Dear Queenslanders,
Rugby league started for me as a six-year-old, playing for Brothers Juniors in Stafford in Brisbane.
My dad loved his footy and took me and my three brothers down to play footy when we were old enough.
Backyard footy was hilarious in our house because it used to be, when we were really young fellas, us four boys versus dad. Dad would be on his knees. Then it was my eldest brother and dad versus three of us. Dad would be on his feet then.
They were fun games as kids, and as we got older, we started taking it very seriously. We were very competitive.
It then progressed when we started going to school and we’d bring home mates in the afternoon, because we were walking distance from our school growing up.
We’d bring home a mate or two. Because there was four boys, if we all brought home a mate or two, there ended up being 10 people in our backyard and we’d have a massive game of touch.
Some would make a tackle and get all serious, and everyone would start tackling each other then, and mum would yell at us and tell us to settle down. She never had to use the hose though. It was classic backyard footy amongst a bunch of boys growing up. Good memories.
If we weren’t at footy training, we’d be at home practising kicking and passing to each other, or testing our toughness on each other. As boys do. Great memories.
As a result, us four boys – my three brothers and I, are all really close from those experiences.
My poor mum though, was stuck preparing dinner for us most afternoons because between us four boys and dad, mum had a fair workload. All big boys, very active. She was a machine, my mum.
I remember as a kid, we used to look forward to State of Origin games so much.
The opening kick-off was always the biggest play of the game. The thing we’d anticipate the most.
David Shillington FOG #157
We’d always park ourselves in front of the TV, a good 20 minutes before kick-off, just so we didn’t miss that first return of the ball.
We used to always say, amongst ourselves, my brothers and I, how hard it would be, how intense it would be, to be that front rower who has to return that ball into a fully fresh defensive line screaming down, who all want to take your head off, basically, and hurt you.
We used to think ‘wow, could you imagine taking that run, how intense it must be’.
So then, obviously, fast-forwarding into being that person that took that run, I used to reflect heaps on being that kid imagining that moment and then doing it. I always thought then, I better make the most of it.
They were the moments that really counted, or mattered a lot, when playing for Queensland. Reflecting on those times as a kid.
When I finished school and moved down to play for the Roosters, even though I was living in New South Wales, I was always a Queenslander.
I get really proud thinking about being a Queenslander because, having played for the Queensland Maroons, and being involved in the regional visits we used to do during State of Origin week, visiting towns like Roma and seeing the people line the streets – there’s more people than are registered as the population for that town that turn up to see us.
I know how much it means to all of them, and how proud it makes them, to see us run onto the field and play our guts out, hopefully beating the Blues. It means a lot to the adults and it means a lot to the kids coming through, to be able to wear their jerseys proud.
I know that when I pulled on the jersey, I wasn't playing the game just for myself, it was for my family and for the people who live in this great state.
When I came into the Maroons camp as a young player, I was very nervous. I just thought ‘I’m not worthy to be here… it’s such a fantastic team. Should I have really got picked in this team?’
But, what made that team great, was they were so welcoming and there was no hierarchy or pecking order or food chain.
It was Cameron Smith and Darren Lockyer and Johnathan Thurston, these guys, who led the way, and they knew that if we were going to win as a team, it was going to take a great effort from all 17 players. Not just from one of them. And they knew number 17 was just as important as number one or number seven.
Everyone was treated equally as important, in their role in the team. And it gave me a sense of belonging, being part of that team. In return, I wanted to pay them back by playing my guts out for them and doing my job on the field.
I also remember, the year before I debuted for Queensland, we had a bye week for Canberra and I stayed with my brother John on the Gold Coast, and I watched one of the Origin games. He had a few mates over, watching it too, at his house.
They all wore Maroons jerseys and had their names on the back as well. Queensland scored the first try, I think, and they got up in the lounge room and were yahooing and running around and cheering. So proud of the Queensland team for scoring.
