Mike Colman looks at how Queensland's eight successive State of Origin series wins compares with other great sides Victorious Queensland players celebrate eight State of Origin series wins in a row. HOW good are those Maroons? No, seriously, how good are they? On Wednesday night after the Canetoads had crushed the Cockroaches for the eighth (repeat: eighth) Origin series in a row, Channel 9 commentator Ray "Rabbits" Warren made comment, "No matter what you think about Queensland, you have to agree this is a magnificent achievement." That's what you might call damning with faint praise, but I'm sure all Queenslanders will accept it in the spirit with which it was given. As for Rabbits' co-caller, Phil Gould, he wasn't able to say anything. Gus had lost his voice trumpeting how superior NSW were to their hapless opponents so many times over the previous 80 minutes. It was left to another true-blue Blue, my colleague, rugby league multimedia personality Paul Kent to put it in perspective. "The greatness of Queensland, one of the greatest world teams ever assembled, was that when the whistle blew they were still in front," he wrote. I take my hat off to him. Oh how his fingers must have ached as he typed those words. The only argument he'd get from most Queenslanders, I'm sure, would be over his use of the words "one of." "One of the greatest?" they'd say. You're kiddin' mate. Name me one team better. The St George Dragons 1965 premiership-winning team. It's an interesting question. What Mal Meninga's team has achieved over the past eight seasons in arguably the toughest contact team sport environment in the world, takes some beating. Just ask the Blues. In 33 years of Origin contests, no other team has managed more than three straight series. The Maroons' 17 wins from 24 games is the largest number without losing a series. During the streak Greg Inglis became Origin's top tryscorer with 15 and Mal Meninga its most successful coach both in terms of series, and games, won. The team has gone to a deciding do or die match five times and won them all, and become one of seven sides to have won a clean sweep, beating the Blues three-nil in 2010. To which Queensland's rabid supporters would no doubt shout to the world, "top that." The 1948 Invincibles. Well .... before the Maroons' Godfather Tosser Turner picked up the phone in 2003 and said, "Hey Mal, got a job for you," there were two Australian teams that stood apart from the rest, the mighty St George Dragons that won 11 straight premierships between 1956 and 1967, and "The Invincibles," the 1948 cricket team led by Don Bradman that went through an undefeated tour of England. The knockers could rightly say the Dragons were playing a club competition restricted to Sydney clubs. Likewise, there have long been question marks over the physical and emotion fitness of the opposition the likes of Bradman, Keith Miller, Arthur Morris, Sid Barnes, Neil Harvey and Ray Lindwall met in a Britain still suffering the deprivations of war. No such reservations over the achievements of more recent Aussie cricket sides. Teams led by Steve Waugh (1999-2001) and Ricky Ponting (2005-2008) both achieved a record 16 straight Test wins, benefiting from the talents of greats including Shane Warne, Glenn McGrath, Matthew Hayden, Adam Gilchrist and, of course, the captains themselves. Simon Black, Jason Akermanis and Michael Voss after the Brisbane Lions won the 2002 AFL grand final. Australian rules football fans would find themselves between a rock and a hard place in this argument. Not only would they have to admit that rugby league exists, they'd also have to acknowledge that the Brisbane Lions, coached to four consecutive grand finals and three straight premiership flags by Leigh Matthews in 2001-2004 is right up there as their code's greatest ever. Internationally, no doubt New York Yankees fans would point to their 1927 World Series winning team, known as "Murderer's Row." Spearheaded by a couple of sluggers by the names of Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig, the Bronx Bombers blitzed all comers, winning 110 of 154 games played. They won the Series again in 1928 and 1932 before a four year streak in 1936, 37, 38 and 39. It was in 1927 that Ruth became the first player to hit 60 home runs in a season, a record not broken until 1961. Lou Gehrig (left) and Babe Ruth reunited at Yankee Stadium in 1939. Both were members of the New York Yankees team that won the 1927 World Series. Aficionados of America's other national pastime, basketball, could offer up the great Chicago Bulls teams that Michael Jordan inspired to "three-peat" championships in 1991-93 and 1995-98. Across the Tasman there's only one sport, and one team: the All Blacks. Going into the last World Cup they had won 363 of 483 matches. They haven't lost since. Still not convinced Queensland? How about some Olympic greatness: India first entered a men's hockey side in 1928. They didn't lose until 1960, picking up six successive gold medals. The Hungarian fencing team was even more impressive. Between 1908 and 1976 the only time they missed a gold medal was 1920, when they weren't allowed to enter. They won 12 team golds. Michael Jordan and Phil Jackson after the Chicago Bulls won the 1998 NBA championship. Yeah, yeah, I know what you're saying. You can't compare different eras, different sports, and different conditions. Besides, who cares? Queensland just beat NSW for the eighth straight time and where I live, that's all that matters.