State of Origin has delivered once again with Queensland stealing a miraculous 11-10 victory over New South Wales. A Cooper Cronk field goal with six minutes remaining proved decisive as the Maroons overcame a half-time deficit to win the opening encounter of the 2015 series.
Cronk – Queensland’s best – scored the Maroons’ opening try and laid on the second before delivering the killer blow in the dying stages.
The performance of the mercurial No7 stood in stark contrast to the Blues halves pairing, Trent Hodkinson and Mitchell Pearce, whose poor kicking and error-riddled display will put them both under pressure to retain their positions for the second game at the MCG in three weeks. While Queensland kickers constantly found grass, New South Wales kickers typically found Billy Slater’s chest.
Blues coach Laurie Daley stood by his halves pairing though declaring: “They will be there for Game Two – there’s a headline for you. I know our attack was criticised last year but our we didn’t get many chances tonight. I thought [the halves] combined well. Mitch played with control. Hodko did what we asked of him.”
The biggest concern coming out of the match for the Blues though is the health of skipper Robbie Farah. The rake was left clutching his shoulder after being dumped in a heavy first half tackle from Justin Hodges. Farah battled on but was clearly favouring his shoulder. Nathan Peats and Michael Lichaa shape as his potential replacements should he not come up.
An entertaining first half lacked the typical Origin ferocity or fireworks but saw plenty of expansive rugby league despite New South Wales taking just a 10-6 lead into the break.
The Maroons had first opportunity to open the scoring eight minutes in following a first tackle error from Blues winger Daniel Tupou.
Queensland peppered the New South Wales line before a deft Johnathan Thurston grubber found space. Fullback Billy Slater raced through and claimed the four-pointer – and the confidence of referee Gerard Sutton – but the video referee ruled the incorrigible No.1 offside. Never mind that Slater didn’t come close to grounding the ball.
The Maroons crossed for real four minutes later through Cooper Cronk. Queensland captain Cameron Smith ducked out of dummy-half, put New South Wales on the backfoot and Cronk scooted through the limp efforts of Michael Jennings and Josh Dugan.
The Blues quickly bounced back though.
Buried in their own half, New South Wales prop James Tamou – the Blues’ best in the opening stanza - popped a beautiful offload for the charging Josh Dugan, who burst through a gaping hole to opposite Slater before chipping hopefully to the corner. Bulldogs flyer Josh Morris outraced Darius Boyd and crashed over in the corner for a try that will be replayed for a long time. Trent Hodkinson, who has endured a wretched season with the boot, continued his kicking woes, missing the conversion.
The Blues had taken control and put that advantage on the scoreboard when veteran warhorse Beau Scott crashed over for the Blues second just minutes later. Regarded more as a defensive enforcer, Scott ran with power off the hip of Mitchell Pearce to put the Blues up 10-6, a score they took into the break.
Whatever momentum the Blues took into the break quickly evaporated though, among a barrage of silly mistakes. Pearce spilt a Farah offload, Hodkinson failed to find touch off a gift penalty, New South Wales struggled with discipline. “Possession in the end probably hurt us,” Daley said.
The near-perfect Maroons dominated the second half from beginning to end.
Laurie Daley’s team paid the price when Will Chambers – heavily involved all night – crossed in the corner following a play with two classy touches from Cronk. The brilliant halfback put Sam Thaiday to the advantage line, collected it back and then threw a long ball for the waiting Chambers to cross virtually untouched.
The Maroons had a chance to grab the lead with 10 minutes remaining when Johnathan Thurston attempted a 45-metre penalty but the kick fell short. New South Wales lifted and were placed 30 metres out when awarded a penalty themselves. Rather than set for a field goal, though the Blues panicked with Michael Jennings kicking the ball dead.
Less than a minute later the Maroons hit the front through a Cooper Cronk field goal that silenced much of the 80,122-strong crowd at ANZ.
While it is typically the Maroons’ left-edge which dominates, it was the right-side combination of Justin Hodges and Chambers that stood tall. Chambers ran for 238 metres while Hodges ran for 184.
The officiating was central to the contest with lead referee Gerard Sutton blowing 13 penalties in a controversial and heavy-handed display.
