The Maroons had the major edge in talent, even after Cooper Cronk broke his arm in Origin I. The 2014 New South Wales Origin side is the most important Blues team of this century, and the magnitude of their achievement in ending Queensland's eight-year winning streak is one of the state's finest hours - and it does not happen without Reynolds. There would be younger New South Wales fans who didn't even know he played for his state and that is a grave injustice because few have worn it harder. Nobody can be young and angry forever and for a long while now there has been more to Reynolds as a player and a man than being pissed off all the time. The player he was back then is just a memory now. He only played for the Blues four times and won just two of those matches. Reynolds's Origin career has been over for nine years. Which brings us back to Reynolds, who will retire after Canterbury's NSW Cup match against North Sydney on Saturday. If a player or a team isn't the absolute best and if their triumph is not total and beyond doubt, it just doesn't last as long in the people's hearts. Those stories are far rarer in New South Wales, and when they do get told they quickly get forgotten. If you need proof, ask the next Queenslander you see about Collins, or Adam Mogg, or just look them in the eye and say "Go Dozer" in the most Caxton Street voice you can muster. Not all of us can be blessed, but you don't have to be blessed to go hard, and the guys who play that way earn a different kind of love from the masses. The legendary Queensland spirit comes not just from the likes of Wally Lewis, Cameron Smith or Cameron Munster, but from Lindsay Collins and Reuben Cotter, from Fatty's Neville Nobodies in 1995, and Wayne Bennett's "Worst Queensland Team Ever" in 2020 - players and teams who succeeded not because they were chosen by providence but because they wanted it more and they were willing to fight harder for it when it counted. The southern state commemorates its greatest players just fine, like Queensland does, but the Maroons faithful have a special place in their heart for lesser-heralded players who rose to the occasion when their time came.
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