Dear Queenslanders,
Being a Queenslander, I know it’s a bit cliché, but it’s a boyhood dream. That’s what it is, to me, to be a Queenslander.
As I grew up the only night I was allowed to stay up late was to watch State of Origin footy.
I will never forget the moment mum said she was going to sign me up to play rugby league. I was seven years old. We were living in Toowoomba at the time.
Mum was in the lounge room, and I was standing up… she said out of nowhere, ‘I’m going to sign you up to play rugby league’. I remember looking at the TV and seeing a footy game being played. It was a Bulldogs versus Wests game on. And it was literally from that moment, all I ever wanted to do was be a footballer.
That’s what being a Queenslander is to me. It’s a boyhood dream.
I started at Newtown Lions. They’re not there anymore, which is really sad, but that was my first junior club. I only played there for a bit because I snapped knee cap when I was a little kid actually.
So I started there then mum moved to Redcliffe when I was eight or nine and I pretty much played most of my juniors at Redcliffe.
State of Origin, at home as a kid, was basically sitting down, excited as hell, with mum and my two sisters, just waiting for it to start.
I remember sitting in that lounge room in Toowoomba. It was a love affair at a really young age… I just remember the only night we were able to stay up was Origin night. Mate, it was so exciting, watching Dale Shearer and Wally Lewis, and all of those guys, playing for Queensland.
I immediately fell in love with it.
I always remember a thought process I had, as a kid, watching Queensland… if they ever got beaten, I’d sit there and think ‘you know what, when I get my chance I’m not going to let that happen’.
They’re the vivid childhood memories I’ve got of watching Origin.
It’s really hard to put into words what it means. What Queensland means to me. What being a Queenslander means to me. What Origin is. It’s something different and something you can’t really explain.
But at the end of the day, it’s a boyhood dream and I got to – and get to - live it.
I do remember getting my call up. My call came from Gene.
There had been a little bit of media around me possibly getting picked a little earlier, but it didn’t happen. I think I’d only played about 13 games before I played Origin so it all happened pretty quickly though.
I remember getting the call from Gene and being told I’m in it and I had to be at the old Sofitel in Brisbane at a certain time Monday morning.
Even when I went to the Sofitel I was still really conscious because, I was playing at the Broncos at the time, and there was guys like Gorden Tallis, and those sort of blokes, who would play pretty nasty jokes on some of the boys. So I wasn’t sure whether if it was a gee-up or not. Nevertheless, I was pretty excited. Pretty nervous too, to go into camp, because, I was just a kid.
Pulling on the Maroons jersey for the first time, I remember the feeling well. It was a feeling of being bulletproof, to be honest.
Brent Tate FOG #134
I think you can’t help yourself… when you pull the jersey on, you puff your chest up a little bit and flex the muscles. There’s just something about it.
I guess what it is, is the pride… when you put that jersey on, you stand tall and you stand with your head up. I think that’s what it does to you. I think it’s the pride it brings out of you.
Pulling it on for the team photo, then pulling it on for game day, was one of the best feelings. As I said, being a kid dreaming about it, then being able to put it on, was pretty special.
I will never, ever forget my debut game. I’ve got some real vivid memories.
The first time I got to run out, to actually go out on the field, I will never forget it…. 2002, third and final deciding game in Sydney.
Alf was back the year before, so I think this was his last Origin game. I was sitting on the bench and I didn’t go on until the second half.
I will never forget, the call came down from Wayne to put me on in the second half. I remember getting the interchange card and handing it to the interchange official and I had to run to the far side of the field.
I will never, ever forget, as I was running out to the far side of the field, I’d almost explain it as an outer body experience. Everything just went completely quiet. And I remember distinctly looking down at my boots, my shorts, my socks and my jersey and I remember glancing up the field and seeing the maroon wall, and the Blues attacking that line, and I remember thinking ‘holy shit, I’m playing State of Origin footy’.
And that was the first time I got really nervous and probably understood where I was. Because the whole week, I was obviously nervous at times, but just more excited to be in Origin camp.
But in that moment there, it just hit me. I thought ‘holy, I’m actually playing Origin footy’. So yeah, I went out, took my spot on the far side of the field and got into the game. It was, yeah, just a real surreal moment.
As I said, it was almost like an outer body experience. Everything just went completely quiet and I felt like I was looking down on myself.
I think the biggest highlight for me was 2006 and what that meant, and what it kicked off. Every series is important, but that year especially.
Everyone was saying ‘Origin is dead’, ‘NSW are so dominant’, ‘the concept has sort of lost its appeal’ and ‘Queensland aren’t competitive’.
Mal debuted all those young guys. Mal took over for the first time. We lost the first game in Sydney, only just. We smashed them at Suncorp and then we went to Melbourne. Everything was against us. We had Josh Hannay out of reserve grade playing for us, we had Moggy, had Clint Schifcofske at fullback. GI was out. Rhys Wesser was on the wing.
A lot of these guys hadn’t played a lot of Origin but they had to be picked because there was no one else.
Just what that game meant… it was probably the first time in my whole career I walked off a football field and felt really complete.
Just ‘you know what…. job done…. we got the job done’. And then obviously it kicked off the eight straight.
