Well that’s me out, folks. Well done Big Mal and team, you’re not ready for the scrap-heap just yet.
To all of you out there, thanks for all your emails and eyes. See you next time.
Still stunned by that. That was the biggest winning margin in Origin history and if you said you saw that coming you’re a liar. Queensland were outstanding, Thurston had the ball on a string, and every man in Maroon tackled and ran with no thought of sparing the horses.
NSW were a shadow of the team that won in Melbourne. It was if they were overawed by the occasion, by Suncorp. They played with lumps in their throats and rocks in their shoes and it will take some time to get over this slaughter. They thought they were the young bulls but they’ve just been reminded who’s got the biggest horns. Or something like that.
Updated
I don’t know what to say.
While I think of something, here’s Thurston being interviewed as, behind him, Queensland back slap, hug and look at each other incredulously.
“One of the best feelings you can have is winning a State of Origin series. They wrote us off in this series but it just goes to show what a champion side this is. It’s a blessing and a privilege to put this jersey on and I know we’ve done a lot of people proud.”
You’ve got to love how Qld always find motivation to win out of imagined slights. Plenty of people, me included, felt Qld’s golden era was on the wane and that NSW were serious contenders, but I can’t recall anyone actually writing Queensland off. But it hardly matters if Big Mal can use it to his side’s benefit.
Full-time: Queensland 52-6 NSW
It’s over.
80 min: On the final siren, with Qld on the attack, NSW pick up a loose ball but the refs call a penalty to Qld! Will Thurston take that chance for 10 from 10? Nah. Smith kicks it into touch to end things. I was going to say “to put NSW out of their misery” but they will be miserable for a long time to come.
Updated
CONVERSION! Queensland 52-6 (Hodges 79)
What with Hodges playing his final match Thurston declines the easy shot that would have given him 10 from 10. Hodges takes the shot from 10m to the left of the posts and guides it over. And now he does the plane celebration.
TRY! Queensland 50-6 NSW (Guerra 78)
Are NSW even trying anymore? From dummy half, a metre out, Inglis makes a routine dummy half pass to Guerra and he bursts between Dugan and Pearce to score.
Updated
77 min: Bugger it! Thurston picks up a loose pass and sets off on an 80m run with no-one in front of him. He makes the halfway line, the 40m, the 30m, the 20m, with the chasers gaining on him and the crowd roaring. On the 10m line and hemmed in by the left touchline Pearce rounds him up. Such a shame.
75 min: My brother, Niall, has an idea:
“The NSW team should be cremated and stuffed in an urn. Next year the two teams could play for it as a trophy, called ‘The Ashes’. It could catch on.”
74 min: Now Thurston and Woods engage in a dance, a gentle game of push and shove that neither can be bothered to take any further.
72 min: And now Inglis busts through the NSW line, but instead of passing to unmarked players on his right he veers left and tries to beat Dugan — but Dugan drags him down and a certain four-pointer goes begging.
69 min: Just as it seems Thurston gets to cap his marvellous game with a try the video referee finds an offside in the build up to deny him. It went though about 10 sets of hands and looked for all money like a try but, ah, no. As you were.
CONVERSION! Queensland 46-6 NSW (Thurston 69)
Yet again Thurston shapes up 1m in from the left touchline, and as easy as you like he starts it way right and bends it back through the posts. He then runs about with his arms out, like a soccer-player after a goal. Hardly blame him for that: 9 from 9!
TRY! Queensland 44-6 NSW (Chambers 68)
Surely not another try on the left? Yes, another try on the left, this time Chambers, barging through two tackles that I venture would have been made three weeks ago. NSW are a shell of team they were three weeks ago. Hell, 70 minutes ago.
67 min: As Qld win another penalty for another lifting tackle Phil Withall is back with a quick question:
“What is the point of putting players on report in Origin games? They seem to get away with cheap shots and their punishment had no reflection on the outcome of the match.
Do away with it and just bin them, it really would improve things.”
Fair point, Phil. For some reason NRL and Origin referees don’t like binning players. But I have to leave you there because...
Updated
66 min: A terrible NSW drop-out looks like sailing over the sideline before Morris at least gets a hand to it — helping it across the sideline but saving the penalty. Qld on the attack again.
64 min: NSW enjoy a bit of a run down the left flank but play is pulled up for offside when Dugan is ruled to have been ahead of the kicker after he reclaims said kick.
Updated
62 min: Hodkinson misses the conversion. That could prove critical.
