Nathan Cleary stepped out into the middle of the MCG late on Tuesday afternoon for the first time of his young life, scanned the banks of empty seats, the enormous TV screens, the incongruous sight of two sets of rugby league posts at Melbournes spiritual home of sport … and then made a confession.
“The nerves just set in,” the rookie NSW halfback said. “Ive never been here before. Its massive. The nerves are kicking in now.”
Nathan Cleary: The youngest player on the field in Origin but ready to play beyond his years.
Photo: Wolter Peeters
Of course, nobody was buying it. Cleary, 20, has been earmarked to play on this stage since he was in nappies and few expect hell need one after he makes his State of Origin debut against Queensland on Wednesday night, such is his calmness and composure.
He is his fathers son in every way; so eerily similar in demeanour to Ivan, the unflappable Wests Tigers coach who rarely raises an eyebrow let alone his voice.
“It has all happened very quickly for me,” Cleary continued. “It only feels like yesterday that I was preparing for my first-grade debut. Im just trying to take it in my stride.”
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In 1990, Brad Fittler became the youngest Origin player in history when called into the NSW side coached by Jack Gibson. He was 18 and 114 days.
“I look at him and wish I was him when I was 20,” Fittler, now the Blues coach, said. “If I had been like him, I wouldve done a lot more. I wouldve won more games.”
Out here, in the middle of an empty MCG before the NSW Captains Run, its quiet. Too quiet. Its like the eerie silence in the action movies when the hero looks like hes won the day before someone jumps from the shadows and blows him away.
Queensland will attempt a similar ambush when an expected crowd of 85,000 fills the banks of empty seats.
Among them will be AFL boss Gillon McLachlan, as well as Cricket Australias chief executive James Sutherland and chairman David Peever, who are all guests of NRL chief executive Todd Greenberg.
Rugby league is often compared unfavourably to its competitors — especially the AFL machine — but Origin is something every code looks upon with envy.
Ticket sales spiked as soon as Fittler announced his new-look team that includes 11 debutants, although the MCG crowd is likely to favour the Maroons given how many Melbourne Storm players — past and present — have featured in their side in recent times.
Not so much this year. Cameron Smith and Cooper Cronk have retired from rep footy while Billy Slater was ruled out on Monday because of a hamstring injury.
Shunned by selectors 10 days ago, Darius Boyd declined an SOS call from coach Kevin Walters to return from a short holiday in New Zealand. Normally, Queenslanders crawl over broken glass to play for their state but not any more.
They continue to drift in betting markets, out to as much as $2.75 with Sportsbet – Queenslands longest odds in 14 years and highest ever price for the opening game of an Origin series. But even the most pessimistic former NSW players are saying that price is too short. In their eyes, the era of Maroon dominance is about to finally collapse.
Many of those same former players have felt a disconnect from their state in recent times, texting Fittler and prompting him to take on the job after Laurie Daley was sacked late last year.
That wasnt a reflection on Daley but the players he chose. Some of them let him down, seemingly more concerned about their next contract, or schooner, or game of Xbox, instead of the deciding match in Brisbane.
Queensland — the $2.20 outsiders — won that game 22-6, securing their 11th series win in 12 years.
Last November, Fittler put the call out to every former Blues player he knew and asked them to attend the unveiling of the jersey for this years series.
Dozens of them unexpectedly came to support the new coach, blowing the budget for the event. Since then, Fittler and now his team of rookies have given Origin a fresh narrative.
That doesnt guarantee success.
The sign on the NSW dressing room wall for this years campaign — “Whatever it takes” — isnt a punchy slogan but the code they must adopt if theyre to break out of the Origin death roll theyve been in since 2006, save for the series victory in 2014.
Queensland have been living and breathing the mantra for years. They dont have to write it on a wall. And its why predictions of an easy Blues victory are premature. Nobody plays the underdog better than Queensland.
The Maroons forward pack has been doubted again, just like other years. Watch Dylan Napa erupt like a volcano, Josh Papalii swing like a wrecking ball and Josh McGuire slyly stomp hands and drop his knee on heads and get under the skin of his opponents.
Slater is out, the last man standing of the so-called “big four” that included Smith, Cronk and Jonathan Thurston.
But they have a more-than-capable replacement at fullback in Michael Morgan, an Australian player and premiership winner.
What might also help them is the playing surface.
“Very greasy,” said Fittler toeing the turf as he walked alongside assistants Danny Buderus and Greg Alexander.
He has selected a youthful backline consisting of the games most electric players but one look at the turf suggests the match will be won in the middle of the park, not on its flanks. Fittler doesnt coach wrestling techniques in his rep teams but they will be invaluable in the dew of the MCG.
Still, the most important player on the field for NSW will be the youngest.
Not since Andrew Johns in 2005 have NSW had a genuine dominant halfback; a playmaker who demands the ball and commands the play.
“I dont get too angry,” Cleary said. “I have to play calm and keep my head. Ive acquired these traits from Dad. Were quiet and within ourselves. He hasnt taught me anything but to be grateful, take it your stride and be humble.”
Sounds like the right 20-year-old for the job to me.
Chief Sports Writer, The Sydney Morning Herald
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