From Turvey to Timmo and Teddy: The greatest Origin moments in Sydney

Sydney has been a happy hunting ground for hometown heroes NSW . . . but the never-say-die Maroons have had a few ‘Hail Marys’ answered on enemy territory as well. Never a dull moment in the Harbour City.

As the build-up continues to the 2026 series opener at Accor Stadium, NRL.com takes a look back at eight epic Origin contests in Sydney.

Sydney, Sydney, Sydney...

Teddy’s Miracle Try, Game 3, 2019

Nathan Cleary will never forget the deafening roar. The moment James Tedesco broke free and Accor Stadium erupted as the fullback delivered NSW a memorable State of Origin series victory. 

It was July 10, 2019, Tedesco scoring what many have dubbed the Blues' answer to Mark Coyne's miracle try in 1994 with just 32 seconds left on the clock.

"That was intense," Cleary told NRL.com. "I was at the game, it was a weird one. It was back and forth, we got a lead, then lost it and then Teddy's try at the end was just electric.”

Tedesco's try came after a pulsating contest widely regarded as one of the best Origin matches of all time.

NSW looked to have the match wrapped up when Damien Cook scored to put his side up 12 with 20 minutes to play. 

Josh McGuire cut the deficit to six with nine minutes remaining before Josh Papalii burst through the defensive line to level the scores in the 77th minute.

The game seemed destined for extra-time when the Blues launched one final Hail Mary from deep inside their own half with less than a minute on the clock.

Enter Tedesco. 

"I was supporting through the middle as fullbacks do," Tedesco recalls. "I remember when [Blake Ferguson] threw it back to me it wasn't the greatest pass. I just thought if I catch it and get down quick we might be able to kick a field goal after it or score the next play.

"Then as I turned around it was Mbye who fell and I had a free run to the line. It was a pretty unbelievable couple of seconds there. I went from thinking maybe we could get a field goal to we can score a match-winning try.

"It was just pure joy and happiness. A decider is always a massive game, but then at home in the last seconds of the game, it doesn't really get much better than that."

Blues break the drought, Game 2, 2014

For eight long winters the Blues had been the Maroons’ whipping boys.

A Darren Lockyer try in the dying stages of Game Three in 2006 in Melbourne had pulled that series out of the fire for the Maroons and from there Mal Meninga’s men went on a tear that will never be matched.

Come 2014 and the Blues had quite simply had a gutful of losing.

They dug deep to prevail 12-8 in an epic series opener in Brisbane and arrived at ANZ Stadium for Game Two with a gilt-edged opportunity to end the drought.

Blues coach Laurie Daley had made the big call at the start of the series to replaced the Roosters’ pairing of James Maloney and Mitchell Pearce with the Bulldogs’ Josh Reynolds and Trent Hodkinson. It was one of several selection decisions which would prove successful in 2014.

Two Johnathan Thurston penalty goals were the only points of the opening 70 minutes in Game Two in Sydney, leaving a 4-0 Queensland advantage which looked likely to remain until full-time.

When Hodkinson, in just his second Origin appearance, sliced past Queensland’s Daly Cherry-Evans to score late in the game - before converting his own try - it gave NSW the narrow lead, which they would maintain until the final whistle.

The drought-breaking victory was celebrated across the entire state of NSW, as well as passionate fans abroad. It was typified by the display emotion on the field of ANZ Stadium after the game, with coach Daley, captain Paul Gallen and the entire playing group relishing the long-awaited triumph.

Timmo's golden glow, Game One, 2004

Shaun Timmins experienced the best and worst of Origin, all in the space of 82 minutes as the Blues won the first ever interstate clash to be decided in golden point in the 2004 series opener.

Having come up with a bad miss on Maroons halfback Scott Prince as he scored the opening try, Timmins made amends with a four-pointer of his own after the break when he snuck over the line from close range.

Then with scores locked at 8-all at full-time, the Kiama junior kicked just the second field goal of his career to clinch the game for the New South Welshman after halfback Craig Gower had earlier missed three attempts in a row.

With the clock ticking into its 83rd minute, the Blues five-eighth unleashed a left-footer from 35 metres out and was mobbed by team-mates as the ball flew straight and true.

For a bloke who'd only ever landed one field goal, Timmins sure hit this one sweet, giving NSW a 9-8 victory in the first Origin game ever decided by golden point.

The King and the Prince, Game Three, 1987

Two of the Maroons' finest ever, walking off the SCG covered in mud and covered in glory. Both men born for this arena. Wally Lewis and Allan Langer had a unique bond right from the time a youthful Alfie came into the Queensland side in game one of 1987.

After losing that game the Lewis-led Maroons headed to Sydney hellbent on squaring the series. They did just that in a muddy classic and Lewis and Langer had their first win together.

They would line up alongside one another 10 more times after that in the Origin arena for eight wins, creating a legacy that would be carried on first by Lockyer and Thurston and then by Cronk and Thurston.

Girdler's massive haul, Game Three, 2000

Such has been the tightness of Origin over the years that 49 of the 112 games have totalled less than 30 points. So imagine what a freakish performance it took from Blues centre Ryan Girdler to score 32 points all on his own in the final game of the 2000 series.

This was the emphatic exclamation point on a dominant clean sweep by a classy Blues outfit captained by Brad Fittler.

Having wrapped up the series in Game Two, the Blues threw caution to the wind in Sydney and everything they touched turned to gold. Girdler helped himself to three of the team's nine tries and booted a lazy 10 goals to set an individual mark which will most likely never be surpassed.

Gordie 'ragdolls' Hodgson, Game Three, 2002

They didn't call him the Raging Bull for nothing!

Gorden Tallis played each of his 17 Origins as though it was his last and he seemed to revel in playing in enemy territory. There was his send off in 2000 for calling Bill Harrigan a cheat and his run-in with the Blues fans who stupidly got his blood boiling with a sign that insulted his mother.

In 2002, with the series on the line at Stadium Australia, Gordie took it upon himself to inspire his team-mates with a tackle which ranks alongside Scott Sattler's 2003 grand final chase on Todd Byrne as the most famous ever seen at the Olympic stadium.

Once Tallis got hold of the much smaller Hodgson in the 15th minute and started to 'ragdoll' him towards the sideline, the result was inevitable. Hodgson into touch, Tallis into folklore.

Turvey kisses the turf, Game Two, 1985

The SCG has been the scene of some of rugby league's most memorable moments – from epic grand finals to Test matches and stoushes between the city slickers and the bushies.

One man who knew how to make a statement on the hallowed turf was Steve Mortimer, the champion Canterbury halfback who tasted grand final glory in 1980, '84 and '85 at the SCG.

On June 11, 1985, Mortimer was at the helm as NSW wrapped up their first ever Origin series win with a 21-14 victory in game two. With his dream realised, Turvey sunk to the sacred turf and gave thanks for the opportunity to lead his state – and lead them to the promised land.

Mark Coyne's miracle, Game One, 1994

We've seen it so many times over the years that we shouldn't be surprised when Queensland conjure a comeback miracle.

And so it was at the SFS in the 1994 series opener when a star-studded Blues side led by Laurie Daley looked home and hosed before the Maroons launched one last Hail Mary play from deep in their own territory.

Despite the desperate attempts by Blues defenders to stem the tide, the Maroon wave rolled downfield through the hands of Carne and Renouf and Hancock and Darren Smith and Langer and Meninga before the unassuming Coyne took the ball and cut back inside to plant the ball down with Stuart, Elias and Fittler clinging to him.

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