1991 State of Origin series
| 1991 State of Origin series | |
|---|---|
| Won by |
 Queensland (7th title) |
| Series margin | 2 - 1 |
| Points scored | 62 |
| Attendance | 107,146 (ave. 35,715 per match) |
| Top points scorer(s) |
Mal Meninga (12) |
| Top try scorer(s) | Chris Johns & Dale Shearer (2) |
The 1991 State of Origin series saw the tenth time the annual three-match State of Origin series between the New South Wales and Queensland representative rugby league teams was played entirely under 'state of origin' selection rules. It was notable as Wally Lewis' farewell from Origin football and featured his half-time stoush with Mark Geyer in Game II which match culminated in Michael O'Connor's sensational match-winning sideline conversion in teeming rain.
For the first time since State of Origin became a three-game series in 1982, Queensland named the same starting XIII for each game of the series. The Maroons only made two changes during the series, with Origin veterans Dale Shearer coming onto the bench for Game 2 in Sydney to replace Steve Renouf, and Bob Lindner, the player of the 1990 Kangaroo tour, named on the bench for Game 3 in Brisbane (replacing Gavin Allen) after recovering from a broken leg. This saw Queensland only use 19 players for the series. In contrast, NSW only had seven players there for the entire series (five of whom started each game) and used a total of 24 players.
Controversy preceded the start of the series when Maroon's coach and Queensland Origin figurehead Arthur Beetson was deposed in favour of Manly-Warringah coach, New Zealander Graham Lowe, the only non-Queenslander to have coached the Maroons. Two time Canberra Raiders premiership winning coach Tim Sheens got the job as New South Wales coach, replacing Supercoach Jack Gibson. Ben Elias was retained as captain of the Blues, while Wally Lewis retained the captaincy of Queensland despite Mal Meninga being the incumbent Australian captain.
...
Wikipedia