Latest news with #WayneBennett
News.com.au
2 days ago
- General
- News.com.au
Wayne all praise for AJ after 200th try
NRL: South Sydney Rabbitohs coach Wayne Bennett spoke to the media following their round 13 defeat to the New Zealand Warriors.
RNZ News
2 days ago
- General
- RNZ News
NRL: NZ Warriors v South Sydney Rabbitohs - everything you need to know
The Warriors and Rabbitohs meet for the 42nd time, with Souths holding the edge. Photo: PHOTOSPORT Warriors v Rabbitohs Kickoff 4pm, Sunday, 1 June Accor Stadium, Sydney Live blog updates on RNZ Sport In 41 previous meetings, South Sydney have won 21 and the Warriors 20, so a win for the visitors would even up the head-to-head ledger. The record is 11-11 in Souths home fixtures and 4-3 to the Warriors at Accor Stadium. Halfback Shaun Johnson scored 18 points, including a try double, in a 34-4 Warriors landslide in Sydney last season, but the Rabbitohs won the previous eight meetings by an average of almost 20 points, scoring 37 a game. In 2006, the Warriors achieved their biggest-ever NRL win over Souths - a 66-0 romp that saw Lance Hohaia score a hattrick of tries, with Jerome Ropati and Brent Webb grabbing try doubles, and Tony Martin achieving a personal haul of 22 points. Here's a fun fact - the Warriors are 16-31 against teams guided by supercoach Wayne Bennett, who was at the helm of Brisbane Broncos for their 1995 NRL debut. After five straight wins carried them to 8-2 and second on the NRL table, the Warriors finally dropped a close one last week, letting an early 8-0 lead slip against Canberra Raiders . Over those five victories, they were outscored 60-33 in the second half and again conceded the final 40 minutes 8-2 against the 'Green Machine', so that's an area they need to address. The Warriors still lead the competition in set completion with 82 percent, but the Rabbitohs are just behind them on 81 percent. Second-rower Kurt Capewell leads the league by some margin in missed tackles (63), while hooker Wayde Egan has the most dummy-half runs (68). Wayde Egan leads the NRL in dummy-half runs. Photo: Andrew Cornaga/ Souths have a 6-5 record, sitting sixth on the table, and won their last two outings against Brisbane Broncos and Wests Tigers, before last week's bye. Previously, they dropped four in a row. That result over the Broncos is their only success against teams currently in playoff positions - they are 1-4 against the top eight. They lead the league in missed tackles (422) and kicking metres (7767). The Rabbitohs have been ravaged by injury, losing captain Cameron Murray to an achilles tear in the pre-season, while veterans Cody Walker and Jack Wighton are still a week away from returning from calf niggles. Warriors: 1 Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad, 2 Dallin Watene-Zelezniak, 3 Adam Pompey, 4 Rocco Berry, 5 Roger Tuivasa-Sheck, 6 Chanel Harris-Tavita, 7 Luke Metcalf, 8 James Fisher-Harris, 9 Wayde Egan, 10 Mitch Barnett, 11 Kurt Capewell, 12 Marata Niukore, 13 Erin Clark Interchange: 14 Te Maire Martin, 15 Leka Halasima, 16 Demitric Vaimauga, 17 Jackson Ford Reserves: 18 Jacob Laban, 21 Tanah Boyd For the first time this season - or last - coach Andrew Webster has a full contingent of players to choose from. That will ultimately depend on whether co-captain Mitch Barnett is passed fit, backing up from State of Origin on Wednesday, but the return of James Fisher-Harris from suspension and Rocco Berry from injury has caused some big selection calls, with Berry replacing Ali Leiataua at centre and Fisher-Harris supplanting Bunty Afoa in the front row. Capewell's shift from the midfield sees young gun Leka Halasima slip back to the interchange for now. Rabbitohs: 1 Lattrell Mitchell, 2 Alex Johnston, 3 Isaiah Tass, 4 Campbell Graham, 5 Bayleigh Bentley-Hape, 6 Jayden Sullivan, 7 Jamie Humphreys, 8 Jai Arrow, 9 Siliva Havili, 10 Keaon Koloamatangi, 11 Euan Aitken, 12 Tallis Duncan, 13 Lachlan Hubner Interchange: 14 Jye Gray, 15 Sean Keppie, 16 Davvy Moale, 17 Tevita Tatola Reserves: 18 Liam Le Blanc, 19 Fletcher Myers Just one change from Bennett after the bye week, with Sean Keppie included on the interchange for Liam Le Blanc. They'll keep a close eye on Latrell Mitchell and his recovery from the Origin opener. Souths have former Warriors Siliva Havili and Euan Aitken in a starting line-up. Former Warrior Euan Aitken is in the Souths line-up to face his old club. Photo: NRL Photos Love him or hate him, Latrell Mitchell is integral to the Rabbitohs' hopes of returning to the NRL Grand Final. He's played at centre, five-eighth and fullback this season, and has not only made the No.1 jersey his own, but also the captaincy. Notwithstanding his off-field and judicial