They were picked for a State of Origin opener and would have hoped to at least play out the series, if not go on to a decorated career in the arena.

Instead, they were punted after one game — either due to form, or brutal misfortune.

And they never played Origin again.

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The list of players who were selected for Game One of a series, then sent into Origin oblivion, is a remarkable mix including a Clive Churchill Medallist and triple premiership winner, a phenomenal talent who scored in one match each for NSW and Australia before retiring early, plus a Queensland hooker batting behind Bradman.

Note: Only players since 2000 listed

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2000: David Peachey (NSW, 80 minutes)

The Cronulla Sharks fullback played three games for Super League’s NSW side in 1997, yet had to wait three years for a crack in a Blues jersey. After a mixed outing, Peachey scored a 77th-minute match-winning try in a 20-16 victory at Stadium Australia, just months before it hosted the Sydney Olympics. Notably, it was the match in which Maroons enforcer Gorden Tallis copped a historic send-off for calling referee Bill Harrigan “a f***ing cheat”. Peachey was injured in a loss to the Bulldogs before game two and was never seen in Origin again, despite being the Dally M Fullback of the Year in 1999 and 2000. Tim Brasher replaced him for game two and won man of the match, en route to a NSW series whitewash under coach Wayne Pearce. Forever a graceful mover, Peachey had another seven seasons in the NRL after his Origin nod, ending his career with two years at South Sydney.

2004: Ryan O’Hara (NSW, 21 minutes)

The Canberra Raiders prop was selected as a starter for Phil Gould’s side in what became one of the Blues’ most tumultuous Origin matches, marred by the pre-game axing of stars Mark Gasnier and Anthony Minichiello over a drunken night out during camp (featuring the infamous ‘Fire up, b****’ voicemail message). O’Hara was a rugged front-rower who had played a pair of games for Country Origin, yet Gould was not thought to be onboard with his NSW selection. The proof was in the pudding: O’Hara played just 22 minutes across two brief stints on the field as the Blues claimed a dramatic 9-8 win at Sydney Olympic Park, thanks to a famous Shaun Timmins field goal. O’Hara was dropped, missed out on a series win and never played rep football again, while NSW completed a series three-peat under Gould the following year.

2006: David Stagg (QLD, 44 minutes)

Then with the Broncos in what became a premiership-winning season, Stagg was picked as a starting second-rower for a heavily-revamped Queensland alongside Matt Scott; Steve Price and Petero Civoniceva were the props. An incredible Maroons comeback win looked on the cards when Greg Inglis and Steve Bell scored tries in the final 10 minutes to level the score at 16-all, only for NSW’s last-minute replacement halfback Brett Finch to slot a stunning field goal in the 79th minute. Stagg had a quiet game and was axed for the remainder of what became a glorious series. Queensland came back to win 2-1 via a last-gasp Darren Lockyer try in game three and Mal Meninga’s Maroons dynasty began, with Staggs — Dally M Lock of the Year in 2009 — among those who just missed the boat for an iconic winning streak spanning eight years.

2007: Antonio Kaufusi (QLD, 26 minutes)

The Melbourne prop had played a Test for Australia the previous year and was in strong form for a grand final-bound Storm team when he was picked on the Maroons bench for a series opener at Suncorp Stadium. It was a 25-18 Queensland victory, yet marred by a torn patella tendon for Kaufusi in the second half that ended his season. It was the second year of Queensland’s dynasty period and Kaufusi never got another opportunity to share in the historic glory of Meninga’s men. In another tough twist of fate after missing a GF win that year, Kaufusi played in Melbourne’s 40-0 thrashing from Manly in the 2008 grand final, before moving to North Queensland and missing the Storm’s win in the 2009 NRL decider; though both the ’07 and ’09 wins were ultimately stripped over salary cap rorting anyway.

