Queensland players such as captain-coach Arthur Beetson and Kangaroos back rower Rod Reddy were enthused to be able to represent their home state while some, such as Australian winger Kerry Boustead, believed that players should represent the state in which they lived (at the time Boustead was playing for Sydney club Eastern Suburbs). However, the test winger offered no objections to his selection for the Maroons and went on to become the first Qld player to score a try in Origin football.