Monday Milestone: Big Artie
''Arthur did not need State of Origin to attain greatness; State of Origin needed Arthur.''
– Rodney Cavalier in tribute to the late Arthur Beetson
This Week in History:
1980, July 8
Arthur Beetson leads out Queensland onto Lang Park for the first ever State of Origin match. It would be the first Maroon victory since 1977 and give birth to the rugby league showpiece we have today.
Ask anyone north of the Tweed, they will tell you Arthur Beetson was Queensland, and Queensland was Big Artie.
Countless column inches have been devoted to the Queenslander, and if you read through them, you’ll recognise a few recurring sentiments. Legend. Hero. Immortal. These are the words often used to describe such a champion as Arthur Beetson.
With a career spanning from the mid-1960s through until the 1980s, Beetson was memorable for so many reasons: 29 Tests for Australia; two premierships; indigenous leader; eleven hot dogs before a gala dinner, the list goes on…
But this week the Milestone parks the Delorean in 1980 as big Artie Beetson runs out onto Lang Park for Queensland in what would become the high watermark of his career and change the face of rugby league forever with the very first State of Origin.
But a bit of background first. Such an enormous effort was required to simply play that match. Up until that point, for decades, Queensland had just been a breeding ground for the Sydney competition. The NSWRFL was the premier competition in Australia, attracting the best players of the day. But the rules stated that playing in Sydney meant playing for New South Wales. Only those that stayed behind in Queensland could play for the Maroons. So after playing for Balmain, Eastern Suburbs, and Parramatta, Big Artie played eighteen matches for New South Wales.
Imagine if that rule existed today – there’d be no Billy Slater, no Cameron Smith and no Cooper Cronk. Based on these rules, they’d all be playing for Victoria. Greg Inglis and Darius Boyd would be playing for the Blues whilst James Tamou and Greg Bird would be playing for Maroons. Petero Civoniceva would have played for both. Such modern perspective highlights the magnitude of the change that truly gives meaning to the term “State of Origin”. More than that, it goes a long way to explain just how proud Big Artie must have felt on that night at Lang Park.
Beetson was 35 years of age when he led the Queensland team out in the very first State of Origin. He had spent his career waiting for this moment, and the passion was evident. Club loyalty no longer mattered – something Mick Cronin found out the hard way. What counted was his state, and Arthur Beetson was Queensland. The 20-10 result was also immensely important. Many will argue that had that fire not been there, and had the Maroons not won that night, we would not have had the grand spectacle we have today.
A spectacle that continues today, even if Beetson unfortunately does not. As rugby league fans we lost a great man last December. That enormous Arthur Beetson-sized hole will arguably never be filled. He was indeed a legend, a hero, an immortal. And he is eternally missed up at Lang Park, and everywhere else throughout the rugby league world.
This week more than most.
The Milestone Five: The (arguably) most significant moments in Arthur Beetson’s career
5. 1974 – Beetson is named as Rugby League Week’s player of the year.
4. 1973 – ‘Meat Pie Artie' eats 11 hot dogs before a gala dinner for the Australian team.
3. 1966 – In his first year in Sydney, Beetson plays his first Test match for the Kangaroos
2. 1975 – In one of the most dominant displays in history, Beetson captains Eastern Suburbs to back to back premierships with a then-record Grand Final win.
1. 1980 – 35 year old Beetson runs out onto Lang Park for Queensland in the very first match of State of Origin; a concept which has now grown to become rugby league’s centrepiece.
