Farewell, Skipper

Last night, the State of New South Wales and State Of Origin football in general said farewell to one if it's greatest ever combatants. 

From his very first touch of the ball in the most challenging arena the game has to offer, he took the bull by the horns and charged into a maroon brick wall without a glint of fear in his eyes and continued to so for over a decade.

For the last six years as Captain he's lead from the front, taking the battle to the Maroons with many inspirational performances to help bridge the gap to this great Queensland team. Quite simply, without him at the helm the blowout score lines would have been a more regular occurrence.

Widely regarded as one of his greatest performances was his 80 minute gut-busting effort playing in the front-row in game 2, 2011 leading his team to a memorable win at ANZ Stadium. As remarkable as that was, my most vivid memory of Gal in Origin came almost 12 months later at the same venue. 

Up by four points late in the contest against a surging Queensland side looking to clinch yet another late victory, they had us trapped on our own goal-line under immense pressure. On tackle 2, the skipper puts his hand up for a tough carry. On tackle 3 someone else is forced to take a run. On tackle 4, it's again the skipper putting his hand up to run us into a position to get a decent kick away and ultimately gain enough field position to hang on for the win. 

May seem like a small thing, but it epitomizes everything he stands for and everything you want in an Origin player.

This year under increasing scrutiny about his place in the team, he barely bats an eyelid, rolls up his sleeves and gets on with his job and in the process has left a legacy of what it means to don the Sky Blue jersey upon the young New South Wales tyros ready to carry us forward into the next Blues era.

Last night he thanked the New South Wales fans for all their support, but really it's us that should be thanking him.

Living north of the border, Gal has given me the inspiration and confidence to walk around in my colours amongst a constant barrage of banter and stand tall knowing where I come from and to be proud of it, I even painted my car sky blue a few years back!

So thanks for the memories Gal, you've been nothing short of an inspiration and although you only have one Origin shield to your name, you've laid the foundation for many more series wins for the boys in blue in the coming years.