Official Magazine of Queensland’s Former Origin Greats MAGAZINE EDITION 27 AUTUMN 2015 A MESSAGE FROM THE EXECUTIVE CHAIRMAN RESILIENCE and perseverance While the two eras are poles “It is never about who has are qualities we all sometimes apart in many respects, there are the best players,” Fatty says. also a number of parallels between could use more of. “It’s about who can get the In the movie Rocky Balboa, the two, outside of their obvious Rocky’s son complains to his passion for the Maroons jumper. best out of themselves.” father that his job and his life have In both instances, Vautin and Or, as Balboa might say, how just become too hard. Meninga were rookie Origin hard you can get hit and keep The boxer replies with his coaches walking into situations moving forward. famous line that “life is not about most thought were hopeless. Developing that persistence how many times you get hit. It’s In both instances, Queensland and perseverance is one of the key about how many times you can get was staring at the indignity of a attributes of our successful ARTIE fourth successive series defeat hit and keep moving forward”. Academy program, which against star-studded NSW teams. They are words that ring as true reinforces to kids the importance And both teams had to stand in rugby league as they do in of education and attending school strong as the heavy hits kept to young indigenous students. boxing, particularly when it comes coming their way, moving forward The ARTIE Academy shows to Queenslanders at State of inch by inch until finally the time Origin time. was right for them to deliver the them that the easiest path is not Queenslanders have always had knock-out blows their opponents often the best one, and how the the reputation for never giving in, never saw coming. greatest victories are the ones you for being able to find that little bit In 1995, it was guys like Terry have to fight hardest to get. extra to give, to keep working hard Cook, Craig Teevan, Ben Ikin, It may be easier to skip school and moving forward until Matt Sing, Wayne Bartim, Tony and go hang out with your mates, somehow some hope is uncovered Hearn and Danny Moore being but the victory of a better life built from hopelessness. asked to stand alongside a handful on the back of a good education is Being asked to pull on a of veterans and deliver more for one that is worth fighting for. Queensland jumper means you are Queensland than they had to give. I am pleased that our funding being asked to look inside yourself In 2006, while names like for the ARTIE Academy, while and find a way to get the job done, Lockyer, Smith, Price, Civoniceva, reduced, has been renewed again even when it seems the gods, the Inglis, Tate, Thurston and Hodges by the Federal Government. odds and luck have all ganged up are easy to recall for their roles, it At a time when a number of against you. should never be overlooked the service providers have had their contribution that guys like Steve This edition of Queenslander funding cut completely, we are Bell, Clinton Schifcofske, Rhys Magazine is a tribute to that fortunate that the government fighting spirit – the Queensland Wesser and Adam Mogg made to that series win that changed our has been able to see the results spirit – by celebrating two Origin destiny. and impact the ARTIE Academy significant milestones in our Those guys answered when has achieved are worthy of their Origin history. Queensland called, just like the backing. This year marks the 10th guys in 1995 had done. They dug The fight for us at FOGS is to series of Mal Meninga’s reign as deep and got the job done. build on that success and keep Queensland coach, and an A line from Fatty Vautin moving forward. incredible 20 years since Paul probably sums up Queensland’s Vautin’s Maroons produced the resilience and perseverance when GENE MILES greatest upset in Origin history faced with huge challenges like we Executive Chairman with a series clean-sweep in 1995. faced in 1995 and 2006. www.fogs.com.au 3. FROM THE COACH’S DESK With Queensland Coach Mal Meninga OUR MISSION REMAINS THE SAME Last year’s State of Origin series result does not make I would expect all of our players to be self-motivated our assignment in 2015 any easier, or any more by just performing to their best every time they wear the difficult. Queensland jersey. Beating the Blues, especially with only one game at Certainly for me as coach though, there are quite a few home at Suncorp Stadium this year – in Game 3 – is going reasons to get excited about what lies ahead this series. to take a lot of hard work, commitment and a fair share of For a start, there is the rare opportunity of having our luck as well. senior players coming into camp feeling fresher after a There has been no knee-jerk reaction from us after our genuine off-season. first series loss since 2005. Through a variety of injuries, a number of our Test regulars were not available for last year’s Four Nations, meaning they were given time to recuperate and refresh – and they will bring more energy to Origin than they have been able to muster in previous years. Secondly, our Emerging Origin squad members continue to push for selection, and it is always an enjoyable experience being able to hand a Queenslander their first Maroon Origin jersey. Guys like Dane Gagai, Dale Copley, Michael Morgan, Josh McGuire, Dylan Napa, Korbin Sims, Gavin Cooper and Dave Tyrrell are among the players I hope would be seeing We were all obviously disappointed, but once again, I themselves as a good was very pleased and very comfortable with the effort and chance of playing for passion shown by the team in all three games of the series. Queensland this year. Ultimately, we were beaten by a very committed NSW We have some talent team who executed their game plan better than us in the coming through, there first two games. is no doubt about it. Regardless of the result, we are always trying And I think to improve the program, and have it recent years continuously evolving. We don’t want to be have shown caught out standing still. that if guys like them are producing the I think there is a fresh challenge ahead of our senior guys, with the opportunity to win back the shield and, for quality and the first time in a long time, playing without the weight consistency of expectation that naturally comes with a winning streak required, then the like they had. opportunities will come their way. That will help in their mental preparation. But at the I think back to last year and we had guys like Josh same time, that is something that I would hope I don’t Papalii, Aiden Guerra and Will Chambers all step up and have to push too much. take their chances well when they arrived. Pictures: Courtesy News Queensland Courtesy News Pictures: 4. www.fogs.com.au Those guys have taken the first step towards being the players that the Queensland team will be built around for years to come. The challenge for me and the rest of the Queensland staff is to ensure that the players are given the best op- portunity to prepare as well as they can and play to their ability. The excitement That comes down to the environment we provide, is already and managing things like workloads, fatigue and building. I mental freshness. can’t wait But at the end of the day, the players are the ones for it to get started that run on field. They understand what their roles again. and responsibilities are. They just have to get stuck into it. www.fogs.com.au 5. LAURENCE EALES ANOTHER SUCCESSFUL QUEENSLANDER Laurence Eales, originally from North Queensland, owns and manages one of Australia’s top national Shown Above: Eales Racing businesses, EA Hire and has been a racing enthusiast his entire life. 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