BEAU Montgomery will always remember his first try in the sky blue of NSW and the all-or-nothing play that came with it.
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The Port Macquarie product swooped on a 20-metre cutout pass to race the length of the field in the State of Origin series opener at Redcliffe last week.
“I saw the pass was dropping a little bit low and thought if I could get out there and get a hand up I was a chance,” Montgomery said.
“If it went over my head they were every chance of scoring in the corner so it was all or nothing, but I went for it and got lucky a little bit.”
New South Wales trailed 3-1 at the time, but it was Montgomery’s intercept that swung the momentum before they snuck home 9-8.
Montgomery knew if he had have missed the pass it “potentially would have lost us the game because at 4-1, we were a long way out of the competition.”
When the winger looked up and saw nothing but fresh air in front of him, he still knew he had to get going as a former Stawell Gift winner was on the wing for the Maroons.
Tom Quinlivan was also on the wing for the Brisbane Broncos during their NRL Touch Premiership campaign.
“I knew the first 10-15 metres was pretty important and I had to put as much on as I could,” Montgomery said.
“Once I got to the halfway mark and had a look around there was not really anyone in sight so I kicked it back a gear and coasted to the tryline.
“It was nice to take the intercept and run straight past their bench and know they couldn’t do a thing about it.”
While the Blues under-30 men lost the series 2-1, Montgomery was still thrilled to play a role in his first-ever representative team.
“It’s probably the best touch footy you’re going to find around the world for sure; the best 12 players out there from NSW and Queensland on the field is a pretty big thing,” he said.
Across the various age groups New South Wales claimed an eight-series-to-six victory.
Port Macquarie clubmates Anna Gleeson (women’s 35s), Kobie Knight (women’s 40s) and Tahney Luck (women’s 30s) all contributed to their various teams.
Peter Vincent (men’s 45s coach), David Stone (men’s 20s assistant), Warren Lorger (men’s 35s), Wayne Gleeson (men’s 40s) also played their part in the Blues overall success.
“Everyone from Port Macquarie did some really good things up there,” Montgomery said.
“We’re probably the best country touch football association, but there’s so much commitment that goes into making a team and a squad like State of Origin.”
The Blues victory made the countless hours of travel to and from Sydney “forking out dollars for accommodation” worth it.
Everyone from Port Macquarie did some really good things up there.
- Beau Montgomery
“It’s nice to see there’s a handful of Port Macquarie locals getting that exposure and bringing that knowledge back to help the younger people grow,” Montgomery said.
“There’s a World Cup coming up in 2019 so a selection in something like that isn’t out of the question.
“All the Port people that went up for Origin are a chance of getting into an Aussie team to play at the next World Cup.”
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