Heath Kelly

“It’s amazing how league has taken off in America following that game; they just swooped on it, didn’t they?”

Peter Sterling

On a hot summer Californian night in 1987, Queensland and New South Wales clashed in the only State-of-Origin to be played on international shores. The unremarkable match failed in its bid to kick-start the game in America, but unintentionally succeeded in causing two decades of unending debate between footy fans that has only served to fuel cross-border rivalries. Since NSW walked from the field 30-18 winners, supporters on both sides of the Tweed have argued over the game’s place in the rich history of State-of-Origin. Both the New South Wales Rugby League (NSWRL) and Australian Rugby League (ARL) rate it as a fair-dinkum game. While down south they don’t regard it as part of that year’s series, won by Queensland 2-1, a tick was still added to the Blues’ win column. Up north, fans and league authorities disregard the game entirely, claiming it was nothing more than an exhibition match and shouldn’t be part of Origin folklore.
Both sides refuse to let go of the issue, and never will. On the 21st anniversary of the match, Alpha decided to revisit the event with the help of the sides’ respective captains: Peter Sterling, who comically led the Blues onto the field, and Wally Lewis, the five-eighth of the century.

The American Dream
By ’87, State-of-Origin football, all of seven years old, had created a brand of rugby league that nobody had seen before. Players were incorporating modern techniques into their training, and moving into the age of full-time professionalism. They were faster, stronger and better than ever. Forget Test matches as the standard-bearer of the game – Australia had conquered all-comers since the ’82 “Invincibles” toured Great Britain undefeated. By ’87, Origin had developed into league’s ultimate showpiece. Full of heroes, villains, geniuses and thugs, each match promised edge-of-the seat action. With the game at an all-time high; Australia unbeatable; Origin an unstoppable force; and Brisbane, Newcastle and the Gold Coast due to enter the competition, the ARL, under the guidance of Ken Arthurson, decided it was time to try to crack the world’s richest market.

Peter Sterling:  “By ’87, Origin was starting to take hold. In the ’86 series, which NSW won 3-0, there was nothing in it, and only four points separated the teams in ’87. They were epic battles – every match was an even-money bet. If you look at that Queensland side of the mid-to-late ’80s, it was a magnificent team full of the players who helped make Origin what it was – names such as Lewis, (Mal) Meninga, (Gene) Miles, (Greg) Conescu. It hadn’t been around that long, but had really captured the imagination.”
Wally Lewis:  “Origin had well and truly established a fair grip over sports entertainment in Australia by ’87. NSW victories in ’85 and ’86 swelled public interest, which led to corporate involvement. When you had those two things hand-in-hand it meant league bosses were comfortable taking it global, because they had interest suggesting it was a sustainable entertainment package.”

The Build-Up
The game was scheduled for Thursday, August 6, at Veterans Memorial Stadium, Long Beach, 30km south of downtown LA. In a pre-game press conference, Sterling got under the skin of his opponents by claiming NSW were looking to level the series 2-2. The business end of the league season was closing in and NSW players, with a couple of exceptions, were required to return for club games the following weekend.

Peter Sterling:  “Queensland took it as a holiday. We trained for it pretty hard and had a more serious preparation for the game. Although it was interspersed with visits to Disneyland – to have those clichéd shots taken with Mickey Mouse with us in our shorts and thongs – it was in the back of our minds that we’d lost the series. We knew we’d feel better about ourselves with a win over Queensland.”
Wally Lewis:  “The Queensland boys had a bit of a drink on the plane on the way over, while the NSW players had a strict diet and could only drink water. A day or two before the game, we were all entertained one night when Allan Langer took part in a body-building competition. It was very comical. He was given third place and all these huge blokes built like brick shithouses were filthy. It wasn’t the normal Origin build-up. One team’s preparation wasn’t first class.”

The Atmosphere
Giant inflatable kangaroos, a marching band, a rendition of The Star-Spangled Banner – rugby league had never seen anything like it. Watching a copy of the game, Alpha was transported to an age when hairy-topped lips ruled fashion and shorts came in one size – tight. It was also a time when it was OK to promote the violence of the game. “Do you want to see a few guys get their heads beaten in?” a Wide World of Sports reporter asked one keen punter. Officials claimed a crowd of 12,349, after giving away thousands of free tickets, but judging by the telecast – hosted by Mike Gibson, the clear winner in the moustache wars – they would’ve been lucky to have half as many bums on seats.

Peter Sterling:  “We were told there was a crowd of 12,000 there. I don’t think it was that many, but it was OK. We didn’t feel awkward running out. I felt more awkward when the Australian team was paraded at Elland Road (home of the Leeds football team) in England on the ’82 Kangaroos tour and the crowd started singing, ‘Who the f–k are they?’”
Wally Lewis:  “I was standing next to one of the boys. He said, ‘If this thing (inflatable kangaroo, left) shits in the middle of the field, then we’re all in big trouble.’ It was an opportunity for America to understand one of Australia’s favourite games, and they were very receptive, although it had nothing like the intensity of an Origin match. It was more like a carnival.”

The Banner Incident
Ask most Origin fans who remember the game and the thing that sticks out for them is Sterling’s attempt to break through the banner as he ran out onto the field.

Peter Sterling:  “The girl who made the banner came to speak to me on game day, but I fobbed her off because I was heading out to lunch. We were talking crepe paper, and I thought I could manage getting through it. So the night arrived, we had a crowd there, all my friends and family were watching at home and I was full of pride leading the NSW team onto the field. I accelerated to run through the banner and it was like hitting a brick wall. The girl had tried to tell me about a spot in it I was supposed to run through. It was like being caught in a spider’s web (above). I couldn’t go backwards or forwards. (NSW hooker) Royce Simmons, who was behind me, looked at me and I looked at him. Then he just led the team around the banner while I struggled to get out. ‘Fatty’ (Paul Vautin) said it was 12-0 by the time I got on the field.”