problems, he's exactly the type of player Bennett gets the best out of. Kawakawa kid Bayleigh Bentley-Hape was not among Souths' contracted players in March, when he made his NRL debut on the wing against St George Illawarra Dragons. The former national touch rep had to wait another five weeks for his second game, when he scored his first try against Melbourne Storm, and has been in the line-up since. This will be his sixth appearance for the Rabbitohs. Warriors coach Andrew Webster: "They've been so consistent at not beating themselves. Wayne Bennett's teams don't beat themselves - high on completions, work hard and play the full 80." The Warriors haven't really overwhelmed anyone this season, but they're poised to find another level to their game, after stumbling last week. Could be a long night for the Rabbitohs. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
The Advertiser
3 days ago
- Business
- The Advertiser
Bennett 'embarrassed' by NRL contract fiascos
Wayne Bennett has again called for an NRL transfer window, claiming he has been "embarrassed" by the Daly Cherry-Evans, Dylan Brown and Lachlan Galvin sagas. The Galvin contract fiasco finally reached a conclusion on Friday night, with Canterbury declaring his signature on a three-and-a-half-year deal. The announcement came almost seven weeks after the teenager knocked back a Wests Tigers extension, despite being contracted there until the end of 2026. In one last twist, the five-eighth was spotted training at Canterbury headquarters in Bulldogs gear before his release from the Tigers was announced. Bennett has been a vocal critic of the NRL trade system in the past, claiming the game had hit the "self-destruct button" when Cherry-Evans announced he was leaving Manly in March. Brown's future also dominated headlines in the lead up to the season, before he opted against taking up options to stay and Parramatta and instead signed the richest deal in history to join Newcastle from 2026. "We have had three major players leave clubs so far and we are halfway through the year," Bennett said. "Every one has been a headline and every one has stolen away from teams and the game itself. "It's a controversy and one we don't need. It's one we have inflicted on ourselves." The South Sydney coach has long been a proponent of the NRL inserting trade windows, with one the most popular push being for fixed times both in and out of season. Any change to the system would need to be agreed upon by the NRL and Rugby League Players' Association (RLPA). The NRL had flagged plans to change the transfer system during the last pay deal, namely by not allowing players to negotiate deals until after June 30 in the final year of their contract. That was rejected by the RLPA, who also believe trade windows would not have solved the Galvin issue and believe media speculation would remain even with change. The AFL recently knocked back introducing a mid-season trade period, but has windows for moves after each year's grand final. European football leagues meanwhile implement mid-season windows which operate across multiple countries and competitions. Regardless, Bennett believes change is imperative, hopeful it could come by as soon as next year. "There are a lot of other games besides rugby league that are played and most seem to have their trade windows or trades under control," Bennett said. "I don't see why we can't get ours. "We do a great disservice to the fans. That's what hurts me most about it. They all buy their season tickets and love the game. "If we are going to leave clubs then we should leave in a better way than we do. We should have a better system than we do. "It's out of my hands but that is my feeling with it. It's not something I feel makes the game better. I get embarrassed by it to be honest." Wayne Bennett has again called for an NRL transfer window, claiming he has been "embarrassed" by the Daly Cherry-Evans, Dylan Brown and Lachlan Galvin sagas. The Galvin contract fiasco finally reached a conclusion on Friday night, with Canterbury declaring his signature on a three-and-a-half-year deal. The announcement came almost seven weeks after the teenager knocked back a Wests Tigers extension, despite being contracted there until the end of 2026. In one last twist, the five-eighth was spotted training at Canterbury headquarters in Bulldogs gear before his release from the Tigers was announced. Bennett has been a vocal critic of the NRL trade system in the past, claiming the game had hit the "self-destruct button" when Cherry-Evans announced he was leaving Manly in March. Brown's future also dominated headlines in the lead up to the season, before he opted against taking up options to stay and Parramatta and