Ben Ikin (sun glasses) with fellow Queensland Origin heroes, Terry Cook, Mark Hohn (rear) and Craig Teevan
QUEENSLAND Maroons’ discovery, Ben Ikin was dropped to the bench by Gold Coast Seagulls’ coach, John Harvey after a sluggish return to club football following his stunning State of Origin debut.
Ikin, who put on quite a bit of weight in Origin camp, was replaced by former Brisbane Valleys’ centre, David Baildon for the match against Canterbury-Bankstown at Tweed Heads. Baildon was returning from a one-match ban for a high shot on Welsh dual international, Johnathan Davies in a match against North Queensland Cowboys.
It had been a surreal experience for the then 18-yearold Ikin to be handed a Queensland jersey after just a handful of games for the Gold Coast in 1995.
“It was an emotional time, just because of the enormity of what we achieved that year, beating New South Wales 3-0,” Ikin told me in 2013. “You could not escape the fact we were a bunch of ‘Nevilles’.”
After the euphoria of Origin, it was hard for Ikin to adapt to life back at Seagulls, a club not guaranteed a future in a landscape that was changing all the time because of Super League raids.
The Gold Coast’s Chairman at the time was Tweed legal identity, Des Bolster, who had been to Sydney to meet with Australian Rugby League officials in the lead-up to the Canterbury clash. He returned to Coolangatta with the news the club had been offered the same financial package as other clubs loyal to the establishment, but there was no guarantee that would be enough. Seagulls had relied heavily on revenue from poker machines at their giant West Tweed Heads Leagues Club, but the gold mine had lost its allure because poker machines had ben introduced in Queensland and punters were not worrying about trips over the border for a flutter.
Meanwhile, in Brisbane, former South Queensland Crushers’ skipper Mario Fenech and British Test halfback, Mike Ford remained on the outer with coach, Bob Lindner and were selected in reserve grade for a match against North Queensland at Suncorp Stadium.
In Sydney, Wests Magpies’ coach, Tom Raudonikis dropped Test hooker, Jim Serdaris, replacing him with Ciriaco ‘Cherry’ Mescia. Serdaris played in the Third Trans-Tasman Test that year after Wayne Bartrim dropped out with an ankle injury. Like Ikin, Serdaris lost form after his representative elevation.
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