Rugby League: Paul Harragon, Danny Buderus, Kurt Gidley support move to host Origin III in Newcastle

Paul Harragon, Danny Buderus and Kurt Gidley, who represented NSW on a combined 53 occasions between 1992 and 2011, feel shifting the July 14 fixture to McDonald Jones Stadium would be recognition of a "rugby league heartland".

The calls come as officials search for an alternate venue with Stadium Australia, originally scheduled to house game III, part of the greater Sydney area impacted by the state government's coronavirus restrictions introduced over the weekend.

Newcastle remains outside that zone and with the Blues sealing the series against Queensland on Sunday night, having won the opening two encounters away in Townsville and Brisbane, NSW captain James Tedesco could well find himself lifting the shield at a new Blues home ground.

Harragon, a local junior who led the Knights to their first premiership in 1997 and won five Origin series, described a "unique and special atmosphere" present at the Turton Road facility and wants to grab a "one-off opportunity" with "both hands".

"Everyone seems to talk about unique atmospheres and they may talk about Lang Park or Wembley or wherever that may be, but our home ground in Newcastle is very much right up there when it comes to unique and special atmospheres," Harragon said.

"So it would be wonderful for our bit of turf, our bit of grass to host the best game of rugby league in the world.

"It's only fitting for us and would make it fair for the series as well, games in regional areas for both sides. If it's ever going to be done, it's going to be now."

Buderus, the Knights' most capped player, an Origin winning captain and again part of this year's NSW coaching staff, also backed those sentiments.

"It would be amazing to see those two famous jerseys going at it on McDonald Jones Stadium, one of the greatest rivalries in sport," Buderus said.

"There's no such thing as a dead rubber in Origin. There's a lot of focus for us to go 3-0 and do something that hasn't happened for a long time."

Gidley, the Knights' longest-serving skipper and a 12-time Origin player, said it would a "huge score for Newcastle and the people of the Hunter Valley".

"It's got to be here. McDonald Jones Stadium. There's no other option. We're not playing another one up there," Gidley said.

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