Ten steps to becoming a Queensland Origin player – from the man who wrote the book on them.

Article on new book, ‘The Maroons: Queensland’s State of Origin Heroes’.

If you grew up among a friendship circle like mine – where we played rugby league before school, during recess, then after school – then you understand the reverence State of Origin is afforded in many communities.

The Maroons in Queensland are demigods. Even from childhood, I wondered what it was that separated the gladiators that pulled on our State jersey from those hordes of us who merely dreamt about it.

Later, as someone who played rugby league at a community level for 30-plus years, I became well aware it’s a sport that attracts people with a broad range of life experiences, sometimes from the periphery.

When I ventured from mainstream sports journalism to working in communications for universities, I started to read more about things like risk-taking behaviour, the triangulation between mental health, crime and substance abuse, and child development theories.

I knew that among Queensland’s Origin cohort were many players who had experienced extreme environments in childhood. And I was equally convinced that there were others who had never told their full story.

I wanted to put it all on the table and produce a handbook that basically said: “Don’t be ashamed of what you’ve been through. These guys are our heroes, and collectively, they’ve been through many of the same issues, and more.”

By Robert Burgin.