It really struck me then how much it means to everybody. It reminded me. Because I’d been living down in Sydney and Canberra for a long time, I’d probably lost connection with how much it really does mean to Queenslanders. But seeing my brother and his friends, with jerseys on, in front of the TV, yahooing, yeah, it reinforced how much it does mean to your family and obviously the state.
So when I first pulled on that jersey, I was reflecting on those times.
I lucky enough to get called up as 18th man in 2008. I got a bit of a taste for the camp and when I got picked to play for the team in 2009 I was pretty thrilled.
I remember the phone call. Within the team, you always play a lot of jokes on each other.
We’d always prank call each other and call each other from numbers we wouldn’t recognise and pretend to be someone else, just to have a laugh at somebody else’s expense. That sounds horrible, but it’s just what we did as young men back then.
I thought my phone call was a joke at first.
I had my mum down in Canberra, staying with me, just coincidentally.
She came down for the weekend to hang out, watch a game and hang out with me. I got the phone call from our team manager congratulating me and telling me I was ready to go into camp.
Once it all sunk in, and I knew it was for real, I didn't have much time to sit back and soak it up.
I had to pack my bags and get on a flight the next morning to head to Brisbane and join the team in camp. It happened all pretty fast and it was all pretty exciting.
The whole week in camp you practice all these new moves, with all new players you generally haven’t played with before, and some of the Queensland moves require all 13 players who are on the field at that time.
There’s the Big Artie play, the XXXX play… as a modest front rower, it was pretty hard to remember all of those plays. Being my first game, I didn’t want to stuff anything up. As I was saying, you just want to make sure you do your job. So I stressed all week about learning these plays. The Big Artie meant I did this, or the XXXX play meant I did this.
But then you run out onto that field, it is so noisy. It’s crazy.
Cooper or Smithy would turn to you and call the play and you actually can’t hear anything they say. So you have to watch their mouth movement. The first couple of times, I just didn’t hear anything. I was like ‘oh gosh, I’ve spent this whole week trying to memorise the plays and I don’t even know what’s being called’.
But because you memorise them so well, the ball will go to the seven and someone will cross the seven and you’ll go ‘oh, that’s right, this is the start of the Big Artie play’ or something like that, and you’ll kick into gear and know what you’ve got to do.
Yeah, it was overwhelming, the intensity of it, of the game on the field, and the atmosphere – the energy – from the fans in the stands.
Being mostly a forward or front rower growing up, I looked up to people like Webcke, Civoniceva, and Steve Price, those front rowers who played for Queensland, over 10, 15 years, and held down the fort really, really well.
So, getting to play alongside Pricey and big Petero, that was a real thrill.
I obviously had some other guys around me, like Matt Scott, who were fantastic. All around my age, and did a fantastic job for Queensland too.
When you’re young and idolise people like Petero, to get to play alongside them is pretty cool. And Petero is the type of bloke who is always happy to take you under his wing, give advice and support you. He never ever felt threatened by up and coming players, he just wanted the best for everyone. He was a great role model and leader for me.
In camps, I just remember how spoiled we were.
The QRL went to great lengths to make sure we had everything we needed and we were comfortable.
All we needed to do was rock up, train our hardest, recover well and get the mindset around winning the game.
Steve Walters, who managed the camp, made sure everything just ran smoothly and we had everything we needed. And that was to the extent of having a private chef.
In all three games in 2010, I roomed with Matty Scott. Two front rowers together in an all-you-can-eat environment with a private chef…. only one thing is going to happen and that’s extreme weight gain.
After the first nine days in camp, I think I put on three of four kilos. I weighed in so heavy on game day, and I was stressing a lot that I was going to be run off my feet, but I ended up having a good game and we won the game.
Camp two, Matty and I were really strict. We just ate really lean the whole week and didn’t over indulge. We actually lost a few kilos. We won that game. Game II, won the series with that.
And Game III, we thought we’d be a bit wiser and stay stable. We didn’t need to lose weight, we didn’t need to gain weight. We thought ‘let’s just enjoy this week’.
