‘It was special when Mal called’: Yow Yeh did Maroons proud in 2011 series
- FOGS
- Dec 2
- 5 min read
Jharal Yow Yeh left a magic mark on State of Origin football for Queensland in his one and only series in 2011.
There is no doubt he would have played on the wing for the Maroons for a decade had it not been for a career-ending ankle injury he sustained in 2012 while playing for his beloved Brisbane Broncos.
The Broncos flyer was among the best wingers in the world. It is why he made his Test debut before he had played Origin. He was just that good.
Ahead of the opening game of the 2011 Origin series in Brisbane it was a fait accompli that coach Mal Meninga was going to call the 21-year-old.
“I sort of had an idea because I had played under Tim Sheens in the Anzac Day Test for Australia three weeks before,” Yow Yeh said.
“I was 18th man in Origin II the year before and I wasn’t sure if I was going to be again.
“Our families are close from the South Sea Islander part of our heritage. We are both from Tanna Island.
“Funnily enough I do remember when Mal did call, I was at Ben Hunt’s house and I’d had a big night the night before. I was a bit worse for wear and that really picked me up.
“It was very special to make my debut at Suncorp Stadium.
“At the time I didn’t understand just how special, because I thought I had a long career ahead of me. It was a dream start. I scored a try and we won 16-12.”
Maroons camp took a little bit of getting used to for Yow Yeh because he had to start liking the Melbourne Storm contingent, who weren’t his cup of tea back then. He became great mates with them all but the Broncos v Storm rivalry at the time had plenty of spice in it.
“Some of those Melbourne players I regarded as enemies. We hated them at the Broncos because it was just so competitive every time we played them due to the rivalry the two teams had,” Yow Yeh grinned.
“It was very hard to like them but once I got in camp that was all forgotten. We became very close. I guess you could say I was starstruck by guys like Cameron Smith, Billy Slater and Greg Inglis.
“Greg was a big one for me because I was a Norths junior and watched him play at Norths Devils when I was young. I had watched him tear up in the Queensland Cup.”
The Maroons lost the second match of the series 18-8 in Sydney and returned to Brisbane determined to ensure skipper Darren Lockyer went out a winner. They did exactly that in a 34-24 win.
“It was Locky’s last hurrah in his final series and that was special in itself. To win our sixth series in a row just made it even better,” Yow Yeh recalled.
“We had a good lead at halftime, got off to a great start in the second half and then coasted. We had the right guys to ice the game. It was very loud at Suncorp and a record crowd.
“We lost JT (Johnathan Thurston) in the final moments of that game to injurybut we were lucky to have Cooper Cronk and everyone knows how regimented he is.“JT came out in his wheelchair at the end with a hoodie on. It was a weird one for him because we know how much he likes to celebrate wins like that.
We celebrated that win very well in the hotel with Locky. We were very determined not to let anything ruin his party at Suncorp Stadium.”
Lockyer had set up Yow Yeh for countless tries at club level and they had become a lethal combination. It was almost as though Yow Yeh knew what his skipper was going to do in advance.
“When you have someone of that calibre who can put it on the spot with a kick or pass you have to make sure you are in the right spot at the right time,” Yow Yeh said.
“My right edge was Sam Thaiday and Locky and they played a huge part in how I played my footy because I felt comfortable on the footy field when they were there. Locky surely has to be an Immortal one day. He was just a genius.”
The final match of the 2011 series was to be Yow Yeh’s last in the Origin arena. The following year he suffered a shocking compound fracture and dislocation of his left ankle in Perth playing for the Broncos against South Sydney. The injury was sustained in a mid-air collision where Yow Yeh was typically putting his body on the line and doing everything for his team.
“It is testament to how I played the game. As much as I am a humble person there is a part of me that was very confident about how I played my footy,” Yow Yeh said.
The Broncos missed Yow Yeh but he’s just happy now that the club has broken a 19-year premiership drought and unearthed outstanding talents.
“For a long time we were trying to find people at the Broncos who could finish as well as me,” he said.
“Unfortunately I left a big hole, but we have all these young kids coming through now that are so confident. They are 10-fold better than what I was but there was a period where I was upset I wasn’t out there on the field and producing what I could for the team I loved so much. We eventually got back to the top and the talent we have now is freakish.”
Yow Yeh retired in 2014 after making a valiant attempt to try and get back on the park after a gruelling rehabilitation. He is now back at the Broncos and loving his role in game development.
“I have tried my hand at a lot of things at the club. I worked in media and did a lot of corporate stuff before I left the club initially,” he said.
“I was away for four and a half years and now I am back doing what I should have done in the first place.
“Paul Dyer, who is the head of the NRLW program and head of our game development program, asked if I wanted to move into a new role and I’m glad he did.
“I wanted to express myself in game development, which helps junior rugby league players at junior clubs get their fundamentals right so they can have fun and play the game right. I am lucky enough to go to schools and help kids become better people.
“To be at the Broncos or play for Queensland you have to be a good person. I teach the kids to express themselves, be polite and have good manners and be better people. Mal was one of the best at teaching that and Billy Slater has just carried that on as coach.
“I believe that being a Queenslander is all about being a good person and having a good work ethic. That’s why anyone that gets in that Maroons side just grows and grows.”
Yow Yeh treasures his three games for the Maroons and has ensured his sons get to understand just how much it means to him.“I have still got my debut jersey. I kept two of them,” he said.
“I have two little boys and I am glad I kept them so I can pass them down. I alsohave my Maroons debut boots.
“Those are good memories for me but it is also important for them to understand their dad. They obviously weren’t around to see me play but they can experience it another way.”
