11 hours ago
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May 26, 2026 — 11:42am
I will never forget being handed my first State Origin jersey. Because it wasn’t about me; it was about who I was representing.
It was about my mum, who drove me to training when I was five, and my junior coaches, who raced home from a long day’s work to teach us this game.
It was about my mates who I grew up with in western Sydney. They lifted me to this level, where I got to live a dream we would talk about in the back of a car.
As Jack Gibson handed me that first jersey, I thought back to everyone who had sacrificed for me, and how I would now sacrifice for them.
The sky-blue jersey means more than just a game of footy. Dyed deep in its fabric are the people and towns of our great state.
From Broken Hill to Bronte, from the snowfields up to the Northern Rivers, this team that runs out on Wednesday is a reflection of who we are. The players have the opportunity to carry the people of NSW with them when defending champions Queensland come to our home.
Every time I was lucky enough to pull on the sky blue, I could see the very people and places here in NSW that got me to that point.
When Kotoni Staggs, a young man from humble beginnings in Wellington in the NSW central west, was asked at Nine’s media day what it means to pull on the NSW jersey and represent his home town and family, he was trying to hold back tears. That had more impact than any words could.
He’ll be led by his captain, Isaah Yeo, who hails from nearby Dubbo and whose actions-first leadership and relentless work rate embody a region that regularly outlasts the uncertainty and intense stress brought on by drought.
Mitch Barnett will relentlessly charge at a Maroon wall on Wednesday night with the people of Wingham and the Manning Valley in tow.
Rugby league in Wingham represents hope, as the town is built on early mornings on the farm, long shifts in the abattoirs and communities that rally together whenever floods affect the towns and farmland that keep local families afloat.
The beautiful Biripi land, heralded on social media by NRL superstar Latrell Mitchell, has produced Blues leaders in Boyd Cordner (Old Bar) and Danny Buderus (Taree), who embody the same characteristics of the area’s fearless people.
Twenty minutes south of the NSW-Queensland border lies the Northern Rivers town of Murwillumbah, which produced hooker Reece Robson. Growing up in a painful era for all of us in sky blue, Robson was fuelled to play in this jersey while he watched his schoolmates defect to the “other” side.
His loyalty and commitment is sown deep in his Northern Rivers community that has been forced to band together and rebuild after the Lismore floods natural disaster left many in the region without a roof over their heads.
Debutants Tolu Koula, Addin Fonua-Blake and Victor Radley reflect the migration and cultural diversity that has made Sydney so special.
Koula and Fonua-Blake, both Mascot Jets juniors, boast Pasifika heritage. Cameron Murray, one of the best local products in Rabbitohs history, won 10 junior premierships for those same Jets, and now captains South Sydney
Radley, born and raised in Bronte and a product of Eastern Suburbs junior club Clovelly, demonstrates a fearless playing style bred into him by his English migrant father Nigel, who taught him the lessons of hard work six days a week through his carpentry business.
They say west is best, and there’s no substitute for that when you have Nathan Cleary (Leonay), Mt Druitt’s Brian To’o and Stephen Crichton, Casey McLean (Quakers Hill), Guildford’s Haumole Olakau’atu plus James Tedesco (Menangle) and Mitchell Moses (Ryde) representing the blue-collar engine room of Sydney.
I know from personal experience being a “Westie” steels you with an attitude that the way to a better life is through hard work, resilience and sticking up for yourself and your mates. It comes from being looked down upon purely for your postcode. I know exactly how this feels; it drove me my whole life.
Debutant Blayke Brailey grew up on the outskirts of the Sutherland Shire next to a nuclear reactor in the no-frills suburb of Barden Ridge. His father, Glen, taught him the best toughness is the sort you don’t see. At 80kg ringing wet, Brailey typifies his tight-knit community where people are self-made and stand their ground no matter what is thrown at them.
Hudson Young, from Branxton, runs out for the people of the Hunter Valley, where working 2km underground in a coal mine on night shift was the norm. The region has produced the state’s toughest, bravest and most skilled in Steve Simpson (Singleton), Andrew Johns (Cessnock) and John Sattler (Kurri Kurri).
Growing up on the Central Coast, Ethan Strange watched Origin in the family farm shed with his dad and now NSW women’s coach, John. When Trent Hodkinson scored his series-winning try in 2014, it inspired Ethan to dream of winning at the home of the Blues in Sydney. He gets the chance to make his debut alongside fellow coasty Jacob Saifiti.
Representing the Illawarra and the NSW South Coast is Albion Park’s Dylan Lucas, who has come from the clouds to break into the squad after making a name for himself at the Knights. The former steel city of Wollongong is rugby league heartland, producing Immortals Bob Fulton and Graeme Langlands, plus Blues legends Steve Roach, Garry Jack, Craig Fitzgibbon, Matt Cooper and Paul McGregor.
When you bend hot metal for a living and work with your hands and your back, you’re going to be a no-nonsense type, and Dylan proudly represents the ethos of his community.
Only a handful of years ago, sections of the South Coast burned to the ground as bushfires left small towns charred and unrecognisable. In the years since, the region has regenerated and proven that when NSW locals pull together, nothing is beyond us.
In the most diverse state in the country, we can all become one for a day.
Come Wednesday, no matter where you are, wear your Blues jersey with pride and cheer on these boys when they represent every single person and town in our state.
Queensland won’t just be taking on 17 players, they’ll be taking on all 8.7 million of us. We’re all blue.
Brad Fittler is a Blues legend, who coached and captained NSW to famous series victories.
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