instead signed the richest deal in history to join Newcastle from 2026. "We have had three major players leave clubs so far and we are halfway through the year," Bennett said. "Every one has been a headline and every one has stolen away from teams and the game itself. "It's a controversy and one we don't need. It's one we have inflicted on ourselves." The South Sydney coach has long been a proponent of the NRL inserting trade windows, with one the most popular push being for fixed times both in and out of season. Any change to the system would need to be agreed upon by the NRL and Rugby League Players' Association (RLPA). The NRL had flagged plans to change the transfer system during the last pay deal, namely by not allowing players to negotiate deals until after June 30 in the final year of their contract. That was rejected by the RLPA, who also believe trade windows would not have solved the Galvin issue and believe media speculation would remain even with change. The AFL recently knocked back introducing a mid-season trade period, but has windows for moves after each year's grand final. European football leagues meanwhile implement mid-season windows which operate across multiple countries and competitions. Regardless, Bennett believes change is imperative, hopeful it could come by as soon as next year. "There are a lot of other games besides rugby league that are played and most seem to have their trade windows or trades under control," Bennett said. "I don't see why we can't get ours. "We do a great disservice to the fans. That's what hurts me most about it. They all buy their season tickets and love the game. "If we are going to leave clubs then we should leave in a better way than we do. We should have a better system than we do. "It's out of my hands but that is my feeling with it. It's not something I feel makes the game better. I get embarrassed by it to be honest." Wayne Bennett has again called for an NRL transfer window, claiming he has been "embarrassed" by the Daly Cherry-Evans, Dylan Brown and Lachlan Galvin sagas. The Galvin contract fiasco finally reached a conclusion on Friday night, with Canterbury declaring his signature on a three-and-a-half-year deal. The announcement came almost seven weeks after the teenager knocked back a Wests Tigers extension, despite being contracted there until the end of 2026. In one last twist, the five-eighth was spotted training at Canterbury headquarters in Bulldogs gear before his release from the Tigers was announced. Bennett has been a vocal critic of the NRL trade system in the past, claiming the game had hit the "self-destruct button" when Cherry-Evans announced he was leaving Manly in March. Brown's future also dominated headlines in the lead up to the season, before he opted against taking up options to stay and Parramatta and instead signed the richest deal in history to join Newcastle from 2026. "We have had three major players leave clubs so far and we are halfway through the year," Bennett said. "Every one has been a headline and every one has stolen away from teams and the game itself. "It's a controversy and one we don't need. It's one we have inflicted on ourselves." The South Sydney coach has long been a proponent of the NRL inserting trade windows, with one the most popular push being for fixed times both in and out of season. Any change to the system would need to be agreed upon by the NRL and Rugby League Players' Association (RLPA). The NRL had flagged plans to change the transfer system during the last pay deal, namely by not allowing players to negotiate deals until after June 30 in the final year of their contract. That was rejected by the RLPA, who also believe trade windows would not have solved the Galvin issue and believe media speculation would remain even with change. The AFL recently knocked back introducing a mid-season trade period, but has windows for moves after each year's grand final. European football leagues meanwhile implement mid-season windows which operate across multiple countries and competitions. Regardless, Bennett believes change is imperative, hopeful it could come by as soon as next year. "There are a lot of other games besides rugby league that are played and most seem to have their trade windows or trades under control," Bennett said. "I don't see why we can't get ours. "We do a great disservice to the fans. That's what hurts me most about it. They all buy their season tickets and love the game. "If we are going to leave clubs then we should leave in a better way than we do. We should have a better system than we do. "It's out of my hands but that is my feeling with it. It's not something I feel makes the game better. I get embarrassed by it to be honest."