2007: Jarrod Mullen (NSW, 80 minutes)

One of the biggest bolters in Origin history, the Newcastle Knights playmaker was pitched into game one against a champion Queensland side at just 20 years old, having played only nine NRL games at halfback and 31 in all; while his opposite number was potential Immortal Johnathan Thurston. Though Mullen was quiet alongside halves partner Braith Anasta, the Blues actually led that Suncorp Stadium game 18-6 at half-time, only to cop a trademark Maroons comeback for a seven-point loss. Mullen was dropped for Brett Kimmorley and later admitted he wasn’t ready for selection. “It probably seemed like it came a bit too easy, because I’d only just started playing first grade and then I was playing Origin,” he told AAP two years later. “And probably back then I got thrown into it because there wasn’t anyone else to throw in.” Mullen was a symptom of growing NSW panic in the face of Queensland’s might; Kimmorley’s call-up to replace him meant that NSW used four different halfbacks in as many games, with Brett Finch and Craig Gower picked for the final two matches of 2006. They then picked Peter Wallace for the first two games of 2008, before turning to 19-year-old Mitchell Pearce for a losing decider.

2009: Terry Campese (NSW, 80 minutes)

Off the back of impressive form for Canberra, the strongly-built Raiders five-eighth made his Origin debut at Melbourne’s Docklands Stadium, alongside a recalled Wallace at No.7. The Blues were defeated 28-18 by a Queensland outfit that was assuming an unbeatable aura, having completed a hat-trick of series wins the previous year; Campese’s opposite number for the game was another potential Immortal, Maroons skipper Darren Lockyer. Trent Barrett came in to replace Campese for game two, as the Raider became another victim of a NSW halves merry-go-round in full swing. Campese had scored an Australian Test jersey the previous season, so ended his career having ticked both major rep football boxes, if only for one game each. Chronic injury soon took him out of calculations for further honours and he was kept to 139 NRL appearances.

2010: Matt Ballin (QLD, 62 minutes)

The Manly hooker holds a special place in Origin folklore for the manner of his lone call-up. Ballin was effectively batting behind Bradman given that Cameron Smith (ANOTHER potential Immortal) had reeled off four consecutive series wins as Maroons No.9 and was already stamping himself as an all-time great. But when Smith suffered an elbow injury in 2010, Meninga had no hesitation in calling-up the rock-solid Ballin; who was no chance of getting a game otherwise, despite being a fine player who was certain not to let anyone down. He enhanced his reputation with an excellent performance in a 28-24 win at Sydney Olympic Park, laying the foundation for a fifth-consecutive Queensland series triumph, then made way for Smith in game two and forever. Ballin called his one-off selection a “dream come true” and he also finished as a dual premiership player with Manly.

2010: Jamal Idris (NSW, 40 minutes)

The Bulldogs phenomenon will forever be one of the great ‘what ifs’ in rugby league, having stormed on to the scene in a flurry of dreadlocks and fend-offs to win the 2009 Dally M Rookie of the Year Award. A giant centre, Idris was picked on Craig Bellamy’s bench for game one of 2010 and scored a try for the Blues in a four-point loss, before losing his spot for game two due to a combination of form and a hip niggle. He was another that ended his career with one Origin, one Test, and also scored in his lone Kangaroos appearance the following year. A free spirit who was never a good fit with the ultra-professional NRL environment, Idris retired at age 27 after an ACL injury in 2017; he is still just 34 and had things gone differently, might still be playing. His final act was five games with Wests Tigers and the year before, after parting ways with Penrith, he went travelling — which included a near-kidnapping in Vietnam’s Ho Chi Minh City while on a Contiki tour, from a violent gang demanding cash. “They wanted money and I’m not one to step down,” Idris told Fox Sports’ old On the Couch with Sterlo program. “I ended up jumping through a taxi window to get away. I got straight on a plane, my brother booked me a ticket and I got straight on a plane and got out of there.”

2011: Dean Young (NSW, 37 minutes)

Having been 18th man for NSW for the fateful decider in the 2006 Origin series, the Dragons stalwart got his chance in the series opener five years later, off the back of St George Illawarra’s drought-breaking 2010 NRL premiership. Young was originally picked on the bench behind Michael Ennis, but started at hooker for then-Blues coach Ricky Stuart in an opener at Suncorp Stadium. Having made a lone Test appearance the previous year, he also lasted just one game for NSW after a 16-12 loss that saw super-sub Kurt Gidley return from injury for game two, before the Blues lost a series decider back in Brisbane. Young emulated his champion father, prop Craig Young, by playing for NSW but a year later was forced into retirement at just 28 by a chronic knee injury. He is now a Dragons assistant coach and rising contender for an NRL head coaching gig.