TRY! Queensland 40-6 NSW (Jennings 61)
The comeback is on!*
Jennings plucks a Guerra spilled ball off the deck and runs 40m to score. About the only way NSW was going to get across the line.
*Just kidding.
Updated
59 min: Penalty NSW! Possession NSW! Scott swings an arm across Dugan’s chops as the NSW fullback was dragged to ground after fielding a kick.
CONVERSION! Queensland 40-2 (Thurston 58)
From two metres in from the left touch-line Thurston, who can do no wrong, swings it over the black dot. That’s 8 from 8, an Origin record. And still 20 minutes to go!
TRY! Queensland 38-2 (Boyd 57)
Thurston catches the ball on the NSW 10m line, passes to Guerra and he cleverly holds the ball up for a second, drawing the NSW right-side defence in. Guerra then floats it out to Boyd who scores his 16th Origin try.
Updated
54 min: From the next set the two teams come together again, although this time one team has a good reason for it. Lillyman charged the ball forward and Tamou hit him across the jaw with a swinging arm. He then tried to add a second with Lillyman on the ground. As the replay comes on the screen Ray Warren adds a classic: “And there’s the stiffy from Tamou.”
Tamou is on report and Qld get another opportunity to stick the dagger in.
53 min: A stink... Gagai and Jackson shape up to each other as another, bigger, melee forms. No surprises, Hodges and Scott are in there somewhere. No punches thrown, however.
52 min: Anyway, that try... Qld ran left on the last from inside NSW’s 20m. Thurston found Guerra outside him and the Rooster popped a short ball back inside to Morgan who crashed through the tackles of Scott and Jackson to score his first Origin try.
CONVERSION! Queensland 34-2 (Thurston 51)
From 10m in from the left touchline, Thurston makes it 7 from 7 for him tonight.
TRY! Queensland 32-2 (Morgan 50)
No he’s not... Qld are in again!
Updated
49 min: Jennings gets another touch, batting a dangerous grubber dead thus ensuring Qld will get another chance to attack. Meantime, Ian Jessop has switched off:
“Hi Paul, love the Guardian since it came to AUS, but I’ll be dead before I witness an Origin ref with the balls to penalise Qld on their home ground.Scott with a shoulder charge - no penalty, Qld score from the loss of ball by NSW. Cronk or Smith throw the ball straight into a NSW player trying to avoid being caught in the play-the-ball - penalty to Qld, try from resulting set of 6. You won’t find many more rounded or educated sports fans than me but I turned off at that point (8-2) as I knew it was a farce. Origin has been a benefit concert for Qld [CENSORED] for 35 years and nothing has changed.”
So just to be clear, Ian. You’re not happy?
47 min: Dugan grabs a Qld grubber on his line with Inglis bearing down on him like a grisly bear. He takes a shot from Inglis but manages to hold on to the ball. NSW spin it left and it feels as if that’s Jennings’ first touch tonight.
46 min: NSW try to run out of their danger zone and Qld belt them over and over again.
Some stats from the first half: Qld had 64% of possession and NSW made (or didn’t make) 19 missed tackles to Qld’s 0. That tells a story. Not one for bedtime if you’re a Blue.
45 min: This is turning into a snuff film.
CONVERSION! Queensland 28-2 (Thurston 42)
Two more points to Thurston and Qld. I think it’s safe to say that that’s not the start NSW were after.
TRY! Queensland 26-2 (Gillett 41)
From midfield Cronk grubbers in behind the line and it describes a gentle parabola, veering away from NSW fullback Dugan. Hodges speeds after it and though it bounces over the dead-ball line Hodges leaps for it and bats it back before the ball, or he, hits the deck. Gillett catches the ball in front of Hodkinson and plants it for a spectacular try!
Peeep!
41 min: Qld deep in attack already and would you believe it...
Back to the footy... the teams are out on the field. Given what we’ve seen so far, Qld will only build on this lead.
“@QPSmedia: Police are thinking about opening an investigating into the current whereabouts of the NSW #Origin team!” @MikeColman_
— Greg @ New Farm™ (@greg_new_farm) July 8, 2015
And now here’s Tim from Swindon making me chuckle: “Not sure if my ‘one in a row’ NSW t-shirt is now a very, very painful albatross or highly ironic masterpiece.”
Go with the latter, Tim. Irony is so in right now.
In better news for Blues fans, the cricket is well underway and England are 2 for 42. Hazlewood got Lyth, Lyon nabbed Cook. You can now pretend you had no emotional interest in this game, you were just filling in time until the cricket started.