Yahoo
3 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
Souths make call on Blues superstar as key returns near
Latrell Mitchell will back up from State of Origin for South Sydney, with the superstar fullback a confirmed starter against the Warriors. Mitchell trained freely with Rabbitohs teammates on Saturday morning, just 60 hours after featuring in NSW's series-opening win at Suncorp Stadium. The Souths No.1 had always been keen to play straight away for the Bunnies, after flying home before the rest of the Blues on Thursday morning. But the 27-year-old's injury-affected start to 2025 had left some questions over whether he would be able to back up against the second-placed Warriors. Confirmed starter for tomorrow's clash against the Warriors ✅❤️💚MATCH PREVIEW: — South Sydney Rabbitohs 🐰 (@SSFCRABBITOHS) May 31, 2025 "He didn't have any injuries," Rabbitohs coach Wayne Bennett said. "It's always good to have him back and playing for us. It brings a lot of confidence to everybody." Mitchell's availability is timely for a Souths side that has been the most injury-ravaged in the competition over the opening half of the season. Cody Walker and Jack Wighton are both set to return next week against Canberra, but will not recover from injuries in time to face the Warriors. Hooker Peter Mamouzelos is also still out, while mid-season recruit at dummy-half Brandon Smith is at least a month away from his ACL rupture comeback. Lock Cameron Murray is still aiming to return from an achilles injury before the end of the season, despite suffering a setback in his recovery in April. But still, Bennett can see the silver lining in South Sydney's predicament. "This week's the first time all season we've been able to pick the same team two weeks in a row," Bennett said. "That's a plus for us. It's looking a lot more healthy for everybody." Despite the injury hits, the Rabbitohs still entered round 13 in sixth spot and appear to have returned to form after losing four straight in April and May. Sunday will mark Bennett's 950th club match in in charge since joining Canberra in 1987, but this year already looms as one of the veteran coach's greatest feats. The Rabbitohs ran 16th last season, finishing only one win clear of wooden-spooners Wests Tigers before Bennett's second stint at Redfern. "They've been so consistent at not beating themselves," Warriors coach Andrew Webster said. "They are going really well. Wayne Bennett's teams don't beat themselves. High on completions, work hard, play the full 80 and we'll have to be on our toes. "It's a good challenge."
RNZ News
6 days ago
- Entertainment
- RNZ News
Queensland's 1995 State of Origin miracle is still a tale without an end
By Nick Campton of ABC Paul Vautin and Trevor Gillmeister. Photo: PHOTOSPORT Trevor Gillmeister knows how to spin a yarn better than most but he promises this one is true and that makes sense because when it comes to Queensland's 1995 State of Origin victory there's rarely a need to put any mustard on things. "When I walk down the street in Brisbane in the city or somewhere, usually near Caxton Street and especially this time of year, someone driving past will wind down their window and yell out 'Gilly, 95, how good?' and drive off," Gillmeister said. "That'll happen 40 or 50 times through this series, no worries. It's good to see the people remember what happened. That means a lot." There's not many things in rugby league that inspire the love of strangers three decades on, but when it comes to Queensland and 1995 there are no strangers. It's something people share together, even if they've never met. This week marks 30 years since Paul Vautin's side, the so-called 'Neville Nobodies', pulled off the biggest upset in Origin history and all the old tales are being told again. The best ones are so well known in Queensland, you'd swear they teach them in schools. Like the moment Wayne Bennett stands down as coach before the series and Vautin is pulled off the set of The Footy Show to lead his state when nobody else could, with a host of Queensland stars missing after signing with the breakaway Super League competition. Vautin likes to say he got the call from QRL chairman Ross Livermore midway through filming a skit and had to wipe the lipstick off his mouth to answer the phone. He rang Gillmeister to tell him he was coach and Gillmeister thought it was a joke until Vautin said he had an even funnier one - that the hard-hitting veteran would be captain. Or when Vautin and team manager Chris Close shooed an 18-year-old away from the team hotel, only for him to sheepishly reply his name was Ben Ikin and he was actually in the team after playing just four first-grade games. Vautin wasn't alone in his unfamiliarity - Ikin's own father rang him when the team was announced, shocked that there could be two men named Ben Ikin who both played at the Gold Coast. Or the image of Billy Moore roaring "Queenslander" like a maroon berserker as the team went down the tunnel for Game I in Sydney as the visitors pulled off a 2-0 ambush that might be the most beautifully ugly win in rugby league history. There's the all-in brawl in Melbourne, where Queensland won the fight and the series, and Gillmeister himself defying doctor's orders to play Game III with a blood infection. It could have killed him, but he couldn't dream of a better place to die than Lang Park. They won again that night - Ikin scored the final try and Gillmeister was chaired from the field driven straight back to hospital. Those are the big hitters, the ones that get a run in the documentary series, the TV spots and the written profiles. They get told at the sportsman's lunches, the reunions, the pre-match functions and in the front bars. They never get old but there's always more because this is