'We will continue to do our best to make you proud each and every game'

Dear Queenslanders,

When I say the word ‘Queenslander’, I automatically think of maroon and I automatically think of all of our sporting teams, particularly our State of Origin team. The glorious Queensland Maroons.

Being a Queenslander, I think we’re very proud people, I believe we’re very loyal people and I also think we’re very giving as well.

We’re a group of people who, when someone is in a bit of trouble, we’re more than happy to help out. And likewise, if someone is having some good times, we’re happy to share in that celebration as well.

We’re nice and relaxed, kind-hearted people, but fiercely protective of our state – particularly of our sporting teams. Particularly of the Maroons.

Me, I was born in Rockhampton, but then moved to Ipswich very young and so rugby league started for me at Booval Swifts.

We had a football field just 100 metres down the road, so all five boys trotted down and started there. I had to wait a couple of years before I started there in under 7s with my twin brother Kerrod.

We were brought up on rugby league in the winter and cricket in the summer.

That was our life and I’m very grateful that was our life because I ended up, obviously, playing professional rugby league for 15 years and now, of course, coaching for 20 years.

Rugby league has been a huge part of my life and I am just so thankful that my mum and dad suggested we go down the road and join the footy club.

There was lots of backyard footy in our household too. With five brothers, we were always playing after school or on weekends.

The Langers used to drop around every couple of weeks for a barbecue, or what not, and they would join in as well. There was four of those boys. So, there were some good battles in the backyard.

That’s where we learned a lot of our skills. In the backyard. Because it was pretty full on – tackle all the time.

I think my mother, mum and dad, actually invented two things within the game.

One was the sin bin. She would put the hose on someone if someone got a bit heavy handed and you’d have to sit on the sideline for a bit, while you cooled down.

And the other one was floodlights. Dad put a floodlight in the backyard so we could play all day, before dinner, and even after dinner. Mum would often yell out and say ‘come up and do your homework’ and we’d say, ‘we’re doing our homework’.

We were very fortunate, obviously, all of us, to have the upbringing that we did and you know, opening up the doors that it did for us with rugby league.

We used to always try and be one of the players playing at the time.

I remember, in those days, most of what we got on television was from the New South Wales rugby league competition in Sydney.

So my eldest brother Brett was Bob Fulton; Stephen, who was his favourite player? Rod Reddy. Andrew was Tim Pickup, Kerrod was Terry Randle and I was Tommy Raudonikis.

Yeah, good times, really good times.

I certainly remember Origin for us, as kids. We were at the first Origin game. My brother was playing in the curtain raiser, Brett, in the under 18s game.

We had always been really proud Queenslanders and I remember watching the interstate games, and we would get beaten quite convincingly.

And then when Origin came in, I remember sitting around the table and picking out our teams.

Not only for that, but also for the City versus Country games that used to happen at Lang Park in those days. Then we’d pick our Queensland team out of that.

Just waiting, in high anticipation, every year, for the team to be announced, and how we went with our selections.

It’s quite ironic now that I’m actually part of that. It is funny how things evolve and how things happen. I feel really proud and really privileged that the team we do select, I’ve got an influence over. More so that the piece of paper I used to give dad and talk about around the table.

When it came to Queensland, for me, as a kid, it was all about Wally Lewis.

Wally Lewis was every Queensland kid’s hero, and Mal Meninga.

Arthur Beetson… certainly when he came back to captain Queensland in the first ever Origin game, that was something that will always stay in my mind. When he ran out and the roar that went up that the Queensland people made, was unbelievable.

Certainly Chris Close, these sorts of players. Rod Morris, John Lang, all these guys were really instrumental for us, they were our heroes, you know.

To actually one day meet them and play against them, and play with them, was just something that didn’t seem real at the time.

I was first called into the Queensland team late. In 1988.

I was just on standby for one of the players. For Gene Miles, who was a bit crook, and they weren’t sure if he was going to play. So I came in as a bit of an 18th man. I didn’t play in that game.

Then the next year, in ’89, for Game III, I got called in and Mal was ruled out with an injury the night before the game, so I only spent a couple of days with the team and then on game day I was like, ‘this is ridiculous’, you know.

But my brother Kerrod had been selected in 1989 for Game I, Game II and Game III, and I remember sitting at home watching in Canberra, because I was playing for the Raiders at the time, and it didn’t seem real that Kerrod and Alf, these guys, were playing Origin.

It was pretty daunting, I’ve got to say, coming in.

But then, time goes by, and you get to play a few more games, and yeah, it’s a great feeling.

Pulling on the jersey for the first time was amazing. Again, it didn’t feel real.

You look around and see the faces in the room and think ‘this can’t be happening’, you know. Obviously it was.

It was just a great experience. I was really nervous because all of these guys were my heroes growing up. What made it a bit easier was the fact that Alf and Kerrod were in the team.