And because of all these Qld tries I haven’t had a moment to address your emails, and for that I apologise. Here’s some of what I (and you) missed so far:
“Stuck in the office here in Scotland, got the cricket on the radio and your rugby updates on the web. Sadly can’t get them the other way round! Cheers, Ian, Edinburgh”
“I am a Blues fan watching your commentary in Basel, Switzerland. I have a long running bet with my Qld mate Greg in the USA: a bottle of red wine for each game and each series. My debt was starting to take on Greek proportions and I am glad the Blues have started to win more games than they lose. If they can win this and keep the momentum I will be debt free in 2024. Who knows what the Euro Zone will look like by then? Best regards, Ken McMahon.”
Oh dear, Ken, time to buy another bottle it seems!
“My Blues fan girlfriend, our Maroons fan mates and I are following your live text from a bus between San Sebastián and Bilbao. Keep up the good work! Bill (from London)“
“Hi Paul [says regular Phil Withall]. This hypothetical book of yours, is it any good? I mean if it’s not some generic rehashing of a recent bestseller or a sensationalist celebrity biography I might be interested. Please post a brief summary when you get chance.”
Since you asked, Phil, and only since you asked, it’s a look (cheeky at times) at Queensland’s eight-year winning streak; highlights, lowlights, heroes, villains, etc. The kind of thing that should be placed in every beside drawer north of the Tweed, next to the Gideon’s Bible.
So, in summary, NSW are getting hog-tied and there’s a lot of you out there looking in from far flung locations. Great to have you on board, though those of you looking for a Blues win need a miracle now.
Half-time: Queensland 22-2 NSW
Wow! Who saw that coming? Not me, that’s for sure. It’s as if a clock has been wound back. NSW just haven’t been allowed to get into any kind of rhythm. And Qld are playing with an intensity they hadn’t been able to muster so far this series.
40 min: Qld stand in so many tackles you’d swear NSW wanted them to score, but with the seconds ticking down Qld go left again and Thurston makes his first error of the match, passing the ball over the sideline such was his haste to get it in the hands of Boyd before the siren went.
39 min: Brett Morris knocks on a bomb a metre out from his own line and Qld will get a full set with one minute remaining in the half.
CONVERSION! Queensland 22-2 NSW (Thurston 35)
From 8m in from the left touchline he curls it over. This is a massacre!
TRY! Queensland 20-2 (Inglis 34)
Nail meet coffin! On the fourth tackle Qld go left again, and again it’s in Thurston’s hands. Thurston passes behind two decoy runners to Inglis and he sticks his big right mitt into the chest of Mitchell Pearce and he’s over!
Updated
34 min: NSW are losing it here. Merrin goes on report for a lifting tackle on Corey Parker. That’s right, a minute after Scott was penalised for the same thing. Merrin’s was worse which compounds his stupidity. Dumb, dumb, dumb!
Updated
PENALTY GOAL! Queensland 16-2 NSW (Thurston 33)
Thurston takes the penalty from where Smith’s kick landed which makes it an easy one. NSW’s mountain to climb just had a big rock added to it.
32 min: Qld win a soft-ish penalty after Scott picks up kicker Smith and drops him onto the turf. The ref said he put Smith into a dangerous position and he may have done but he quite clearly dropped Smith rather than drove him to the turf.
30 min: NSW pour into Qld territory and Woods goes close to charging over but his run is halted in front of the posts. Hodkinson then kicks to his left winger but Qld clean up. NSW’s halves just don’t have the creativity of Queensland’s. But they’ll have to find more than cross kicks if NSW are to get back into this.
29 min: What an excellent piece of work that was by Thurston. And he’s put Qld into a brilliant position.
CONVERSION! Queensland 14-2 (Thurston 28)
And the man who created the try converts it.
TRY! Queensland 12-2 (Papalii 27)
How easy was that?! NSW held Queensland at bay for five tackles but on the last Smith, in front of the NSW posts, passes left from dummy half to Thurston who crabs a couple of steps and, though shaping to pass long, slips a short pass to Papalii running a great line. He crashes over and throws the ball high into the air.
Updated
26 min: Klemmer is on for NSW. Cue much booing.
25 min: Now it’s Boyd’s turn to foil a NSW raid, catching a high ball on the line and just keeping the ball in the field of play despite two tacklers trying to push him backwards. A few tackles later Cronk, at dummy half, deliberately passes the ball into Aaron Woods, who was standing with his hands in the air, and wins Qld a penalty. Easiest way to get out of your own territory that. Clever.