the gift that keeps on giving, the story that never ends, the series that lives forever. Craig Teevan, who was playing with South Queensland Crushers at the time and came off the bench in all three matches, has one yarn he likes to tell about the moment he found out he'd be playing. "Nobody knew if they'd pick the Super League players and back then they announced the team live on Channel Nine," Teevan said. "After Crushers training I had a beer with Gilly and Bobby Lindner, if they knew about the team they didn't let on. I was on the lounge with the wife watching the news, they got a few names in and it looked like they weren't going with the Super League players. "When they said it was Rowdy [Dale Shearer] and Adrian Lam in the halves I thought I might be a chance somewhere, until they called out 'number 14, Ben Ikin' and I didn't know who Ben Ikin was. "I said 'shit, I missed out here' to the wife, then they get to the rest of the bench - Terry Cook, Mark Hohn and number 17, Craig Teevan. "I jumped off the lounge and the phone started ringing. Ray Hadley was first but, I would have answered 20 phone calls before I even had a chance to ring my parents. It was a fantastic moment, to see a dream come true." Gillmeister's favourite part came before it all happened, right at the start of the series when it was still sinking in that Queensland would be heading out there without players like Allan Langer, the Walters brothers, Steve Renouf, Gorden Tallis and Darren Smith. It meant they had to get creative just to get a team on the park. Halfback Adrian Lam got special dispensation to play after representing Papua New Guinea the year before. Vautin reckoned PNG was connected to Queensland a couple of million years ago, so that was good enough. Hooker Wayne Bartrim was born in Hat Head, New South Wales, and played his junior footy in Kempsey, but he'd spent some time playing in the Gold Coast A-grade competition as a teenager so he was in as well. Broncos prop Gavin Allen got selected straight out of reserve grade. Ikin was the most unheralded pick but only just ahead of Cook, who was originally going to spend the season with bush footy club Atherton before a Crushers signing fell through shortly before the season started and he got their last roster spot. Cook and Teevan played their only Origin games in the 1995 series. Queensland still had some players with Origin pedigree, like Gillmeister and Moore and Gary Larson, and New South Wales were missing Super League stars of their own. But each of the Queenslanders still remember that the Blues had 11 internationals for that first game to Queensland's one. The unheralded Queenslanders had grown up with Origin and the nine debutants were about to live it. The moment they learned what that meant is what Gillmeister treasures most. "Maybe my favourite memory is that first team meeting. Fatty spoke, as did the late, great Dick 'Tosser' Turner [the team manager], I had to say something and then Choppy [Close] got up and got all emotional," Gillmeister said. "Fatty asked what it meant to him to play in the first ever Queensland Origin team, because we had nine debutants and they had to hear what it was like. "He started tearing up and Robbie O'Davis, who was sitting beside me, jumped up and said 'give me a jersey, I'll play them now'. "The hairs on my arms stand up when I think about it - there's a thousand great memories but that one stands out. I think about it all the time." Each of the Queenslanders swear that after that meeting they knew they were going to win. Their eventual victory was a surprise to everyone but themselves. Vautin stressed the importance of what they were doing, how Origin would reveal what lay in their hearts and souls, that they were worthy of this because their time had come and how they'd become part of something bigger than themselves. But never in a way that heaped the pressure on. "I don't know what gets the best out of people, but I do know you have to have that desire and will," Gillmeister said. "It has to be in you. If someone else has to put it into you, you're in trouble. It was in us and Fatty knew how to bring it out." In the midst of the Super League war, where the only thing cheaper than money was a broken word, Queensland's triumph was a reminder of the best parts of rugby league. Even the Maroons greatest foes could see it. New South Wales coach Phil Gould, who hated losing like poison, recognised the significance enough that he addressed the Queensland side after they won the series in Game II and congratulated them on what they'd just achieved. But the lasting effects are even greater and continue to this day in ways far greater than the blokes yelling out of their car windows at Gillmeister. Like all folk heroes, the 1995 Maroons are revered because Queensland sees so much of themselves in them. "I remember when I first finished playing footy a few years later. I went up north to see some relatives. I took my boat, made a whole trip of it, met a lot of people and all they wanted to talk about was Origin," Gillmeister said. "All they wanted to hear about was '95. They were farmers, small business owners and 1995 meant so much to them. "It resonated, because we were battlers ourselves and Queenslanders are battlers nine times out of ten. "We have fires, floods, cyclones, everything but we all just get on with it. There's no kicking cans, we just go and do it. "That was the basis of our team, to just get the job done and it didn't matter what happened along the way. Just work hard for each other and it'll be alright." It's almost impossible to imagine rugby league without State of Origin, but it's worth remembering that in 1995 it was only 15 years old. Predictions of Origin's demise pre-date the concept itself. Plenty of