ORIGIN FEVER ALIVE AND WELL IN TOUCH FOOTBALL HEARTLAND
With Darren Lockyer lifting the rugby league State of Origin trophy once again and giving Queensland back to back series victories, New South Wales Touch Football players have already begun preparing for their own battle to restore pride in the sky blue jersey and get one back in Australia’s fiercest interstate rivalry.
The ninth Touch Football State of Origin series isn’t set to take place until mid-2008 but already players and officials alike are getting excited about what is arguably one of the sport’s showcase events.
The series is currently biennial.
Last year New South Wales won the series for the second consecutive time.
New South Wales are ahead on the ledger, leading Queensland in championship titles 5-3.
In 2008 New South Wales will be looking to complete only the second three-peat of Touch Football State of Origin titles in the tournament’s history.
New South Wales will be aided by a home-ground advantage but you can be sure that Queensland will be doing everything in its power to stop its archrivals and take the trophy north of the border for the first time since 2002.
On Saturday June 16, 2007, Queensland coaches met in Brisbane to begin preparation for what is sure to be a hotly contested series.
Mark Ruggeri (Men’s Open), Karley Banks (Women’s Open), Dan Evans (Mixed Open), Tony O’Keefe (Men’s 20) and Frank Bondolfi (Women’s 20) attended the meeting that began preliminary planning for the open and 20 Years Divisions.
Mentors have been assigned to some of Queensland’s brightest Coaching talents with Mark Ruggeri (Men’s open) being mentored by former legendary Queensland and Australian Touch Football Coach National Hall of Fame member, Peter Mc Neven.
Karley Banks (Women’s Open) will benefit enormously from the influence of Australia’s most prolific coach at World Cup level, Former Queensland and Australian Women’s Open Coach and National Hall of Fame recipient, Peter Bell, who Banks spent her formative years under as a club and representative player.
Dan Evans (Mixed Open) will be given wise counsel by current Australian Mixed Open Coach Gary Madders, whilst Frank Bondolfi (Women’s 20s) will be able to tap into the knowledge and experience of Former Queensland Women’s and World Cup winning Australian Open Coach and another National Hall of Fame member, Kerry Norman.
Current National Men’s 20s Coach Kathy O’Brien will mentor Queensland Men’s 20s Coach Tony O’Keefe.
The appointed coaches will work closely with their mentors, coaching staff, selection panels, and each other in the lead-up to the 2008 State of Origin series.
The Queensland squads will be selected after the Queensland State Championships in Toowoomba, 5 –7 October 2007.
Initial New South Wales squads have already been announced. The squads are selected twice a year after the National Touch League in March, and again after the New South Wales Touch Association (NSWTA) State Cup on 7 – 9 December, 2007.
The NSWTA reported that the process of selecting squads twice in the year allowed for more transparency in the selection process and provided greater opportunity for coaches and selectors to monitor player performance throughout the year in an open environment.
John Howard, President of the NSWTA said he was sure New South Wales is confident NSW will continue its dominance next year.
“We’ve got a good group of young players and older players coming along. Last year the feeling among all the teams was great, and I’m sure we’ll repeat that again, especially with it being in New South Wales,” Howard said.
Howard has been involved in State of Origin for the past seven years. He has extensive coaching experience, most recently mentoring the Australian 30 Years Team at the World Cup in Stellenbosch, South Africa in January this year.
In 2006 Howard coached the successful New South Wales Men’s 45 Years team.
He believes New South Wales hold a distinct advantage in the senior age groups.
One of the players that starred in the Men’s 45s team last year, and has been selected again in this year’s preliminary squad, is former Australian Kangaroo Cliff Lyons.
Lyons has been involved in Touch Football since he finished his professional rugby league career, being a regular participant at the National Touch League Senior Tournament in Coffs Harbour annually.
The crafty five-eight and former Clive Churchill medallist and Dally M winner knows all about New South Wales’ rivalry with Queensland, having played six rugby league State of Origin matches with the Blues.
Lyons is honoured to still be able to represent his state 20 years after first playing for New South Wales.
“I think it would mean a lot for New South Wales to win [the Touch Football State of Origin] again. We are hoping to keep our dominance. Queensland will be out to attain the trophy and they’ll be desperate,” he said.
Lyons said New South Wales would be looking to put some pride back in the Blue jersey after Queensland won its second rugby league State of Origin title and fourth game in a row.
“I’m sure that will be on the minds of the New South Wales players,” he said.
New South Wales will be led by the likes of Australian World Cup heroes Jason Stanton, Garry Sonda, Steve Roberts, Joel Willoughby, and Jamie Stowe (Men’s Open), Twins Amanda and Kristy Judd, Louise and Clare Winchester, Rachel Holden, Stacey Lapham, and Bo De La Cruz (Women’s Open), David Cheung and Tim Kitchingham (Men’s 40s) and Tony Eltakchi (Men’s 30s).
Queensland is also sure to boast a lot of talent when its squads are announced.
Queensland lifted two of the three Open Divisions at the last State of Origin Series and will be looking to improve in Senior Divisions as well.
Queensland’s defending Mixed Open champion Origin squad is sure to be tough to toss with the likes of Mixed specialists Amy Fong and Rik Best leading the charge.
Queensland’s Women’s Open team will have available the likes of 2007 Australian Open Captain Sharyn Williams, current World Cup stars Peta and Hayley Rogerson, Teena Mc Ilveen, Roxy Winder, Mary Steele, and Rebecca Tavo, and Shelley Matcham.
Queensland’s stable of Men’s Open World Cup stars including Drumayne Dayberg-Muir, Nathan Jones, and Chris and Ash Farrow will be looking to maintain the advantage they enjoyed over New South Wales.
Current Queensland and Australian Men’s Open Captain Gavin Shuker is one proud Queenslander who would love to see the Origin scales tipped in the Maroons favour.
“We’ve got very strong sides across the board and we’ve got some good coaches so hopefully we’ll get the right game plans and everything will be sweet,” Shuker said.
Shuker believes travelling to New South Wales would make the task of regaining the Origin trophy more difficult.
“It’s always a big challenge for us to beat New South Wales in their own backyard, it’s one of the toughest events that I’ve been involved in, so it would be good to come away with a win,” Shuker said.
Both States also have a plethora of young talent to choose from and many young guns are tipped to be blooded in the Open divisions in the 2008 series.
The best players in the game will add another chapter to the fierce interstate rivalry that is Origin Touch Football, and with seasoned veterans and the young breed of the sport keen to share in the rich tradition of the series, it promises to be the best on record and a showpiece the sport can well be proud of.
TFA will keep the Touch community up to date with all the latest developments around Origin in the lead-up to the 2008 series.