23 min: Cordner grubbers for himself on the last but Inglis slides across the Qld try-line and snaffles it, holding the ball about 1cm into the field of play. Another great play by Inglis.
22 min: Under all sorts of pressure NSW, camped in their own 10m, hold off a full Qld set. Brilliant stuff. A try to Qld then would have given them an early mountain to climb.
20 min: Some spectacular work by Inglis might have led to a try, but it earns Qld a repeat set all the same: Inglis chases a grubber that has way too much weight on it. It bobbles over the dead-ball line but before it touches down Inglis, in mid-air, and at full stretch, rakes it back into the field of play. It ricochets off a Blue into Dugan’s arms and accidental offside is called. Drop out. What a play by Inglis!
18 min: Early days, of course, but the Maroons now have a spring in their step. NSW beware.
CONVERSION! Queensland 8-2 NSW (Thurston 16)
From the right sideline the magician bends it over. Never in doubt.
TRY! Queensland 6-2 NSW (Gagai 15)
And a try it is! From inside the NSW 10m Queensland just knew they had the numbers out to the right and after a few passes —one of which goes through the hands of Brett Morris — Gagai catches and has all the space in the world to cross wide out.
Updated
15 min: Possible try Queensland, to the debutant Gagai on the right!
13 min: Thurston bends a banana kick across field that Darius Boyd leaps for and bats inside, but he’s ruled to have been over the sideline when he made contact. A Blues scrum... but a dropped ball soon after, Hopoate spilling it when hit by Scott’s immense shoulder.
11 min: Up and down event so far, entirely due to the help of penalties. And here’s another to Queensland which will put them on the attack again.
PENALTY GOAL (Thurston 9): Queensland 2 — 2 NSW
And Thurston knocks it over as easy as breathing.
8 min: Now it’s NSW holding down in the tackle in front of the posts: Woods holding down Smith whilst massaging Smith’s nose. Queensland will take a shot themselves.
7 min: After Ennis kicks downfield (missing an opportunity to spin it wide where Queensland were short) Queensland get a penalty for NSW being offside.
6 min: Woods take the kick-off and is engulfed by Queenslanders. Hodges uses Woods’ face to help him (Hodges) get back to his feet. Faces are good for that.
PENALTY GOAL (Hodkinson 6) Queensland 0-2 NSW
No mistake. And a reward for NSW’s early field position.
Updated
5 min: Nate Myles is pinged for laying over Woods like a winter doona. It’s right in front of the posts so Hodkinson will kick for two.
3 min: Beau Scott reverses some 15 metres carrying three Maroons with him. I wonder if he made a beeping sound. Anyway, on the last, a cross kick is claimed by Gagai but as he falls to earth he fumbles the ball and NSW are given a scrum feed 10m out. It looked like a knock-back to me, but these are becoming increasingly rare.
1 min: Hodges spills the ball during Queensland’s first set with Ennis around his neck like a dog collar. It may have got some help but a NSW feed it is.
Peeeeeeep!
And we’re away, NSW kicking off and Matt Scott making the first hit up of the game.
As the national anthem rings out I can tell you that the players’ jerseys these days are incredibly tight, especially Queensland’s. Mal Meninga and Chris Close must thank God every day that they retired long ago.
The MCG put on a show for Origin II but you can’t beat Suncorp, the way the stands huddle around the sidelines like loving uncles, the way the crowd gets behind both teams because they just love their rugby league no matter who is playing. That said, a small number of them (I’d estimate 50,001) are booing the Blues as they run out onto the field.
And here’s Queensland getting a mighty welcome.
Updated
Don’t forget, my lines are always open. Drop me a note (paul.connolly@theguardian.com). Where are you watching from? What is your tip? Do you find Nate Myles’ head offensive? Do you find lame quips like that offensive? Would you buy my book if, hypothetically, I’d written one? Carn!
Gordon Tallis is embedded in the Maroons’ rooms. He says he’s seen steel in the eyes of the Queenslanders. Sounds like a classic health and safety issue to me.
Cricket update:
It’s raining in Cardiff and play has been delayed. Wonder if the Aussie cricketers will be happy about that if it means they can watch some Origin before they start play.
