NSW will field 11 Origin rookies in a team with just 39 games between them.

You have to go back to 1984 to find a NSW team with less experience. The 15 players picked for game three at Lang Park had played just 26 Origin games in total, and half of them were to Brett Kenny and captain Steve Mortimer.

Chris Mortimer was one of six NSW debutants that night at Lang Park, when the Blues rose to the occasion to claim a 22-12 victory against a Wally Lewis-led Queensland side including Mal Meninga. The result prevented a Maroons whitewash, and set the scene for NSW success in the years to come.  

“You might not get another chance,” is Mortimer’s motivating advice to this year’s rookies.

“I remember when we played, you’d be embarrassed if you made a mistake. And you’d do everything you can to rectify that and to help the bloke next to you. 

“It’s life or death. It really meant that much to us to perform well on such a big stage. 

“And to do it alongside blokes that are humble, not on themselves. You know, I can go through this side (of 1984) and there’s not one bloke there that was on themselves, or spoke out of line. We all rowed in the one direction and that’s a big part of winning Origin games.”

Mortimer, who went on to play another eight games for NSW, believes previous coach Laurie Daley was let down by some of his players last year.

He likes the fact that Fittler has picked a team on form, not reputation. And he wants the new generation of youthful Blues to seize the moment.

“You move on. We’ve got a new coach and it’s exciting. You wait and see. These blokes won’t want to be embarrassed on the field on Wednesday night.”

He and Fittler are former teammates, with the tail end of Mortimer’s 250-game career at Canterbury and Penrith crossing over with the beginnings of that of the Panthers’ rising star at the end of the 1980s.

“Freddy… I tell you what, hasn't he come a long way?” Mortimer says.

“He wasn’t just a brilliant footballer. I think he’s very good in the way he looks at life. He’s a decent person. I know he's trying to instil that into the players he’s got around him now, these young blokes.

“And you know what, that’s what it comes down to. You don’t need people to pat you on the back and say you’ve done well, or you haven’t played well. You know yourself. You’ve got to be honest with yourself. And Freddy can see that.

“The side that he’s picked .. that’s him. That’s him! That’s a reflection of him. And I reckon he’s done really well.”

Of course, Queensland are undergoing generational change themselves, with the injured Billy Slater now joining Cameron Smith, Johnathon Thurston and Cooper Cronk on the list of notable absentees.

Mortimer says the Maroons’ recent dominance was brought about by their ‘once in a lifetime’ team. The wheel might now be turning, but there are no guarantees.

“We know what happens when you back Queensland into a corner though, don’t we? We all know that,” he says. 

Back in 1984, the wheel did turn on that game three win. Queensland had already won the series (making it three straight since 1982, as well as their stand-alone-game successes in 1980 and 1981).

But on the baby Blues’ Lang Park triumph swung the fortunes of history. 

​NSW won a famous series victory in 1985 and defended the title in 1986, all on the back of that famous July night in Brisbane.

“I’ll always remember that first time you pull on that blue jumper,” Mortimer says.

“It certainly meant a hell of a lot to me, playing alongside my brother as well. But also there was a lot of other debutants there and just sitting down quietly, looking around the room, you could tell that each of them was focussed and proud of what they were about to do.”

Mortimer was 24 on debut, and no stranger to big games, having won and lost a grand final with Canterbury-Bankstown already in his career. 

“That helped me a lot but I learnt more from playing this game than what I’ve ever learnt before,” he says.

He recalls coach Frank Stanton filling him with confidence in the lead-up. Having seen the star, Steve Ella, at training, Mortimer assumed he was going to be playing off the bench. But Ella was left out. And Stanton assured Mortimer he was now the main man. 

“He said ‘No, no, no, you’re playing. I want you to play.’ Geez, that give me a bit of confidence.”

Mortimer’s fellow first-gamers were Steve Morris, Brian Johnston, Chris Walsh, Peter Wynn and Mick Potter. Royce Simmons was playing his second game, and their other six teammates – Garry Jack, Ross Conlon, Pat Jarvis, Steve Roach, Noel Cleal and Peter Tunks were lining up for just the third time. 

They were being guided by the experienced halves of Kenny and captain Steve Mortimer, who’s brilliant man-of-the-match effort began well before the game when he put fear and fire into the hearts of his rookies.

“Very daunting. I still remember the bus ride to the game, driving past the Caxton Hotel and you’ve got all these people hissin’ and throwing beer at you. They knew who was inside. And I remember Blocker Roach down the front there – he was like a dog at the window, trying to get them.

“Stephen said the bus driver, ‘Hold, pull up, pull up. Stop right here. Now look at these bastards out there. They want us. They want our blood. Are we going to give it to them?’

“What it did is create this us-against-them feeling. And the roar when you run out that tunnel. I just remember looking up. It was the first time I ever really tasted it. 

“They just hated us. They hated us! But what that did was build this anger inside of you, and a determination to stick it back into them. So, we were lucky enough to do it that night.”

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