1988 Rugby League State of Origin series

Infobox_State_of_Origin_series
year = 1988


count = 5th series
imagesize = 100px
caption = Logo of the Australian Rugby League
winners =
margin = 3-0
points = 126
attendance = 75168
top points scorer = (28 points)
top try scorer = (4 tries)The 1988 State of Origin series was the 9th annual Australian Rugby League State of Origin series between New South Wales and Queensland.

Queensland enjoyed their first ever 3–0 series whitewash mirroring a feat New South Wales had first achieved two years earlier. The series produced an ugly and enduring Origin image when in game II the parochial Queensland crowd showered the Lang Park playing arena with beer cans in protest at the sin-binning of their captain Wally Lewis.__TOC__

Games

Game One

rugbyleaguebox
bg = #eeeeee
date = May 17, 1988
report = [http://stats.rleague.com/rl/soo/game22.html (Report)]
team1 =
team2 =
score = 26–18
points1 = (10 - 1 t, 2 g) Gary Belcher
(4 - 1 t) Peter Jackson
(4 - 1 t) Alan McIndoe
(8 - 2 t) Allan Langer
points2 = Michael O'Connor (10 - 1 t, 3 g)
Andrew Ettingshausen (4 - 1 t)
Mark McGaw (4 - 1 t)
stadium =Sydney Football Stadium
attendance = 26,441
referee= Barry Gomersall
manofmatch= Allan Langer

Coming into the 1988 opener, Queensland had not yet experienced an Origin match without Wally Lewis. Supporters were stunned when he was ruled out of game I with a shoulder injury. He had captained the Maroons on 20 occasions (out of 21 appearances) and won eight man-of-the-match awards, establishing himself as an Origin great. The selectors' answer to his absence was Peter Jackson the Canberra Raiders' resident comic who prided himself on wisecracks and high jinks. However Jackson had honed his organisational and kicking skills at Canberra and was ready to fill Lewis' role. He accepted the responsibility thrust upon him and played the game of his life. Fullback Gary Belcher provided support with general play kicking and pint-sized Allan Langer provided the attacking thrust. Jackson was a natural tackler and together with stand-in captain Paul Vautin led with words of inspiration.

New South Wales had expected to dominate in the encounter but were flat from the outset. In the first-ever Origin game held at the newly built Sydney Football Stadium the Maroons seized upon what Vautin termed the "neutral atmosphere". Langer scampered across the line twice to give Queensland a 12-6 lead at half-time and after the break the procession of Queensland tries continued. Jackson, Belcher and Origin debutant Alan McIndoe all scored to give the Maroons an unassailable 26-6 lead before two late tries to Andrew Ettingshausen and Mark McGaw earned New South Wales some respectability on the scoreboard.

Game Two

rugbyleaguebox
bg = #eeeeee
date = May 31, 1988
report = [http://stats.rleague.com/rl/soo/game23.html (Report)]
|team1 =
team2 =
score = 16–6
points1 = (4 - 1 t) Sam Backo
(4 - 1 t) Allan Langer
(8 - 4 g) Gary Belcher
points2 = Michael O'Connor (6 - 1t, 1 g)
stadium = Lang Park
attendance = 31,817
referee= Mick Stone
manofmatch= Sam Backo

New South Wales played with passion, looked the better side in game II and were leading 6-4 with 18 minutes to go. Then Wally Lewis was banished to the sin-bin by referee Mick Stone for dissent after a scuffle between Phil Daley and Greg Conescu develeped into an all-in brawl. The parochial Queensland crowd was outraged and with their hero Lewis in the sheds the ground was showered with beer cans amid chants of "send Stone off".

After order was restored the complexion of the game changed. The Blues were visibly rattled and a minute after play resumed big Maroon prop Sam Backo crashed over to give Queensland a 10-6 lead. When Allan Langer later clinched the game at 16-6 and the series by taking an inside pass from Conescu to score, Lewis by now back from his exile, carried Langer back from the Blues' tryline in jubilation.

Game Three

rugbyleaguebox
bg = #eeeeee
date = June 21, 1988
report = [http://stats.rleague.com/rl/soo/game24.html (Report)]
team1 =
team2 =
score = 38–22
points1 = (10 - 5 g) Gary Belcher
(4 - 1 t) Peter Jackson
(4 - 1 t) Joe Kilroy
(4 - 1 t) Wally Lewis
(4 - 1 t) Allan Langer
(8 - 2 t) Sam Backo
(4 - 1 t) Brett French
points2 = John Ferguson (4 - 1 t)
Wayne Pearce (4 - 1 t)
Steve Hanson (4 - 1 t)
Michael O'Connor (10 - 1 t, 3 g)
stadium = Sydney Football Stadium
attendance = 16,910
referee= Barry Gomersall
manofmatch= Sam Backo

Game III of 1988 was barely a contest and the feeble Sydney crowd of 16,910 reflected as much. With the series already decided, both teams opened up in a game of entertaining, free-flowing football. Queensland were unstoppable and Sam Backo grabbed a try double as the Maroons raced in seven tries to whip the Blues 38–22. Queensland had swept New South Wales 3–0 in their maiden whitewash.

Teams

New South Wales

Queensland

ources

* "Big League's 25 Years of Origin Collectors' Edition" , News Magazines, Surry Hills, Sydney

External links

* [http://www.sportsphotography.net/rugbyleague/1988/origin/index.html 1988 State of Origin at sportsphotography.net]