In front of a capacity Lang Park crowd of 33,210, which included State of Origin's instigator, senator Ron McAulliffe, Federal Defence Minister Jim Killen, and journalist Hugh Lunn, the Maroons were led out by former Kangaroos skipper, 35-year-old Arthur Beetson who was playing for Queensland for the first time. Beetson, after starring for Redcliffe in Brisbane in 1964 and 1965, had been told by the QRL that if he stayed in Brisbane he would be in line for state selection in 1966. However, he received an offer he couldn't refuse from Sydney club Balmain and ended up playing 18 games for NSW between 1966 and 1977 under the old state of residency rule. Beetson was actually playing Reserve Grade for the Parramatta Eels in Sydney at the time that Ron McAulliffe approached him and offered him the chance to finally play for his home state.