2012: Jamie Buhrer (NSW, 7 minutes)

A versatile Manly player who became an all-time Blues bolter, reportedly due to the selection influence of late Immortal Bob Fulton, Buhrer had the dubious honour of recording one of Origin’s briefest careers. A curious bench selection for an opener in Melbourne that was lost 18-10, Buhrer got just seven minutes afield as Queensland set the scene for their seventh-consecutive series win, and he was surplus to Stuart’s requirements for game two. “It was an emotional rollercoaster,” Buhrer told NRL.com in 2020. “I’d had a good couple of seasons and was picked off the back of some good footy. I’d played a bit of hooker throughout that season and was picked as the utility to spell Robbie Farah if he blew out or if any of our back-rowers needed a break. It turned out that Farah and our big men rolled out some big minutes so I was grateful to Ricky that he got me on. I wasn’t really surprised when Ricky called me to say I wasn’t in the 17 for Game Two. I’m not going to lie, I would’ve liked a few more minutes or another game, but I got on the field so for that I’m grateful.” Buhrer was a Manly premiership player in 2011.

2019: Nick Cotric (NSW, 80 minutes)

A teen phenomenon who always seemed destined to play Origin, the Raiders winger was a rare miss for Brad Fittler during his initially successful foray as Blues coach. Cotric was named the Dally M Rookie of the Year in 2017, right when Fittler assumed Origin duties, and after being 18th man in 2018 he got his chance in a series opener at Suncorp Stadium; an 18-14 loss for the Blues. After a lukewarm debut and with the series on the line, Fittler swung the axe and that was it for Cotric in Origin, though he also got two Kangaroos appearances that year. Blake Ferguson took his NSW wing spot and Fittler’s side completed back-to-back series wins. Cotric’s career took strange twists after that, with an ill-fated move to Canterbury for a single season before a return to Canberra, then another Raiders split after last season to join French club Catalans in the Super League. Cotric is still just 26; many would have tipped him to be an established superstar by now.

2020: Luke Keary (NSW, 80 minutes)

A Clive Churchill Medallist in 2018 and a historic back-to-back premiership winner with the Roosters in 2019, having already helped South Sydney to a drought-breaking 2014 grand final win, Keary had the CV of a sure-fire winner in the Origin arena. Unfortunately, the champion playmaker came and went for NSW in an unusual post-season Origin series where a Queensland side dubbed ‘the worst in history’ shocked Fittler’s Blues. Keary would have debuted in the previous Origin series if not for an ill-timed (and all-too-familiar) concussion, but instead came in for a 2020 opener at Adelaide Oval alongside Nathan Cleary. It was an 18-14 loss and Keary copped much of the blame, losing his spot to Cody Walker, who tasted victory in game two before a decider defeat. A superb playmaker, Keary was on the other hand a fallible defender; even so, it was a tough fate for so fine a footballer to get just one chance in a Blues jersey.

STILL-ACTIVE PLAYERS

2022: Ryan Matterson (NSW, 36 minutes)

2022: Kotoni Staggs (NSW, 53 minutes)

2023: Tevita Pangai Jr (NSW, 29 minutes)

2024: J’maine Hopgood (QLD, 31 minutes)

2024: Cameron McInnes (NSW, 47 minutes)

2024: Joseph Suaalii (NSW, 8 minutes)

Matterson and Pangai Jr both tasted defeat on NSW debut and seem the players on this list unlikely to add to their tally; the former is on the outer at Parramatta, while Pangai Jr is playing in France with Catalans. Staggs, Hopgood and McInnes may well get another crack, while Suaalii can’t be counted out despite currently being a Wallabies player in rugby union, having switched codes at the end of last year.

The former Roosters back was infamously sent off just eight minutes into his NSW debut in Sydney last year, having flattened Queensland fullback Reece Walsh with a shoulder straight to the head. The eventual 38-10 loss may remain Suaalii’s only Origin appearance — though if the 2022 Dally M Winger of the Year returns to rugby league (he’s still just 21), he would swiftly come back into rep calculations.

The players hoping to avoid the fate of these men: 2025 Origin I debutants Robert Toia, Beau Fermor, Trent Loiero (QLD) and Max King (NSW), and potentially Blues shadow player Campbell Graham.