As we wait for the kick-off you may be interested to know that in the U20s curtain raiser NSW got the points. The Maroon era isn’t over yet but the talk that a Blue one is on the horizon has got some weight behind it:
Some snaps from the Under 20s #Origin match @NSWRL won 32-16 making it 4 in a row against @QLDmaroons pic.twitter.com/5nIjcggf19
— NRL (@NRL) July 8, 2015
And as Maroons right winger Dane Gagai makes his Origin debut his captain clocks up a record-equalling game:
It's former Logan brother Cameron Smith’s 36th #Origin appearance – equalling Darren Lockyer’s record @QLDmaroons pic.twitter.com/UsANnRiObM
— Cameron Dick (@camerondickqld) July 8, 2015
Justin Hodges is playing his 24th and final Origin tonight. NSW fans and Blues players will miss him like kidney stones but he attracts plenty of love all the same:
My man Justin Hodges has come a long way since his #Origin debut in 2002!! Best centre in the #NRL this past decade.. #yeahbala
— Lote Tuqiri (@LoteTuqiri) July 8, 2015
As happened at the MCG shots of some great Origin tries are being projected onto a massive screen in the middle of the field. Some crackers there. Speaking of which, did you all see the brilliant try scored by Richie Myler in Super League this week? Feast your eyes!
As fireworks go off inside Suncorp (looks like they’re following the lead of the MCG) I can only imagine the person with his finger on the launch button hasn’t heard the news, otherwise he may have decided fireworks were not appropriate: Shane Watson, it’s being rumoured, will play in the Ashes opener tonight. Sigh.
An Ashes opener and an Origin decider on the same night? What have we done to deserve this?
You may have seen a story in the Guardian today wondering if Johnathan Thurston was the greatest Origin player of all time. It was an extract from an up-coming book called The Streak. That I wrote it is, I should fall over myself dramatically to point out, completely incidental to me pointing it out here, of course. No really. I’m rubbish at self-promotion. Besides which, I find it beneath me.
Anyway, I bring all this up to draw your attention to an NRL poll on that very subject and JT was knocked out in the semis by Darren Lockyer who went on to beat Andrew Johns in the final. Grist for the mill, ay?
Darren Lockyer polls 62% of the vote in http://t.co/KVXhz2ApUK's #Origin Knockout Final http://t.co/wRddZbeGMg #NRL pic.twitter.com/7rywnVfpMy
— NRL (@NRL) July 8, 2015
Brad Fittler now with Laurie Daley:
“Mal has done so much for Queensland and their success but we’re hoping to spoil his [55th birthday] party tonight.”
“We need to be calm and making good decisions based on fact and not emotion: but we need to bring that emotion to the fore. We need to stand up tonight.”
“[Mick Ennis] has known for a while [he’d be playing tonight]. Mick has trained for us and he’ll be right.”
“Can’t fault [David Klemmer]. He’s got great intent in everything he does, he’s very respectful, he’s a good boy to have around the camp. He’s just what you want to come off the bench and bring his enthusiasm.”
Respectful? Corey Parker might disagree.
Fatty Vautin interviews Mal Meninga on Nine:
Here’s Mal:
“Forwards win footy matches... obviously we were off in Game 2. We were heavily criticised and that’s all we need to get on track.”
“Greg Ingis [at fullback] gives a different dimension our footy team with the football. It’s a challenge for him but he’s looking forward to it.”
“It’s good to be home (at Suncorp) but it doesn’t mean we’re going to win, or lose. But the crowd picks your spirit up and helps you get through adversity.”
Updated
The teams:
Both #Origin teams are IN! pic.twitter.com/E40AwCcZ2h
— NRL (@NRL) July 8, 2015
Tonight’s teams were picked over a week ago, though of course there was controversy —the lifeblood of Origin— when NSW picked injured Robbie Farah at hooker despite him being almost no chance of playing. Why did they do that? In order to allow back-up hooker Michael Ennis to serve a one-match suspension in the latest round of NRL matches rather than have him serve it in Origin III. As Blackadder might say, that was “as cunning as a fox who’s just been appointed Professor of Cunning at Oxford University”.
Predictably, Farah has only just been ruled out. This means Ennis, 31, will play — four years after he last donned the Blues jersey, and five years after some said he should never play Origin again because of his lack of restraint in the closing stages of Game III, 2010. You may recall that his flurry of punches to Nate Myles’ head (what is it about Nate Myles’ head that inspires such violence?) gifted Queensland a penalty which sparked a late recovery which allowed them to clean-sweep the series.
Having never tasted a series win, and surely never expecting to again, Ennis now has that chance —though it comes with a lot of weight on his shoulders since he’s up against Cameron Smith.