So looking back now, it’s a pretty special memory in my mind. Probably the most special and biggest highlight, for sure.
On the flip side, I did my knee playing for Queensland, the first time I did my knee. 2007 or 2008. That was a bit of a lowlight. When I first came into Origin we got beaten. We drew the series in 2002 and the next three years we got beaten. Looking back now, they were real lowlights. It was really horrible. I probably didn’t understand what it meant to play for Queensland until 2006 as well. Yeah I think those three years, getting beaten the way we did, was probably my lowlights.
But in camp, for Origin, it’s almost like a brotherhood. Gets you through the good and bad.
I remember in 2008, I hurt myself again and I had four years out with injury. In 2012, I got the opportunity to come back and play after four years. And I will never, ever forget… when I walked back into camp, it was like I’d just left camp in 2008. Nothing had changed. It was still the same crew of boys. Things were still done the same way. When I went into camp for Queensland, I just felt at home. Probably more so than any other team I ever played for, especially rep teams.
I always felt at home with the Queensland team. I thrived being in that environment.
I think one of the most memorable things was in 2006 when Mal brought everyone in to the pre-season camp for Queensland – I think 45 or 50 potential players that could play for Queensland.
We met at Royal on the Park in Queensland. We sat in there and I will never forget that Mal asked the group how we wanted to be viewed by the Queensland public. He split us up into groups and we came up with some pillars, or behaviours, around how we wanted to be viewed by the Queensland public – both on and off the field. That really struck a chord with me.
That meeting there was the basis of the success that we had the following 10 or 11 years after that because those values that we came up with that day are still used in camp now. That moment there, when Mal took over, pretty much explained to us what it meant to play for Queensland and the responsibility we had. That was a really special time.
I just think too, every training session you have for State of Origin, some days there’s hundreds, some days thousands, of people there watching you. I think that gives you a real sense of what it means to everyone… to you Queenslanders.
Especially when we used to go and do the regional visits. It was really humbling sometimes but also, I wouldn’t say it added expectation, but it certainly made you aware of the responsibility you had and how much of an impact it had on people. On you. It certainly, in a good way, turned the heat up. They’re really memorable moments, those regional trips where you go out and sign all day and not even get close to getting through half the people in those towns. It was pretty special.
I think, looking forward, the future of Queensland is bright.
I think we have a big job ahead to beat NSW this year. When you talk about the wheel, and it’s always turning, how we were so strong for so long, and now NSW are starting to be. But we’ve got a couple of guys now who have had a year or two playing Origin. So once you have a year or two playing, you get to a point where you want to start to stamp your authority on that arena.
The future is going to be bright. We’ve got some really good young players coming through, make no mistake. Whilst it’s a big challenge for us, it is every year, but even more so when you’ve got a winning formula like the Blues have at the moment. But it’s Origin and we never had a chance in 2006 either and we got the job done.
Honestly, being part of the Maroons and the 40 years of Origin history, is one of the greatest things.
When I look back on my career, it’s one of the greatest things to know I have played a part in it. And been a part of it successfully. Being part of the series run that we had, I think I got the chance to play in five of those eight years, it’s something I’m really proud of. I got to play with some of the greatest players.
One of the biggest driving factors for me was to be a FOGS Dick ‘Tosser’ Turner Medal winner. To play 20 Origins. That was a real driving factor for me, with all my injuries, throughout my career. I was hellbent on becoming a FOGS Dick ‘Tosser’ Turner Medal winner. So, in a lot of those dark days, that is what kept driving me to come back and keep playing. Now, to know that, in some way, shape or form, I’ve got my little piece of history with that, is pretty cool.
My little guy plays for Centrals here in Townsville now. I’ve coached him the last four or five years. It’s quite possibly been the most difficult thing I’ve ever done. I’m not coaching this year. I’ve handed the reigns over. But yeah, he plays for Centrals and loves it. Gets out there with his mates and has a good ‘ol time.
I don’t know if he loves league the same as I did as a kid, but he certainly can appreciate it.
We’re a big rugby league family. We always have been in some way, shape or form… now my little guy has got the bug as well. He wants to play every year and I always give him the option not to. But he’s obviously got the bug. It’s nice. I like going down to local footy on the weekend and watching him play because it brings back nice memories of how I started.
And my nephews Riley Price, here at the Townsville Blackhawks, and Kane Jackson, a little hooker down at the Bulldogs. I’m pretty proud of the family. Whether those boys go on to have long careers, whether they make it or they don’t, I’m proud of them because they’re having a red hot crack. And I’ve got my niece playing for the GWS Giants and Australian Diamonds, so we’re a bit of a sporting family. We celebrate all the successes along the way. It’s always really nice.
Always good to have successful Queenslanders.
Just finishing though, I’d love to thank the people of Queensland, to thank you, for the support you always gave us. Sometimes you don’t get an opportunity to thank the people who go out and buy tickets and go to the footy, watch and support you.
At the end of the day, when you’re doing it tough, and you’re playing and you look up and hear the crowds, that’s what sometimes gives you the extra boost to make a run or do something in the game.
So, thank you. Thanks for all the support over the years.
Kind regards,
Brent Tate
FOG #134
