Final thoughts
Sport can be cruel, we know that.
NSW did so well, and showed great heart, to come back at Qld on a couple of occasions when the gig seemed to be up. And then they almost scored a try late, late on that would have levelled the scores, and from a very kickable position at that. But for the merest touch of Jennings’ finger on the ball NSW could well have taken the lead with less than nine minutes remaining! NSW will be devastated. They nearly executed one of the all-time great Origin wins.
Nearly. What prize do you get for that? None. To the victor go the spoils, and another Origin crown. Why? Because Queensland — and Thurston — had the class, the ruthlessness, to not let NSW’s momentum shake them and to deliver the killer blow when it was needed. What a team.
In all, a cracking game. An exhausting one, too. So that’s me signing off. Thanks for coming, and have a good night.
And to send you off into the night, here’s Matt Cleary’s match report from Suncorp:
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FT at @suncorpstadium!@QLDmaroons just too good: 2016 series winners!#Origin #QLDER #uptheblues pic.twitter.com/cJNUKXnrYe
— NRL (@NRL) June 22, 2016
Full-time: Queensland 26-16 NSW
Qld win their 10th series in 11 years but they were made to earn it by NSW who, as Daley hoped, give it a good crack.
And what’s this? Channel Nine Melbourne have ended their coverage, crossing to the AFL Footy Show!
80 min Moylan makes a 30m right to left pass that gives Jennings half a yard. The ball comes back to him and he kicks hopefully downfield for Walker. But the Maroons clean up and see the ball safely over the sideline, Oates booting it high into the stands in delight. It’s over!
79 min This turned into a wonderful game, didn’t it?
One minute remaining and Qld are not in any hurry to play the ball.
78 min Walker and then Bird make deep inroads into Qld’s left side defence but the Maroons scramble well, Cameron Smith taking an age to get off a tackle but escaping censure.
NSW get six again from 30m out and there’s the game. Chancing his arm Jackson attempts a pass to Walker on the right wing but it’s too far in front of him and flies into touch.
76 min Deep in Qld’s 22, Jack Bird is in space and is try-bound until Darius Boyd tackles him just short. NSW go left and a kick goes up, contested by Jennings. It hits the deck before Maloney picks up the crumbs and dives over. But it looks like Jennings knocked on. Yes, after going upstairs, the Jennings knock on is confirmed. That could have been NSW’s last chance to get within striking distance.
What a breathless end to this game!
Conversion! Queensland 26-16 NSW (Thurston 73)
From the left touchline Thurston starts it wide before it corrects beautifully.
Try! Queensland 24-16 NSW (Oates 72)
The Maroons are heartbreakers! After surviving that NSW charge by a Jennings fingernail they go down the other end and surely win the game!
From centrefield within NSW’s 22, Smith goes left to Thurston who finds Boyd, with a blind pass, wrapping around. Boyd then passes to Oates who dives over. Great try, better for its timing!
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71 min No try! Talk about a game of inches! How unlucky for NSW! It appeared Jennings must have knocked on in his first attempt to catch it but he didn’t. Unfortunately for NSW he got a finger nail on it at the second attempt a fraction of a second before Frizell touched down. Had Jennings left that alone Frizell would have scored and NSW would have levelled up!
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70 min NSW drive deep into Qld territory playing wing to wing before Woods almost slips Moylan through a hole. Then, on the last, Maloney grubbers behind the line for Jennings. He and O’Neill both swing for the ball but it bounces on. Jennings has another go before Frizell plants it inside the dead-ball line. Try? We’re going upstairs!
Updated
Conversion! Queensland 20-16 NSW (Reynolds 68)
Reynolds converts and suddenly it’s just a four-point game!
Try! Queensland 20-14 NSW(Maloney 67)
Hold the phone! NSW score a runaway intercept try! It came from a Cronk crossfield kick that Gagai leapt well to catch. But while he was in the air he looked to bat down to O’Neill but instead found Maloney. From 80m out Maloney ran as slowly as honey down a spoon but somehow outpaced O’Neill. And then he managed to improve his position and score under the posts! Game on!
64 min Thurston’s conversion attempt fades across the face keeping NSW within two converted tries of victory. But that’s not looking likely now as Thurston makes a half break.
Try! Queensland 20-10 NSW (Gagai 63)
Try it is! Gagai may have lost touch of the ball for a brief moment but you’d have to give him the benefit of the doubt there. That was a killer blow by Qld.
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63 min Wonderful NSW defence holds out Qld for five tackles but on the last Thurston shifts right and dinks a little ball through the line. Gagai comes through to claim it and touch down despite the efforts of Moylan. Awarded a try on the field it goes upstairs...
61 min Thurston settles things down for Qld as NSW look to get on top. From outside the NSW 22 he guides the ball into the NSW in-goal and it pulls up nicely. Moylan is tackled and that’ll be a drop-out.
59 min Greg Bird comes off for attention after falling to his knees following his attempt to put a shot on Parker.
Conversion! Queensland 16-10 NSW (Reynolds 57)
Reynolds makes no mistake to put NSW within reach.
Try! Queensland 16-8 NSW (Frizell 57)
Yes. They. Can! And didn’t the game need that? Frizell scores on debut after running a nice angle off Reynolds close to the Qld line following a Farah run-around. He scores under the posts, a reward for a fine debut.
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55 min NSW survive and a few quick play the balls gets them over the half. On the last Boyd leaps high to take a Reynolds bomb. But here’s a penalty to NSW. O’Neill changes his line to take out a NSW runner.