prominent voices in the game were on the record before the first match in 1980 saying with certainty that it was doomed to fail. They were proven wrong as the concept took rugby league by storm and today it's the biggest spectacle the game has to offer. But in 1995, with New South Wales coming off three straight series wins and the very heart of the game in jeopardy due to Super League, the future of Origin was far from assured. Back then, even as old days weren't so old, the physical links to them were fading. The series opener was the first time Queensland had played a match without someone who appeared in the inaugural game in 1980 and Gillmeister was only the fourth captain the state had ever had. The traditions were younger and the legends were newer and it's why 1995 is not just another Queensland triumph but perhaps the great Queensland triumph, the one from which all future wins are measured. It is proof that what makes Origin, and specifically what makes Queensland, can be renewed and remade for a new generation, that it can be passed down through the ages. While we think of the fabled Queensland spirit as being fixed and eternal like the Sun rising, it's not and never has been. Every player who pulls on the jersey has to discover it within themselves when the time comes, and they have to pass it down to whoever follows. It's not a well from which anyone can draw but a chain where new links have to be forged to tie past with present. It can't be summoned through words but must be created through action. It is not a magic charm that saves you because there is no fate in Origin but what you can make for yourself. It is a call that must be answered. It is a responsibility. It's far from foolproof, even for the Queenslanders who know it so intimately, even for the veterans of 1995. The very next year, with Super League players back in the fold for both sides and Vautin coaching again, New South Wales won the series with a clean sweep of their own. But when Queensland have needed it most, like in that first game back in 1980 or in 1995 when the future of the concept felt in the balance, they always seem to find it as it allows them to rise again, harder and stronger. For the many victories they've had in the 30 years since, they might never need it so much again. That series is the moment of renewal for that spirit, when the Maroons were able to bring it from the past into the present at their most desperate hour, and it's a gift they've been giving back to their state ever since. "You have to honour your past and then it's up to you to bring it to the future. Choppy played in the first game in 1980 and he gave it to us. We gave it to the teams that came after us," Gillmeister said. "I was lucky enough to give Mal a bit of a hand as part of the staff when the team went on that great run [winning 11 of 12 series from 2006-17] and Mal used to show some clips from '95 to the current blokes. "They're all superstars and they asked how the hell we did it. "But you can't explain it sometimes, it's ingrained into you. As kids we get brainwashed into it - if it wasn't so good it'd be a cult." Because there is no Queensland team more beloved, the celebration and the commemoration of the 1995 side started early this year and shows no signs of slowing down. There was an official reunion in February, with every player from the series except for Lam (who was coaching in England) and Brett Dallas attending. They are older now, and the time that made them heroes was long ago. Things have changed, but not too much. They are still Fatty's miracle Maroons. Vautin addressed the team, just like he did that first day back in 1995 and he told them the same thing he did then - that they were part of something bigger than themselves, and they had done it proud. There was a public lunch, then they went into a private room at the Caxton Hotel, locked the doors and wallowed in the memories. "It was great at the time, but now that I'm a bit older and wiser and mature, 30 years on we're still getting celebrated and so many people point to 1995 as the series that means the most to them," Teevan said. "That'll go down in history, forever. "At the reunion Fatty reminded us we were part of something special and to never forget it and when I look back at it now I'm even prouder than I was back in '95. "You might see 50 per cent of the team around, but that might only be every year or second year. Matt Sing was my roommate, I reckon I'd only seen him twice in 30 years, but the yarns started up straight away, like we'd seen each other the day before. "It made you remember what we did, what we got up too and what made us such a special group." There will be another function at Lang Park the day before Origin I. The Former Origin Greats, Queensland's old boys' group, will be running it but there will be a special focus on the 1995 side. There's also been long lunches, after-dinner speeches, hacks calling them up to plum their memories for fresh anecdotes and all the rest. They're a team in demand around this time and especially this year. They'll be telling the stories of 1995 for the rest of their lives and that's exactly how Gillmeister wants it because it's proof glory days really can last forever. "It always puts a smile on my face, whenever someone brings it up. The 30 years makes me feel old but I never get tired of it," Gillmeister said. "To be part of that history, which means so much to the Queensland teams who went on in the future, who could get tired of that? "You'd re-live it every year if we could, even if it'd put us in early graves. I never laughed so much in my life as I did in that camp - football is a game and you're meant to enjoy it and we did and still do. "Don't tell my missus, but it was the best time of my life." -ABC
