KEY POINTS:
Reg Reagan promoted the 'bring back the biff' slogan, albeit tongue in cheek, as there was a long-held thought the games in the late 90s were turning sterile after marketing rugby league to a new audience.
Rugby league, like most contact sports, was influenced heavily by the more of the day which was "it's a man's game and you need to be tough to play it". The word 'tough' meant you had to fight to assert some measure of authority.
Brawling became common place on the fields - eagerly welcomed by many on the sidelines as well as those who tuned into TV. Fighting was attractive and 'part of the constitution' when the State of Origin concept was introduced in 1980.
The new slogan of 'State against State; mate against mate' was born out of the fighting between team mates from club football, in particular Arthur Beetson and Mike Cronin, from Parramatta, standing toe-to-toe swinging arms.
The irony was that Cronin was a gentleman and it was uncommon for him to be in a fight. The marketers latched onto this, hence the slogan. For the next 20 years State of Origin was impatiently anticipated merely for the fights and games were sold out in hours of the release of tickets.
Times were changing and a female audience was attracted to the sport and the administrators sought to clean the game up. Fighting was discouraged and penalties were handed down from the judiciary to those who fought, and harsher ones to those who ran in from metres away to inflame the situation.
It has taken some time for players to buy into that but the advent of more cameras and media coverage has reluctantly been accepted as the norm. Last week we arrived at new crossroads where fighting is no longer required in a great State of Origin game.
I was totally enthralled by the game on Wednesday evening for the contest that was displayed. The speed of the game has always been a factor in the intensity of these battles, but combining the dynamics of skill was truly amazing.
Yes, there has always been skill, mostly from high-profile individual performers at crucial times during tight battles - but not with the frequency from all players at numerous times during one match.
It was breathtaking to see such deft passing, subtle offloads with soft hands and bone-jarring defence all at 180km/h.
I've used enough adjectives to describe 10 games but my feelings on the game are sparked by the new generation of players who have been siphoned away from the older-period player.
This match was a delight for a purist - showing what the game can offer if played in the right way by players with unlimited basic skill and knowledge and ability to draw that potential out of them.
It has taken a generation of full-time professionalism to unearth this talent.
Wow... what a future we have.