(Smith, by the by, has been in the news himself these past few days, ever since Channel Nine’s 60 Minutes program threw him under a bus by not affording him the right of reply to its story on Alex McKinnon. By all reports Smith was shaken by the 60 Minutes segment, which painted him in a most unfavourable light, and it will be interesting to see how, if at all, it affects his game tonight).
The other major selection talking point is the return of Cooper Cronk in the Queensland No.7. The last two times Queensland have lost to NSW —in Game II this year and in what proved to be the deciding Game II last year— Cronk was out injured. His presence tonight brings a steady hand to the Queensland tiller and it allows Johnathan Thurston more licence to roam, which isn’t good news for NSW.
For NSW, their apparent advantage comes in their young forwards, such as the hellter skelter tyro David Klemmer and Aaron Woods (of whom Patrick Skene wrote a fine piece this week). That said, Michael Jennings starred in Melbourne and Josh Dugan could be a real threat.
Tonight’s match is, of course, a decider, what with Queensland winning a dour opener in Sydney 11-10 and NSW levelling things up with an entertaining 26-18 win at the MCG three weeks ago.
Here's how we got to #Origin 3 - level at 1-1. #NRL https://t.co/e8BdeZagPE
— NRL (@NRL) July 8, 2015
The very fact tonight’s game is at Suncorp gives Queensland the edge but I couldn’t confidently pick a winner here.
Queensland still have, on paper, a more threatening line-up, and it’s a line-up that has got the job done time and time again. Queensland, too, have won 11 of the 17 deciders (NSW have won just four) since Origin became a three-match series in 1982. But NSW showed last year, and at the MCG last month, that the tide is turning. The younger (and hungrier?) Blues have belief now and they know that should they win tonight, on enemy soil no less, it would prove, beyond doubt, that the Maroons’ mighty era under Mal Meninga is over, that 2014 was the end of the road for Queensland and not merely a speed-bump. That’s some incentive.
As for Queensland, well, if history has taught us anything it’s that those accustomed to power cling to it as if to a life-vest in a stormy sea so the Maroons will throw everything at NSW tonight —including Josh Papalii, who’s been chained up in Mal’s backyard for a week now and fed nothing but lies and rare steaks— in their effort to repel the Blue hordes, silence the doubters, and re-establish their dominance.
All in all, I’m sure you’ll agree, it should make for compelling viewing. Or reading. Or both. So sit down, dear reader, put your feet up and let me do the heavy lifting for you (though I can’t promise I won’t drop the odd clanger on your toes so frenetic should the action be).
Kick-off? It’s scheduled for 8pm which, we know by now, means 8.16pm or thereabouts.
Pre-ramble
Good evening sports fans, and welcome to this minute-ish-by-minute-ish report of the third and deciding State of Origin match from Brisbane’s Suncorp Stadium. In case you haven’t heard it’s the most anticipated Origin encounter since, well, the last one. And that one was the most anticipated Origin encounter since the one before that. And so on and so on until you get all the way back to the Big Bang and, even before that, all that energetic nothingness.
But where did that nothingness come from? Good question, dear reader, but it’s one we’ll have to pass on exploring right now... though I will offer you this:
Needless to say, this blog isn’t about “science ’n’ stuff”, as Einstein used to call it in his teens, it’s about the battle for rugby league’s most parochial crown: it’s State of Origin, Maroon versus Blue, Cane Toad versus Cockroach, Knucklehead versus Bonehead, and Good/Evil versus Evil/Good depending on which side of the Tweed you hitch your ass.
Paul will be here shortly to guide you through tonight’s potentially explosive events in Brisbane. While waiting for him to strap himself into the hotseat, why not have a read of Nick Tedeschi’s preview? Here’s one of his five things to look out for:
There have been 17 deciders throughout the history of State Of Origin and Queensland have, quite incredibly, won 11 while New South Wales have managed just four wins. Two deciders have ended in draws.
It has been over Queensland’s sustained success over the last decade that the Maroons have come into their own in deciders, winning five since 2006.
The Blues’ last live Game III win was back in 2005.
That experience in deciders could prove critical at Suncorp, particularly with the Blues fielding a relatively inexperienced side.
In front of a rabid Suncorp crowd, the Blues are going to need to find their deepest reserves of composure and nerve. It will be a remarkable test for the Maroons as well, knowing their aging side might be at their last stand.
There is little in sport that thrills like an Origin decider – one that will be reflected with a sold out crowd, the biggest television ratings ever and the potential to break social media.
Read the four other tidbits here.