Running out for the first time, in ’89, I’d sat and watched 75, 76 minutes. I only got on for the last few minutes, but when I ran on it was just a great feeling, a great experience.

You know, that first run, first tackle, in the Maroons jersey is very special. And really, it didn’t change much over my time.

During my time in Origin camps over the years, one of the main things I remember in the early days was the promotions with XXXX. They were always a lot of fun.

We would be teamed up with a XXXX rep and we would pub crawl, basically.

Some of us would be sent to the northern suburbs, some to the south, some to the east and some to the west. Split up in groups of four or five. You’d go out to these pubs, four or five pubs, and you’d just mix with the publicans and all of the people in the hotels.

It gave us a really strong sense of how much Origin meant to the people – to you.

That’s my big driver. You know, it means a lot to a lot of people, but certainly the fans – you - are the ones that drive me. Because of your support and how much you actually love this Queensland team.

It’s not just Queensland Maroons, it’s every Queensland team.

People want every Queensland team to do well and expect them to do well as well, because you know what? They’re Queenslanders. They’re wearing maroon.

Those XXXX promotions are a good memory for me. And also, in the early days, with Wally Lewis. Wally used to always drive the team bus. It was a mini bus and he was a really 'good driver'. Those bus trips were great to get to know team mates.

Peter Jackson was my first roommate and I spent a lot of time with Alf during Origin as well.

It was always fun. And you know, that was the thing with the Queensland team, you always stayed in really nice hotels, which was the idea of Tosser Turner, who was the great manager.

He wanted the Queensland players to come in and get a really unique and special experience. Staying at the best hotels, eating the best food. And then training at great facilities, which would make it really special when Origin time came around.

You were getting really well looked after and in return, you played the game of your life on game night. It made good sense to me.

But, the biggest highlight for me over the years would be the ’98 series. In Game I. It’s hard to split between that one and the Mark Coyne try. The miracle try in 1994. I was on the field when that happened. We came back from behind in that game to win.

And at the Sydney Football Stadium in 1998, when the two competitions came back together, in the NRL, and we won Game I in Sydney against a lot of odds, was a really special feeling.

I really loved playing for Queensland. Do I have some regrets about some of my games for Queensland? Yep. I didn’t play to the best of my ability. And that’s one of the things that really irks me now, is that, sometimes, in some games, I didn’t play my best football. That annoys me. 

You never really get comfortable when you’re given your Maroons jersey because you understand, you know, what’s at stake.

You’re not only playing for yourself and your family and friends, but the whole state. I felt that as a player and certainly now as a coach.

That’s one of my passions, and one thing that drives me, is that regardless of the result, that everyone walks away from the television, or the game, wherever the game is, feeling really proud to be a Queenslander.

That has been my mantra since the day that I took over as Queensland Maroons coach, and certainly from a playing point of view, that was my way of thinking as well. Not letting anyone down and just do your best. Every time.

As a coach, the biggest highlight for me was Johnathan Thurston’s goal in 2017 to tie up the series. And then the following game, up here at Suncorp, Game III of 2017, that was a really special moment as well. To come from behind and win the series.

And Game I here in 2019, with Kalyn Ponga’s first game at fullback. It was the transition finished from my point of view and we got a really good glimpse of how good this current Queensland team can be.

As I’ve said, I feel really privileged with what’s happening with me with my career with playing Origin, and being fortunate enough to be on the coaching staff as an assistant coach and now in my role as head coach.

The last four years have been something else.

From the moment that I was named as coach, my life really changed.

I knew that it would change, but everywhere I go, people talk to me. People tell me I need to get this Queensland team going.

With the job comes the expectation Queensland will go out and play to a level where everyone can be proud of.

And as I’ve said, that drives me as the coach of the current team, because everywhere that I go, whether it’s Queensland, or New South Wales, or Victoria, or Western Australia, everyone wants to know about Origin.

That makes me feel really, really privileged, that I’m involved.

I simply love the passion of our Queensland fans – of you.

Certainly I love the support that we get right across the state. And even in New South Wales, when we travel down there, I just love the passion for the game.

Your continual support drives the team.

I know when we go on our fan days out to the regional towns, the support and encouragement, and the love that the players get from people – of all different ages, from little babies right through to grandmas and grandads, really makes it a special state and a special time to be involved in Origin.

The future for Queensland is very bright. Very, very bright.

I’m really excited about our pathways and the younger players coming through. We’ve got some of the best 18, 19, 20-year-olds coming through, in the world.

So, you know, that’s very exciting from my point of view because those players will transition through and into our Origin team.

Origin has always been about the best players and I believe, as a Queenslander, we’ve got the best players in the country.

I have no messages for New South Wales, it’s all about Queensland for me.

Keep doing what you do Queenslanders and I promise you, we will continue to do our best to make you proud each and every game.

Kind regards,

Kevie Walters

FOG #63