"He must have some pace the big fellow. Is he a Queenslander?"
Billy Slater's jubilant reaction was fitting after the Maroons wrapped up their eighth consecutive series win with victory in the 2013 Origin decider.
Slater couldn't hide his delight when asked about the burly streaker who ran about 80 metres to interrupt play during a crucial passage of play late in the match.
NSW had scored through Trent Merrin with around ten minutes left to reduce Queensland's lead to two points, leaving the Maroons with a job to do to close out a match they led 12-10. The Blues were coming home strong for a chance to snatch the series, then another turning point arrived.
After a fantastic 40-metre kick return from Darius Boyd, Cameron Smith made a huge charge at the line, falling metres short, following a nice offload from Corey Parker.
With the Blues' defensive line in a spot of bother, the Maroons shifted the ball to the open-side, only for an intruder to get mixed up in the play to the shock and delight of a raucous full house.
The heavy-set individual, who in the days after the match briefly became almost as famous as the players, was brought down by security in the middle of play. Blues second-rower Ryan Hoffman can even been seen diving at the man, whose name was Wati Holmwood, as the ball sails passed him, presumably to sell the streaker's impact on the play to the referee, given the NSW defensive line was cooked.
Queensland crossed the line through Matt Scott, who thought he'd claimed his first Origin try, but it was disallowed because of the interference.
As referee Shane Hayne called time off, confusion hit the players and the commentary team as to what might be the next course of action.
Maroons skipper Cameron Smith could be seen lobbying the whistle-blower, motioning a scrum should take place with a Queensland feed.
Origin great Johnathan Thurston was at dummy-half for the play after Smith had made the initial run, and said he was at a loss over what should take place next.
"I didn't know what the rules were in that instance so I didn't know what was going on," Thurston told Wide World of Sports' The Dynasty.
"I was lucky 'Mr Footy' Cameron Smith knows every rule in rugby league. So I think we end up getting the scrum feed off the back of that. It was a huge play, we obviously had them shot. I remember one of the Blues players dived at his legs."
Hayne ruled the incident to be a neutral infringement which afforded Queensland a scrum with the loose head and feed given their superior field position. NSW miraculously held on during the next set, with James Maloney taking a reflex catch off a Thurston kick, but the Maroons muscled up in defence for the remaining time to cement their place in Origin folklore - an incredible eighth straight series victory.
Slater suggested the streaker probably knew "the Blues were outnumbered" and said his Storm teammate Hoffman helped his side by throwing himself at the naked man.
"It probably saved NSW that Hoffy did do that. They were up against it. We just made a half break," he said.
"It was such an important time of the game, there was only a couple of minutes to go, we are only up by two points. If we don't get a repeat set or score a try, NSW get another opportunity to win the game and potentially win the series.
"I was out near Matt Scott, he ended up scoring the try. I was oblivious to what was going on."
Maroons prop Scott, was furious after the match. He was robbed of his first Origin try after failing to get across the stripe since his debut in 2006.
"I'm filthy. I don't think I've scored in about three years and they took it off me. It was an unfortunate incident," Scott said.
"I did yell out to the refs not to take it off me, hoping to sway them a little bit. Obviously it didn't work. I'm not very happy with him."
Luckily for Scott he did get a four-pointer by the time he called it quits for the Maroons in 2016, having crossed the stripe in Queensland's loss in Game 2 the year before.
It's another story to tell as he looks back over his career, Thurston admitting his former Cowboys teammate still brings up the incident "all the time".
from WWOS http://wwos.nine.com.au/nrl/nrl-2013-origin-streaker/8c0e7233-47ba-4441-a576-aa403b459736
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