“We all want to win the series. They don’t write ‘NSW came close to winning’ on the shield. It says Queensland won.”
Trust NSW winger Jarryd Hayne to sum up his side’s mentality heading into next week’s State of Origin decider.
As the Blues’ most experienced player, Hayne has been witness to Queensland’s unprecedented spell of dominance more than any other player to don the sky blue – a mere spectator as the Maroons created history with six straight series wins.
If anyone knows the difference between winning and losing, it’s Hayne. And he’s had enough.
“We know we’re close and we have been close before,” he said.
“But it’s about winning this game.”
The decider.
Few sporting contests can rival Origin for its ferocity, emotion – and despite Queensland’s recent run of success – the evenness of its combatants.
But there’s Origin, and then there’s Origin deciders, a winner takes all bout which divides a seaboard.
Of the 13 previous deciders, the Maroons have emerged victorious nine times – including the last three in 2006, 2008 and 2012 when they blasted the Blues off the park in the opening half hour.
It’s a testament to Queensland’s ability to deliver in the clutch, and it’s hardly surprising that in four of those wins either Wally Lewis or Allan Langer claimed man of the match honours.
Origin loves a champion, and it loves a grandstand finish to send off its greatest performers.
Lewis quit Origin with a decider, and though he told his teammates beforehand, it wasn’t announced to the Lang Park crowd until late in the second half.
The emotion lifted the Maroons as they charged home from 12-8 down to win on the back of Mal Meninga’s late conversion, the only successful goal kick of the night.
Meninga’s 1994 farewell didn’t go to plan, but it was a memorable night for another Origin legend as Ben Elias grabbed man of the match honours in his final game for the Blues, a 27-12 win at Suncorp Stadium.
Langer had seemingly left Origin a winner when he led the Maroons to a series-clinching victory in 1998, only for the little champion to return for another epic decider in 2001 when he spoiled what was NSW legend Brad Fittler’s Origin swansong.
Having seen Langer do it and with a little coaxing from Blues coach Phil Gould, Fittler ensured he left Origin on the right note when he returned for the final two games in 2004, including the series decider in Sydney when he scored the last try of the game.
Andrew Johns was similarly hauled out of nowhere for the last two games of the 2005 series – and he proceeded to produce a two-game performance by which Origin greats are judged – including a series-winning 32-10 demolition in his finale in Brisbane.
Then there’s the irrepressible Darren Lockyer.
He didn’t want to make it about him, but his teammates and the crowd couldn’t help it as they turned last year’s decider into a Maroon love-in with a withering opening spell.
This year it’s Petero Civoniceva’s turn to say goodbye.
History would dictate a happy ending for the Maroons legend, but it would seem the Blues have had their share of being a part of history.