tries for a total of 32 points. Penrith Panthers The Penrith Panthers, coached by Phil Gould, quickly signed Gillmeister after he was not offered a contract by the Broncos. His return to Sydney, however, was a brief one, only making 22 appearances for the club and scoring one try in 1994. He was released from the second year of his contract to sign for the newly-formed second Brisbane-based team, the South Queensland Crushers. South Queensland Crushers To start the 1995 ARL season, Gillmeister had the honour of scoring the club's first-ever try in its season-opening 24-6 loss at Suncorp Stadium against the Canberra Raiders. In 1995, he became the first and only ever South Queensland Crushers player to be selected for Australia. At the end of 1996, Gillmeister decided to retire from playing rugby league. In his time as a player, Gillmeister named his most-respected opponents as NSW Origin forwards David "Cement" Gillespie (Canterbury, Wests and Manly) and Les Davidson (Souths and Cronulla) Representative career Queensland Gillmeister made his State of Origin debut playing in the second row for Queensland in Game 1 of the 1987 Origin series in front of an overflow crowd of 33,411 at Brisbane's Lang Park. He would go on to make 22 State of Origin appearances for Queensland between 1987 and 1996, captaining the Queensland team to an improbable 3–0 series victory in 1995 under the coaching of his former Queensland and Eastern Suburbs teammate, Paul Vautin. Gillmeister battled a blood disorder prior to the third and final match of the series in Melbourne and, after taking the field to lead Queensland to victory, Gillmeister was rushed back to hospital to be treated again. In 1996, he captained Queensland in the first State of Origin match of the series but Gillmeister was dropped from the team after the game and was never selected to represent Queensland again. At State of Origin level, Gillmeister defied his stature by continually hurting the Blues' forwards with stinging defence throughout his career. In particular, he is remembered for his ongoing fiery attacking and defensive clashes with New South Wales hardman Paul Harragon. Australia In 1995, after nearly ten years in the New South Wales Rugby League, including two grand final victories with the Broncos, and 21 State of Origin games for Queensland, Gillmeister made his Australian debut when he was selected as a reserve forward for the first Trans-Tasman