Just about every child who has ever picked up a Steeden has dreamed, at one time or another, of playing State of Origin football.
Depending on where you're from those dreams might be different colours but their framework is all the same.
The visions we saw in our minds as the ball bounced around the back yard, or the front yard, or the local footy oval, they were all of winning — often in last-second, impossibly dramatic fashion.
They were all of being the hero, of rising above the rest and of being borne home shoulder high.
It's a dream that comes true for so few and for it even to happen there needs to be something for them to rise above.
Nobody's fantasies include playing five minutes off the bench, or having the biggest game of your life being a punctuation mark in somebody else's story.
Nobody dreams of getting one chance in an Origin jersey and never landing a second.
But it happens. It's happened to great players and to bolters who vanished as quickly as they appeared, to premiership winners and fortunate sons.
Being a one-game wonder in Origin can be a badge of honour as easily as it can be a curse one never escapes.
On Wednesday night four men — three New South Welshmen and one Queenslander — will play make their Origin debuts. Odds say at least one of them will join the 80 others who's first time was also their last.
Four other players, all Maroons, will play their second game and escape a fate which has befallen so many.
You'd imagine they'll be grateful. The one-game club is a strange place to be, even if someone has to be there.
'There's plenty of cattle around'
Each of the 80 one-game wonders must have had the same picture in their heads when their name was called. How can your imagination not run wild when the coach rings you and says this is your time, that there will be a blue or maroon jersey with your name on the back?
All those old dreams must come rushing back, of scoring tries and winning games and smiting the enemy and teammates becoming brothers. Fate is just a word to some people but when you're on the edge of a fantasy come to life it must feel so real.
It's an impossible vision to resist and one that rarely comes true because reality gets in the way, like it did for Canberra five-eighth Terry Campese when he played his only Origin for New South Wales in the 2009 series opener at Docklands in Melbourne.
It was still one of the honours of his career and something he's grateful for to this day. There's no bitterness. It's just not what he pictured.
"As soon as Craig (Bellamy) rang me to let me know, I was chuffed, it's every boy's dream to play Origin. I think it's the pinnacle of rugby league. Mum was the first one I rang, she's always the one I tell first for anything with sport, and word got around quickly and I was ringing around to tell everyone so they could get down to Melbourne," Campese said.
"It was a bit different, it wasn't what I anticipated. We were out of town, somewhere in the country, I was expecting there was gonna be quite a few beers on the Wednesday but there was only a couple of us who had a few.
"It was because of the run Queensland were on at the time, we were trying something different and it was just footy, footy, footy. There was a lot of training, a lot of video sessions in the lead-up. There was quite a bit of defensive work, we had a wrestling coach, it was pretty full-on.
"It was intense. It was a lot of pressure because of Queensland's streak and the cattle they had made them one of the best Origin teams ever and we were trying to break that cycle."
In a game best-remembered for Jarryd Hayne's disallowed try early on, Campese did what he could in the unfamiliar Victorian surrounds. Trailing 24-6 shortly after halftime, the Blues clawed their way back into the match before losing 28-18.
"The intensity of the game was next level. The only thing that was missing — and I'd been to watch a few Origins before and since — was that a good rugby league facility you can hear the players and when you scream out they can hear you," Campese said.
"That was the one thing that stood out, it was at an AFL ground where you couldn't really hear the individual niggle from the fans. The noise was still electric, it was just different."
Campese got the bullet after the loss and never played Origin again. He might have come close if his knees hadn't fallen apart in the years after, but hypotheticals aren't much good outside the front bar. The dreams aren't meant to end that way.
"The next night I went on The Footy Show and Phil Gould just absolutely smashed us, he really gave it to me. He blamed the kicking game for the loss, I haven't watched the game back in over ten years but it'd be interesting to see it now and what I thought of my performance," Campese said.
"I was devastated and upset, for sure, and little did I know it would be my only Origin. I'm grateful to have the opportunity, I'd have loved to have had more chances and it wasn't like we got flogged in that first game.
