By Wayne Heming In a strange but inevitable way, a cheeky red-headed kid from Caboolture north of Brisbane was always destined to pull on the Maroon jumper and play for Queensland. Around 8.05 pm on Wednesday night at Sydney’s Accor Stadium in front of a sea of blue, that kid, Corey Horsburgh, will fulfill
By Wayne Heming MAROON MANIA is set to sweep the far north Queensland city of Cairns tomorrow with up to 10,000 people expected to attend a historic fan day with the Queensland State of Origin players at Barlow Park. Coach Billy Slater and his 19-man Maroon squad jetted north today for a mini-camp this week
By Wayne Heming Queensland coach Billy Slater has stuck with the team which wrapped up the State of Origin series in Brisbane last month to inflict the state’s fifth clean sweep on the Blues in Sydney on Wednesday week. Slater and his co-selectors Gene Miles and Daren Lockyer have authorised just two
By Wayne Heming Queensland will be aiming to drastically reduce their missed tackle and error counts in a bid the clinch the two-game Ampol Women’s State of Origin series in Townsville on Thursday night. Under a special points aggregate system designed to split a possible one-game-all result, Queensland could lose by seven points and
By Wayne Heming Eight points are all that stand in the way of North Queensland centre Valentine Holmes joining State of Origin’s elite centurion club of players who have scored 100 or more points for their state. Only three players -- Queensland pair Johnathan Thurston (220 points) and Mal Meninga (162) and NSW dual international,
By Wayne Heming It’s been 15 years to the day since the founder and first Chairman of FOGS, Dick “Tosser” Turner passed away aged 75. Along with another Queensland great, Arthur Beetson, Turner embodied the spirit of what it meant to pull on a Maroon Origin jumper and play with pride and passion. Like Tina
By Wayne Heming It’s 34 years ago this week since Queensland produced one of its finest and most courageous Origin victories in Sydney. Origin clashes have given rugby league fans many amazing moments and mountains of memories since the concept was launched at Lang Park back in 1980. Origin victories are built on toughness,
By Wayne Heming Queensland coach Billy Slater says the Maroons must bring their best game to Suncorp Stadium next Wednesday night and not rely too heavily on the sellout crowd getting them home when the going gets tough. Slater today announced his 17-man squad for game two on Wednesday week, recalling Melbourne Storm winger Xavier
By Wayne Heming Queensland legend Wally Lewis is confident Queensland’s super coaches will head off any complacency cracks before the Maroons attempt to secure back-to-back State of Origin series wins at Suncorp Stadium this month. “Not with the coaching staff they’ve got,” declared Lewis when asked about the risk of the Queensland players getting too
By Wayne Heming Queensland women’s State of Origin coach Tahnee Norris believes up-and-coming back-rower Keilee Joseph has the potential to be the best forward in the world. As a four-time World Cup representative and a powerhouse back-rower, Norris is more than qualified to make such a bold prediction about the 21-year-old Brisbane-born Joseph who’ll
