Fighting talk ... Dick 'Tosser' Turner's missive moved Steve Walters to tears.


IN sport, tradition is crucial because teams often win and lose by remembering what they have been.

In the case of Queensland, they have a top secret letter from the grave to remind them.

It was written by Queensland's late, long-term manager, Dick ''Tosser'' Turner when the Maroons were underdogs in a match at Suncorp Stadium against NSW on June 11, 2008.

The letter is kept in a safe in the office of the Former Origin Greats' (FOG) chief executive, Gene Miles, at Suncorp Stadium and is produced, ''win one for the Gipper'' style, when the Maroons desperately need a win.

Turner, aka ''The Godfather'', wrote the letter when he was dying of cancer and frail, staying in a hotel near Suncorp Stadium because he was too ill to take the long drive from his bayside home.

He recorded what it meant to represent Queensland, including: ''The difference between NSW and Queensland comes down to this: NSW play for themselves, whereas Queenslanders play for each other.''

Turner dictated the letter to his wife, Jan, making last minute changes to maximise its impact.

Jan faxed it to the Maroons' team manager, Jim Banaghan, at the team's Sanctuary Cove base, and Queensland's former hooker Steve Walters, with genuine tears rolling down his cheeks, read the letter out to the team at the Monday night dinner before the match.

Queensland won 30-0 and Turner was pushed into the Queensland dressing room in his wheelchair to the acclaim of all the players.

The Maroons have now claimed six successive titles, inspired by the need to mirror on the field the fight for life Turner demonstrated off it. The letter has taken on a mystical quality, with only insiders allowed to read it.

John Ribot, co-chairman of FOGS, says: ''I've read the letter. It's inspirational. It makes the hair on the back of your neck stand up.''

However, another Maroons stalwart says: ''I tried to call in a few favours from Gene to see the letter but he point-blank refused.''

Banaghan insists the letter is not a hymn of hate against the Blues; it is simply a statement of passion about Queensland's perceived advantages, which have now become fact.

''Tosser also had the unique ability to find something from Shakespeare with relevance to a game and quote it. He would begin by saying something like 'Macbeth, act 2, scene 3', recite something and then put it in the historical context of today.''

But unlike the secret letter, there is no record of Tosser's speeches, raising the possibility some of the lines may have been invented to make Queensland look like Henry V (''once more unto the breach'') and NSW appear as a vacillating Hamlet (''to be or not to be?''). Banaghan says: ''There were plenty of 'thous' and 'thees' but we've never been able to find the quotes.''

A Tosser Turner medal is presented to each Queensland player when he reaches 20 games. The most recent recipient presents it to the next honoree, with hooker Cameron Smith handing halfback Johnathan Thurston a medal on Sunday at the team's Coolum training base.

Implicit in the Turner letter is the responsibility each player has to perform even better than the men who have worn the jumper since 1980. This is reflected in the jumper itself, which differs from the Blues strip. A Maroon's jumper has only one number above the crest. It is a historical number, marking the player's place in the history of Queensland representation since 1980.

The Blues have two numbers, one above the crest beside their embroidered name - their Origin number - and one below. The number below the crest refers to their place in the history of NSW representation since 1908. In other words, rugby league in NSW began in the code's founding year in Australia; in Queensland it is 1980.

The QRL recently unveiled a plaque of the names of all who played for the state before 1980 but their role is not reflected on the jumper.

Tosser's official title was ''cultural ambassador''. He has been replaced by actor Michael Caton, of The Castle fame. ''He's inherited the job,'' Banaghan says. ''He can do set pieces from Shakespeare.''

But when it comes to hanging another Queensland State of Origin shield on the wall, it's a case of ''this is going straight to the pool room''.