State of Origin Player Profiles: Brent Tate

Nick Fray, Origin Online and Over the Line Sports

Origin Online continues its series of player profiles as we count down to Origin Two, with a look here at the Maroons’ wily winger Brent Tate.

Brent Tate, Queensland

Winger, North Queensland Cowboys

Origin Appearances: 22

Origin Tries: 5

Origin Status: Beloved veteran

The very fact that Brent Tate will take the field on Wednesday night is one of the most inspiring stories in Australian sport. The number of times of it’s looked like his time was up due to several serious neck and knee injuries, only to see him fight his way back to the top of the game time after time is the stuff of legend, and here we are, an incredible 12 years since his Origin debut, and Tate will once again stand as one of the Maroons’ most important players.

Remarkably, Tate appears to be getting better with age as he has been one of the Maroons’ best in recent years, earning his first man of the match award with a stellar performance in last year’s decider. The Blues have thrown everything at Tate in recent series, looking for some sort of crack in his game to expose, but Tate has never let his beloved Maroons, often outshining some of his more fancied teammates.

It’s not just at Origin level that Tate has thrived of late either. After contemplating retirement at the end of last season, his decision to continue his career in 2014 has proven to be a great one as he is enjoying one of his best ever club campaigns with the North Queensland Cowboys. With five tries and six line breaks this season, Tate is in great attacking form while maintaining the high defensive standards he has become renowned for as he looks to help finally deliver that elusive title to North Queensland.

With Tate in such good touch in attack, it is crucial that he sees more of the ball in Game Two if the Maroons are to keep the series alive. He and centre partner Justin Hodges were starved of opportunities in Game One as they struggled for chemistry with Daly Cherry-Evans who slotted into halfback after the early injury to Cooper Cronk. With Cherry-Evans having a disrupted preparation for this game, it is imperative that the trio make the most of their time together in camp to improve that combination and take some of the attacking pressure off the Thurston/Inglis/Boyd trio on the left. If his teammates can provide Tate with the opportunities, you can almost guarantee he will make the most of them.