"But it is what it is at the end of the day, they decided not to go with me. There's plenty of cattle around."
The Blues willingness to try so many of those cattle is why they dwarf Queensland in terms of membership for the one-game club.
There's some guys who barely got a game at all — like Cronulla hooker Aaron Raper, who was unused substitute in Game 2 of the 1997 series, or Manly backrower Jamie Buhrer, who only got seven minutes in his sole outing in 2012.
Some players, like Tigers cult hero Keith Galloway, didn't get a shot when the game was still firing. The Tigers cult hero lumbered onto Lang Park for the 2011 decider with his side trailing 24-10 and the game looking as good as gone.
Queensland have a few of those as well, like Raiders forward Dunamis Lui — he played the first 20 minutes of Game II in 2020 and left the field with the Maroons trailing 6-4. By the time he returned in the 75th minute it was 34-10 to the Blues and everything looked over.
It was a similar story for Sharks hardman Matt Prior in Origin II, 2018 — albeit with a happier ending. The Cronulla hardman played the opening 25 minutes for the Blues, got on for eight more minutes in the second half, and will always be part of the New South Wales side that wrapped up the series courtesy of their 18-14 win.
Some players are just damn unlucky to exist at the same time as an ageless superstar, like Manly's ever-reliable Matt Ballin who got stuck behind Cameron Smith for almost a decade except for one night in the 2010 series when the Melbourne rake was injured.
Then there's the ones who got it really bad, the poor souls for whom there was no grace seen in their failure or little nobility found in their attempts.
The Blues have a few of these guys and a lot of them got their shot at Origin during Queensland's dynasty from 2006 to 2013, when scores of New South Welshmen were given a firm handshake and pat on the back before they were sent out there to be devoured.
It was a tough thing for some to recover from. There's a lot of reasons Newcastle half Jarrod Mullen never hit the heights his talent promised but getting thrown in for his only Origin match in 2007 at just 19 years of age probably didn't help.
Steve Turner was a fine winger at a number of clubs and a premiership winner at Melbourne but his exploits in Origin were limited to one tough night in Game II of the 2008 series when Greg Inglis put him on the highlight reel.
Rabbitohs flyer Nathan Merritt scored 154 tries in a fabulous career and his selection for New South Wales in 2013 was a worthy reward for a long and consistent career. Things was never the same after he was targeted mercilessly by Queensland in a thumping Maroons win and he limped into retirement just over a season later.
Phil Duke developed a stock answer when people asked him about his foray into Origin. The quicksilver winger was one of State of Origin's earliest selection shocks when the Blues picked him from country footy side Moree Boomerangs in 1982.
Duke was involved in a mix up with Phil Sigsworth that led to a crucial Queensland try in the Maroons 10-5 victory and, despite scoring his state's only try, was sent back to the bush as soon as he came.
Through the years, whenever the calls came through at Origin time Duke's answer was the same — he'd forgotten all about it and he wished everyone else would.
'Everything else was gravy'
Not all one-game wonders are created equal. Arthur Beetson, who played such a crucial role in the creation of Origin football and its elevation from a novelty to part of the lifeblood of the sport, is one of them.
So is Tom Raudonikis, who captained New South Wales against Beetson's Queenslanders that famous night back in 1980.
There's some other all-time greats who were coming to the end just as Origin was beginning, like Blues pair Graham Eadie and Steve Edge, or Queenslanders Rod Reddy and John Lang, who are four of the one-game club's most decorated members.
It's proof that not every one-gamer has a wistful story of their time in the Origin arena. There are some great players who, through poor luck or other circumstances, only got the single chance.
Cronulla champion David Peachey is one of those — he set up a try and scored another to steal victory for New South Wales in the series opener back in 2000 and would have been retained if not for a wrist injury that ruled him out for the rest of the series.
