And lastly, the chant of QLD pride, ‘QUEENSLANDER!’ in plain white.

The customary Welcome To Country, conducted by Ashley Ruska and performance of the National Anthem, sung by Amy Lehpamer, then immediately preceded the main match,

Anyway, to the game. Disaster at the start for NSW. Tom Trobojevic sustained a pectoral injury a few minutes into the game, ruling him out for the rest of the match.

Up until the 8th minute of the match, when the first try was given, the Premiers of both states had not resumed ‘The Bet’, so the Sydney Harbour Bridge will not be lit maroon for at least 35 minutes on Friday 14th of July 2023 despite losing the series. This may a result of the NSW Election held on 25 March. Since the election, the new Premier, Chris Minns, has been reluctant to lit up the Sydney Opera House for significant occasions due to cost & over-use (the latter we tend to agree with). It would not be a surprise if his policy has been applied to the Sydney Harbour Bridge too.

So it looks like ‘The Bet’ was a 1-year wonder under NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet (QLD Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk has been taunting NSW into ‘The Bet’ for years but did not follow through on it when NSW won) who has been the only NSW Premier to follow through on the bet if the state lost. As you can tell above, he lost the election 8 months later – coincidence? Probably…maybe.

However, ‘The Bet’, despite no-one following through on it until 2022, has been called off before. In 2020, ‘The Bet’ did not occur due to diplomatic tensions between the Premiers during the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, tensions are only sporting this year, so it looks at this stage to be a new NSW policy under Chris Minns to not do ‘The Bet’. This may mean ‘The Bet’ may not occur again or at the earliest, 2027.

Anyway, bank to the game. It was a fairly even first half despite 2 controversial tries. An unconverted try by Valentine Holmes was declared by The Bunker for Queensland in the 8th minute despite near universal opinion it could not be considered a try. Even the QLD team thought it wasn’t a try! It may have met the definition of having “downward pressure”, but Holmes clearly didn’t have a grip on the ball. In the 33rd minute, Murray Taulagi also scored a converted try, which was cleared by the on-field referees & The Bunker, even though the sequence of passes, from the TV coverage, seemed to begin with a forward pass & end with 2 consecutive forward passes. At half-time, the score was 10-0 in favour of Queensland.

During half-time, a Little Origin match was held between Burrowes State School & Morayfield East State School.

Queenland turned it up a notch in the 2nd half, outplaying New South Wales frequently. There’s no controversies regarding the tries in the 2nd half. Queensland scored a converted try first in the 44th minute by Valentine Holmes. New South Wales’ Payne Haas assumed the ball would bounce in his favour in the 50th minute & when it didn’t, it allowed Queensland’s Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow to follow through with a clear path to the try line to score a unconverted try, seemingly sealing the victory for Queensland. A faint glimmer of hope appeared for New South Wales when Damien Cook found a flaw in Queensland’s defence in the 57th minute & took the opportunity to score New South Wales’s only try, which was converted. It was just a mistake on Queensland’s part as they responded with conviction with 2 more converted tries as New South Wales fell asleep. Xavier Coates scored in the 64th minute, to again seal the victory, while Jeremiah Nanai took advantage of a free ball laying beyond the try line after a collision in mid-air between 2 New South Welshmen (Josh Addo-Carr & Damien Cook, the latter had catched the ball just prior to the collison) to not just celebrate the victory but to confirm it.

It was pain in New South Wales’ wounds. New South Wales were making crucial unlucky errors like passing the ball out of play & tactical errors like letting themselves being tackled on the last tackle and thus, losing possession & any possible field gains.

Then with 22 seconds to go, an argument broke out between the 2 sides as the players grabbed each other’s collars. New South Wales’s Josh Addo-Carr was spotted by the referees throwing a punch and was promptly sent to the sin-bin for the remainder of the match. His teammate, Jarome Luai & Queensland’s Reece Walsh were found, in the slow motion television replays, to be headbutting each other, twice by the latter while the former had the most powerful. Both were sent off for the remainder of the match.

The final score was Queensland 32-6 New South Wales.

All successful conversions were kicked by Valentine Holmes for Queensland & Stephen Crichton for New South Wales.

Lindsay Collins was player of the match.

Proud’s an understatement. This group of players… just, just keep raising the bar & we have seen some great Queensland victories & great Queensland performances, but the adversity – and different adversity this time, um, that come from the opposition. You know they, they applied the pressure in that 1st half & you know, we were defending our try line. Um, they would make line breaks & we’d come up with some big plays including the one from the guy (Daly-Cheery Evans) sitting next to me & and then, the 12 other Queenslanders backed him up and got back there & defended their try line & there’s no excuses in this team. There’s no, there’s no, worrying about what’s just happened. It’s, it’s just about getting on with the job and um, being resilient & that’s what the people of Queensland do so we try & reflect that.

Queensland coach, Billy Slater.

I thought at the end of the game, when I looked at the score & I thought “Wow!”, you know like… It’s a sign our opponent was a good team because I didn’t think we were that far out of the game & we got beat by, you know, 4 or 5 tries so yeah for the, you know, outside the moments that they, you know, scored the tries, I thought we competed & we fought hard & I was happy with the rest of it – just couldn’t save the tries & weren’t good enough to convert our opportunities.

New South Wales coach, Brad Fittler.

The question now is can Queensland win the 1st whitewash (3-0 series victory) since 2010?

Game 3 will be held at Sydney’s Stadium Australia on Wednesday, July 12 at 8:05pm AEST & the deciding finale – with a current 8-point difference – of an expanded 2-game Women’s State Of Origin is tomorrow at 7:45pm at North Queensland Stadium in Townsville.