Brent Read | April 09, 2008
CRAIG BELLAMY's decision to include a wrestling coach on his State of Origin staff continues to cause ructions north of the border, with a number of Queensland legends yesterday declaring the specialist would be no match for Maroons defensive guru Trevor Gillmeister.
NSW officials have confirmed John Donehue, Bellamy's wrestling coach at the Storm, will form part of the Blues' coaching staff alongside Andrew Johns and Steve Roach.
Donehue has been pencilled in as a defensive coach, an intriguing title given he has little rugby league background and specialises in martial arts.
Given the hysteria over the grapple tackle and its off-shoots this season - the latest being the chicken wing - the appointment has caused consternation at the Queensland Rugby League.
"He (Gillmeister) wouldn't wrestle a banana off a monkey but he could tackle a rhino at full bore," former Queensland centre Chris Close said yesterday. "He certainly wasn't the biggest guy in the game but he made up for it with technique and strength.
"As far as tackling technique was concerned, he had it down to a fine art. He bent his back, launched with his legs and drove his shoulder straight into the (opposition)."
Seeking to illustrate his point, Close claimed the Gold Coast had made significant improvement under Gillmeister, an assistant to John Cartwright at the Titans.
"Their defensive techniques have improved out of sight," Close said.
"One good example is young Luke O'Dwyer - he's tackling like a demon at the moment.
"If Gilly can't teach you you're either too dumb to learn anything or you haven't got any ticker."
Former Queensland captain and coach Arthur Beetson also vouched for Gillmeister's credentials.
Gillmeister, whose tackling technique is among the best of the past 20 years, played 22 games for the Maroons and is responsible for one of the most courageous moments in Origin history.
In 1995, Gillmeister was struck down with blood poisoning but climbed out of his hospital bed to help Queensland to a clean sweep of the series.
"Give me Trevor Gillmeister as a defensive coach against Andre the Giant or Mario Milano," Beetson said. "You give me a team of shoulder tacklers and we'll beat a team of wrestlers any day of the week.
"As long as we've got a team of good shoulder hitters like Dallas Johnson and Michael Crocker, we shouldn't have to worry."
Close revealed the use of wrestling coaches had been commonplace in Origin stretching back to the 1980s.
The multiple Origin man of the match remembers visiting the Queensland Police Academy, where the Maroons worked with a trained wrestling instructor.
"The big gorilla there would chuck us around like rag dolls," Close said. "He had a neck as round as an elephant's head. It's nothing new. I haven't managed (the Queensland team) for two years.
"There wouldn't have been many of the years that I managed that we didn't have wrestling coaches available."
While wrestling coaches have been part of the game for the past two decades, their role in the NRL has only been seriously questioned in recent years following the advent of the grapple tackle.
That criticism has only increased as a result of the other controversial techniques invading the game, including the so-called crusher and ripper tackles.