Lote Tuqiri knew his former NSW Waratahs coach had misread the Queensland rugby psyche as soon as the taunt of “hillbillies” was thrown at them.
The Wallabies winger had played State of Origin rugby league for Queensland and knew how the smallest grenade lobbed from NSW could be amplified into a much bigger deal.
He was right.
Heritage Round has become the perfect opportunity to dust off enduring memories like 2004 as the Queensland v NSW rivalry flares again.
The latest edition for the Templeton Cup at Suncorp Stadium on Saturday night has a fascinating script. Tate McDermott’s return at halfback means the Reds have back their greatest spark. Former Welsh international Jamie Roberts and new flyhalf Tane Edmed will have to cover for the Waratahs losing two of theirs, Izaia Perese and Ben Donaldson.
Finding a winner on form and personnel can be an unreliable form guide.
Let’s go back in time to Super 12 in 2004 when Suncorp Stadium first hosted a Queensland-NSW clash in rugby.
The Reds were lingering near the bottom of the table and the Waratahs had reason to feel a little cocksure entering the final round.
Phil Waugh and Co had a record win over the Crusaders in Christchurch that season and had a shot at the semi-finals if they could beat the lowly Reds well.
Coach Ewen McKenzie and then-Waratahs media manager Djuro Sen knew exactly what was coming in the build-up to the interstate game.
All the usual sledging from Queensland would go on and the usual suspects amongst former players would be wheeled out to take potshots.
On a whiteboard at Waratahs training in Sydney, they wrote a checklist of detractors.
Greg Martin, Dan Crowley, Andrew Slack, Sam Scott-Young and Chris Handy all had ticks next to their names indicating they had spruiked the “usual (rubbish).”
Then came the sting. “Hillbilly luncheon”. Tick.
In those days, it was tradition for a big interstate lunch to be staged in Brisbane to rev up for the game. The likes of former Test fullback Martin would come out with lines like "NSW have a record as Olympic-quality chokers."
A photo in the Sydney media meant the hillbilly slur reached Brisbane. Did the Reds take note. They sure did.
On game night, the Reds produced their best performance of the season to tump the Waratahs 23-7 in front of more than 42,000 delirious fans.
With the clock counting down to fulltime, the scenes on the Reds bench were priceless. Those players running off to let reserves get a taste of the victory were greeted by yelps of “yee-hah...hillbillies.” Every big hit on a Waratahs player stirred the same cry in the closing moments.
Fullback Chris Latham quipped that a straw hat and hay should be mandatory for any post-match media commitment.
The Reds revelled in it. Tuqiri just knew it had all gone horribly wrong. Reds winger Peter Hynes bottling him up all night as well.
“To be fair, it was probably a bit of arrogance (from our coaching group). I knew at the time, that’s probably going to backfire. You can’t be saying that, not to Queenslanders,” Tuqiri said.
“They came out and played great. Peter Hynes had a blinder. He was like a fly in summer...on you as soon as you walk out the door. Every time I see him I tell him how well he played.”
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For Latham, the interstate game was a big reason why he became such a Queensland legend because of his passion for it over more than a decade.
“There was no bigger date really for me,” Latham said, “It’s something every player and ex-player looks forward to on the calendar.”
Let’s hope there’s a thriller to live up to the billing in Heritage Round.