Luke Keary is, by virtue of his accomplishments, one of the most decorated five-eighths of the modern era. Along with James Maloney and Cooper Cronk, he's one of the few halves of the NRL era to win premierships with more than one club.
It's no wonder he was once the subject of a fierce eligibility battle between the states but for all the sound and fury the spoils amounted to one game, for New South Wales in a forgettable loss to Queensland in 2020.
Later in that series we saw the best side of the one-hitter life. In the grand tradition of Maroons players rising to the occasion when called upon by their state, Corey Allan and the Lee cousins put in a shift in the decider that will be part of the Origin mythos for as long as interstate football is played. There's no way to tell the story of the "worst Queensland team" ever without them.
Ethan Lowe knows a bit about debuting in deciders himself. He pulled on the famous Maroon shirt for the first and only time in Game III of the 2019 series with an injury to Matt Gillett propelling him from 18th man to the game of his life.
"Because Gilllo got injured at the start of camp I was in two minds, I had to prepare to play but I wasn't sure until the day before the game if I was going to play. It was a real wait and see," Lowe said.
"It was a bit difficult mentally, you have to compartmentalise and focus on your prep and your routine to make sure you're ready to go.
"Everyone always talks about it, but the speed and the intensity and how much harder it was, it stood out. It's a step up, even from a grand final. Everything goes up a notch.
"Getting out there on the field, just being a part of State of Origin, that was the dream. Anything else that happens on top of that is just gravy."
That decider is remembered for James Tedesco's last-second match-winner for the Blues, an indelible moment in Origin folklore, but Lowe produced one of the great Origin debuts.
The Rabbitohs backrower topped the tackle count with 46, broke more tackles than any other Queensland player, secured a key charge down which led to Josh Papali'i's late try and kicked four goals from four attempts — including a tricky equalising conversion in the 76th minute.
"That's what you pretend you're doing when you're kicking a footy in the backyard. You try not to let the moment become too much for you, just focus on your routine of kicking the footy so you know you'll do it well," Lowe said.
"Block the rest of it out. Focus on what you know works for you.
"To get so close and lose on the siren, it's a tough thing to deal with. Putting in 80 minutes of hard work as a team and one little thing happens right at the end, it's disappointment."
A neck injury ended Lowe's career less than 12 months later and ruined his chances of playing Origin again, a call which almost certainly would have come given his heroics on debut.
That's a big thing to carry around but Lowe doesn't let it weigh him down. He doesn't sit around wondering what might have been, even though he was good enough to earn at least a few more Origin nights.
His time in Maroon usually only comes up around Origin time when all the old tales live again, even the tales that only happened once. His jersey is tucked away safely. He'll always be a part of Queensland history and a part of the Origin story because what's already happened can't ever change.
"There's only been 220 odd players to play for Queensland in Origin. To be one of those, it's very special. A select few people get to do it," Lowe said.
"To have your name on the board with those rugby league legends, it's pretty cool."
That's something Campese has come to understand as his night in sky blue drifts further into the past. The Canberra stalwart achieved a lot in his career but as time goes buy more of that only gets remembered by the tragics and the trainspotters.
But Origin lasts. Origin endures. No matter if you played one game or 100, Origin stands the test of time. There's been a lot of Raiders, like there's been a lot of Rabbitohs and Sea Eagles and Broncos and Knights and all the rest.
Not many of them got to be Blue or Maroon, even for one night, and that's worth plenty because it means some small part of you lives forever.
"It happens at a lot at schools when you go to do talks, they always bring up what you did in your playing career," Campese said.
"Not many kids today know who we were, it's all about the current guys, but once they hear about Origin and who played for Queensland they always ask about G.I (Greg Inglis) and Billy Slater and Cameron Smith and Johnathan Thurston.
"Just having that one jumper, it's a dream for everyone and not everyone gets to do it. I'll cherish it for the rest of my life.
"It's one of about ten jerseys I need to get framed, I haven't done it yet but it's sitting there waiting for me."