Darren Lockyer gave us a great pump up speech about making the most of being up two-nil and not letting the opportunity for a clean sweep pass us by. We came out Game III and beat the Blues again to win the series, three-nil.
We were naughty young kids, I guess, overindulging in private chefs and putting on lots of kilos. Then we lost all the weight. And learnt our lesson by Game III and just stayed stable.
That series was absolutely a highlight for me during my time in maroon. Three-nil for the Maroons, so you can’t be any prouder of the team.
Personally, I got one of the players’ player awards. In Game II the boys voted me the best player on the field, so that sort of award, where it’s your teammates voting for you, that’s the ultimate – of course.
That was definitely one of the best experiences, if not the best, experience throughout my career.
Queenslanders, I must say, your support during my career was incredibly overwhelming.
Origin means so much to you. I know, I’ve been out of the scene for a number of years now, but I know from dropping my kids at school last year.
They go to a nice school, inner city. I didn’t expect the support for rugby league and the Maroons to be at that level there.
I’ve always thought it was more regional areas that got behind us. That people regionally love their footy, get behind us and are proud to wear their Maroons jerseys.
But, I was blown away to see two thirds of the school – parents, kids, all wearing maroon. I don’t think I saw any daredevils wearing blue. Thankfully.
I just remember being bowled over by the physical support for the Maroons by the fans. By you.
It’s pretty cool when you’ve got that much support behind you.
It’s such a great story, how Origin started. No one would’ve thought it would have become what it has today, being so exciting.
Every year for 40 years, there’s pretty much never been a dull moment.
I wasn’t born when it started, but seeing the footage of big Artie running out on the field, shuffling out onto the field – the way he runs, leading that Maroons team out and seeing some of the things he did in that game, was inspirational to the Maroons getting up.
And knowing the back story of how the Queensland born players would play for New South Wales and beat Queensland, pretty badly there for a number of years and it became a bit of a joke. For it all to be turned around in this State of Origin concept, is phenomenal.
Every series, and sometimes every game, there’s always some sort of freakish performance from at least one, sometimes a number of players, from either team.
Whether it’s Valentine Holmes or back in the day, Israel Folau, Billy Slater, then all the way back to Mark Coyne and those sorts of guys.
There’s so many moments that spring to mind and I just go ‘wow, these are the best players in the NRL playing against each other and this particular person has just played out of his skin – done some phenomenal things that I didn’t think were possible… especially at that level’.
It’s pretty cool, understanding the history of Origin, and how much it has just grown and grown and grown over these last 40 years.
Obviously we’ve had a tough run the last couple of years.
But, sometimes it has been the bounce of the ball, in the games we’ve lost, and in fairness we have also won because of the bounce of the ball over multiple years. Not taking anything away from anyone’s performances, but that’s the way the games goes sometimes.
It’s a credit to the game that it’s so close. And small decisions or things can be the deciding factor.
I think, over these last couple of years, even though we’ve lost a couple of games, we’ve had to transition out some incredible players… some of the best players to have ever played the game. Cronk and Thurston and Smith, amongst others.
But at the same time, we’ve brought in new guys, and not many players come into Origin, have a blinder Game I of their Origin career, and continue on having perfect games for the next 20 games.
Not many players do that, so players like Kalyn Ponga, Cameron Munster, those sort of guys, have got a couple of games and a couple of series under their belts now. They’re just going to get better and better.
They’re exceptional players, great people, great Queenslanders. I think Kevie will keep developing those players.
I think we will turn it around, thinking about the development of those players, where they’re at. I think those players individually will have breakout years at club level, personal level, and Queensland will reap the benefits of that.
So yeah, it’s been a tough couple of years results wise, but this transition was inevitable and we’re looking pretty healthy with some of the talent we’ve got.
From one Queenslander to another, bring on Origin.
Kind regards,
Shillo
FOG #157