The Match
When Simmons threw a haymaker at Paul Vautin after just the second tackle and an all-in ensued, the game held the promise of another torrid Origin. But the match barely resembled the blood-and-thunder games seen before or since.
Both sides played an expansive game, spinning the ball wide through either set-up plays or just ad-lib footy, the type of which you rarely see in the predictable, safety-first style which dominates today. There was some tough front-on defence by the likes of Queensland second-rower Trevor Gillmeister – what you got in the days before teams employed wrestling coaches. But overall it was a clash lacking intensity, riddled with mistakes and bad haircuts.
Eight tries were scored all up during the Blues’ 30-18 win, although Queensland were never really in it, and at one stage found themselves 22 points behind. Highlights included an intercept try from Blues five-eighth Cliff Lyons off a Colin Scott (Queensland reserve) speculator, while Andrew Ettingshausen flying down the wing brought a tear to the eye. Twice Ettingshausen chipped after scorching the touchline, once for (centre) Michael O’Connor to score and again for (full-back) Jonathan Docking.
On the Queensland side, Allan Langer, in his first year of Origin, produced some touches that were to become a regular feature of future contests. Meanwhile, Dale Shearer matched “ET” for pace and scored a consolation try after the full-time siren. It was an unlucky night for Blues prop Phil Daley, who broke his jaw. Daley, who went on to win the premiership with Manly that year, was one of the heavyweights of the NSW forward pack, which weighed in with an average weight of 92.7kg, a couple of kilograms heavier than the Queensland team. To put that in perspective, Tigers five-eighth Benji Marshall, at 91kg, is considered a lightweight in today’s game.

Peter Sterling:  “I haven’t seen the game in 20-odd years, but the Blues captaincy is something I look back on with pride. I can tell you incidents from every Origin game I’ve ever played, but I have no recollection of that match. I don’t think I played well, but I got man of the match. I don’t know why. The nice thing was, yes, we won it, but when it comes down to it, it wasn’t a true Origin.”
Wally Lewis: “We were determined to win, but we thought it was an exhibition game. The brawl that broke out in the first five minutes proved both teams had a different outlook on it. Royce Simmons grabbed me during the brawl and said: ‘I’m going to take a few swings, just make it look as though I’m hitting you.’ When we were down by 16 points, I grabbed the team together and said: ‘Let’s not embarrass ourselves; I know what these bastards are up to.’”

The Wash-Up
Much of the talk from officialdom that followed hailed the game as a success, and claimed the experiment had laid groundwork for the game’s future in America. However, despite the best intentions, the gimmick failed. The Los Angeles Times ignored the match completely, while the local paper, the Press-Telegram, focused on the giant kangaroo and the three streakers who invaded the field. Meanwhile, as the NSW players headed home, the Queenslanders went on an all-expenses paid trip to Las Vegas as a reward for winning that year’s series. Sterling was given dispensation by his club to stay in America and joined up with the Maroons in Vegas.

Peter Sterling:  “It’s amazing how league has taken off in America following that game; they just swooped on it, didn’t they? It turned into a sensational trip for me. Following the game, we got to party with (surfing star) Pam Burridge, and I was a big fan. Parramatta weren’t travelling particularly well and I was given permission to stay on in America, so we headed straight to Las Vegas. For me, it was like going to Mecca. I knelt in front of Caesars Palace – it just felt like home.
Wally Lewis: “To have a single game over there was a waste; it would have been better to say we were going back in two years. A hit-and-run promotion was never going to be successful. After the game, the next few days in the world’s gambling capital was a hell of a lot of fun. We went to a Beach Boys show and I watched Benny (Wayne Bennett) relive his youthful days; we flew through the Grand Canyon. Gene Miles said Vegas was the most expensive place he’d ever visited. The one T-shirt he bought cost five grand.”

The Real McCoy?
The memory of the Long Beach match has all but been erased in Queensland. They consider it nothing but a cheap knock-off. Check the official website of the Queensland Rugby League and it’s been reduced to an asterisk. Langer, who holds the record for Origin games played, is recorded on the site as having represented his state 33 times. Check the corresponding NSW site, and he’s down as having played 34, California match included. If you bleed sky blue the match has every reason to be part of the win-loss ledger. One side decked out in blue jerseys, the other maroon; a match lasting 80 minutes; a crowd and a referee – how could it be anything but the real deal?

Peter Sterling:  “It shouldn’t be considered official. I think the best way to judge it is to speak to the 30 players, and I’m fairly confident even the NSW players would say it was nice to be a part of it, but to rate it officially alongside some of the greatest and most fiercely contested Origin games ever played, you wouldn’t. I guess you’d have to ask the people who compiled the statistics, but I don’t know why they’ve made the decision to count it. It was a nice holiday with a game of rugby league.”
Wally Lewis: “It’s 50-50. The match took place and some might suggest the series was 2-2. Not the strongest side went on the trip. A couple of blokes opted out to play club football so they weren’t injured by a circus game in the States. It was an entertainment event, rather than a desperate State-of-Origin clash. If NSW are that desperate they can have it. While you’re always very hopeful to chalk up a big scoreboard in the matches-played column, not too many would be worried if it wasn’t counted. I don’t care one way or the other.”

1987 Game – Non-series Match (California, USA, August 6)
NSW 30 (Ettingshausen, McGaw, O’Connor, Lyons, Docking tries, O’Connor 5 goals)
d. Queensland 18 (Currie, Miles, Shearer tries, Shearer 3 goals)
Crowd: 12,349. Referee: M Stone (NSW) Man of the Match: Peter Sterling (NSW)