Game 2, 1997 State of Origin
June 11, 1997 · Melbourne Cricket Ground, Melbourne
Game 2, 1997 State of Origin: New South Wales 15–14 Queensland, at Melbourne Cricket Ground, Melbourne on June 11, 1997.
Attendance: 25,105
The 50th State of Origin match, played as a one-off at a neutral venue. New South Wales' bench numbers 16/17 could not be confirmed (candidates included Matt Seers, Aaron Raper, and Michael Buettner, but which two held those exact slots is unresolved) -- only the confirmed 14/15 are recorded here rather than guessing the rest. Wikipedia's own scoreline for this game (variously rendered 16-14 or 17-14 by different extractions) does not reconcile; rugbyleagueproject.org's reconciling 15-14 is used instead. John Simon's field-goal minute (reported as 69' by one uncorroborated source) is omitted. Paul McGregor was cited for a high tackle in this match and suspended, missing Game III.
Scorers
| New South Wales | Tries: Dymock; Kosef; McGuinness Goals: Simon (1/3) Drop goals: Simon |
| Queensland | Tries: Dallas; O'Davis; Sing Goals: O'Neill (1/4) |
Teams
| New South Wales | Queensland | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tim Brasher | Fullback | Robbie O'Davis | 1 |
| 2 | Ken McGuinness | Wing | Brett Dallas | 2 |
| 3 | Paul McGregor | Centre | Stuart Kelly | 3 |
| 4 | Terry Hill | Centre | Mark Coyne | 4 |
| 5 | Jamie Ainscough | Wing | Matt Sing | 5 |
| 6 | Jim Dymock | Five-eighth | Ben Ikin | 6 |
| 7 | John Simon | Halfback | Adrian Lam | 7 |
| 8 | Paul Harragon | Prop | Neil Tierney | 8 |
| 9 | Geoff Toovey | Hooker | Wayne Bartrim | 9 |
| 10 | Mark Carroll | Prop | Craig Smith | 10 |
| 11 | Steve Menzies | Second Row | Gary Larson | 11 |
| 12 | Adam Muir | Second Row | Jason Smith | 12 |
| 13 | Nik Kosef | Lock | Billy Moore | 13 |
| Substitutes | ||||
| 14 | David Fairleigh | Jamie Goddard | 14 | |
| 15 | Dean Pay | Jeremy Schloss | 15 | |
| Clinton O'Brien | 16 | |||
| Julian O'Neill | 17 | |||
| Tom Raudonikis | Coach | Paul Vautin | ||
Player of the Match
Paul McGregor (New South Wales) -- single-sourced, not independently corroborated
Match officials
| Referee | David Manson |
Data last verified: 11 August 2026.
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