He scored the decisive try in his only State of Origin match, before a cruel twist of fate ended his NSW career. 🖥️ The Decider | Exclusive, Live and Free on Channel 9 and 9Now. Origin NRL
David Peachey scored the match-winning try in his only State of Origin appearance, at Stadium Australia in Game One of the 2000 series.
With Smith out with an elbow injury, Ballin started at hooker in Queensland's 28-24 win, the first time Queensland had won a series-opener at Homebush. With the Maroons clinging to a two-point lead, Blues fullback Phil Sigsworth tried to pass to Duke in his own in-goal. Duke fumbled the ball, watching in horror as Wally Lewis pounced to score a simple try."I've forgotten about it - I wish you would," he told media years later.Paul HarrisJarrod Mullen played his only State of Origin match as a 20-year-old in Game One of the 2007 series.
Despite appearing in more than 200 first grade games for Newcastle up until 2016, he never again donned the Blues jumper. Despite assurances from coach Wayne Bennett that he'd played well on debut, Sattler found himself out of the squad for the final match of the series three weeks later. "It turned out that Farah and our big men rolled out some big minutes so I was grateful to Ricky that he got me on.
That match saw the Paul Vautin-coached Queensland team score a 20-12 victory to take an unlikely 2-0 series lead, in a year when Super-League aligned players weren't considered for selection. While playing for Manly in 2003, Hopoate used a false name to play fifth-grade rugby union, while in 2005 he was suspended for 17 weeks after knocking out Keith Galloway. He was later banned for 12 months for threatening an official at a junior rugby league match.
A horror run with injuries in subsequent years left him with little chance of regaining his spot. The final match of the 2010 season saw him suffer a knee injury that sidelined him for nine months, while his 2011 season lasted just eight minutes when he badly tore his groin in his first game back from the knee reconstruction.Dumped to NSW Cup by Canberra coach Ricky Stuart in 2014, he finished his career in England.
After retiring from the game, he spent seven years as the NRL's match review co-ordinator, and he's currently the Australian Oztag director of coaching.Owen Cunningham's single State of Origin match came in Game Three of the 1996 series at Suncorp Stadium, a match that saw New South Wales secure a 3-0 clean sweep.His Origin career, however, came to an abrupt halt after 1996, when he joined the rebel Super League competition for 1997.
Lang's final match as a player was in the 1980 Grand Final at the SCG, when his Eastern Suburbs side went down to Canterbury 18-4. A broken leg in the opening round of the 2012 season compounded his misery. He became something of a nomad after that, with stints at Cronulla, Parramatta, the Roosters and Gold Coast before retiring in 2019.Another who played his only State of Origin match in Game Three of a series, Keith Galloway ran out for the Blues at Suncorp Stadium in 2011.
A fixture in New South Wales teams through the 1970s, Raudonikis captained the Blues in the inaugural Origin match at Lang Park. He was impressive on debut, playing the full 80 minutes and kicking four goals, despite the Maroons going down 26-20 in the series decider at ANZ Stadium. Named the Dally M Rookie of the Year in 2009, Idris found himself lining up for New South Wales the following season.
He re-joined the Panthers for 2014, but was stood down midway through the season to deal with personal issues, including depression and alcohol abuse. He returned for another stint as coach in 1989-90, taking out the 1989 series 3-0 before going down 2-1 the following year.
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