NSW need a try, can they grab one here and give themselves hope?
52 min Moylan rounds up a Smith grubber 6m out from his own line but he is smothered by Maroons and disappears in their midst. He’s then driven back into his own in-goal. Don’t the crowd love it! That’s a Billy Moore “Queenslander!” moment. The Maroons can smell blood.
50 min Correction to an earlier post in the lead up to that try: Qld didn’t steal the ball, they picked it up after Fifita dropped a tough pass from Klemmer. So another error leads to another try. But Qld are always good enough to make you pay for your mistakes.
Conversion! Queensland 16-4 NSW (Thurston 48)
Another conversion from the right touchline. Stop it.
Try! Queensland 14-4 NSW (Gagai 47)
Could that be the game? From inside the NSW 22 Cronk goes right to Inglis whose angled run drags Jennings way out of position. Inglis then ducks inside him and floats an overhand pass out to Gagai who catches it high and streaks over from a few metres out! That’s Gagai’s fourth try in three Origins.
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46 min A strong run by the much-maligned Dylan Walker who has had a good game. On the next hit up NSW have the ball stolen on their own 40m line. Oh dear.
45 min Smith, from just inside his own half, steps out of dummy half and drills a lovely touch-finder across the NSW 10m.
43 min On the fourth tackle Papalii attracts defenders like a picnic attracts flies and he’s dragged down a metre out. Qld then shift it right, not left, and Boyd chimes in and aims for the corner but is well tackled by Ferguson.
Peeeeeeeep!
41 min Qld kick deep and NSW negotiate a solid set before Reynolds’ kick on the last is hit in flight, losing NSW some valuable metres. Then they gift Qld a penalty on their 40m line for being offside.
“An enthralling first 40,” says Kevin Walters, who gave NSW a wrap. He’s got a great manner, Walters, very approachable.
What did I say about Qld being great front-runners? Since Origin began in 1980 Qld has led 46 times at halftime and won 38 of those times.
The Nine team are pumping up the Blues’ tyres. You’d think they were winning comfortably. Fittler says it’s the most excited he’s been about NSW for 10 years. Johns says the Blues can still win, before ruining that confident-sounding statement with a pitiful “pleeeeease”.
NSW are playing decent footy, it must be said. They are stretching Qld and showing more intent than in game 1. That said they haven’t come close to scoring a try. And their errors have consistently released the pressure on Qld, as well as gifting them the only try of the half.
Qld looked shaky for a wee moment but they walked off with their familiar swagger. They are great front-runners and NSW have some job to do. Maloney will need to improve, he’s had an unhappy game. And Jack Bird might make a difference. If Laurie Daley puts him on the field, that is.
Half-time: Queensland 10-4 NSW
And that’s oranges. A half in which both sides took turns at the wheel. Ultimately, however, it was a NSW error and Qld’s proven ability to exploit such an error that has made the difference. NSW with it all to do.
40 min Qld go left again and Oates is away down the touchline! But across in cover, and perhaps a tad high, comes Andrew Fifita, dragging the towering Oates across the touchline. Maloney owes Fifita a beer.
The half ends with Thaiday hitting Klemmer amidships and driving him into the turf. Great tackle.
38 min NSW now pass the ball into touch, Maloney throwing it left in front of Jennings and Mansour. You don’t really want to give Qld a full set just one minute before half-time do you?
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36 min After pushing into Qld’s 22 Maloney executes a sloppy play the ball.
How Queensland was that of Queensland to score a try against the run of play just when they were looking a little weary? That try, by the way, occurred after Jennings was tackled and turned by O’Neil but he nevertheless tried to basketball the footy on to Mansour. Gagai caught it instead. But what an effort by Frizell.
An 80m run! Pure brilliance by Gagai.
— NRL (@NRL) June 22, 2016
QLD lead 10-4 with 6 minutes until HT.#Origin #QLDER pic.twitter.com/rVFJiubMz7
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Conversion! Queensland 10-4 (Thurston 34)
What a kick! From the right touch line Thurston starts his kick so far to the right you expect it to be wearing jackboots, but it curls back just in the nick of time!
Try! Queensland 8-4 NSW (Gagai 33)
Gagai makes it to the line but only just, and the try is given after the input of the video ref. Frizell gave chance and, incredibly, started reeling in the winger. He then ankle tapped Gagai who came to earth a few metres out. But his momentum saw him slide over the line despite the late arrival of Ferguson!
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31 min Darren ‘Gravel Tonsils’ Lockyer says NSW are winning the battle of the body language right now. Doesn’t count for much, however, when you then throw a loose pass which falls into the hands of Dane Gagai who sets sail 80m down the right touchline with no-one ahead of him!
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28 min Qld’s next set ends in similar fashion with Thurston’s kick rolling over the NSW dead-ball line. Greg Bird sat him on his seat after he kicked it. He’s copping some punishment, JT. Legal punishment I must add. Doesn’t make it easy to watch.
Moments later, after building up momentum and racing into the Qld 22, Bird then spills the ball as he gets up to play it. A let off for Qld.
27 min NSW shift it left to right and look sharp enough, but on the last Reynolds’ attempt to win another drop goal goes awry when his kick in behind runs dead.
25 min Some slick work by the Blues on a left-side spread that sees Moylan pass inside to Dylan Walker, straying from the right-hand side. The set finishes with Maloney grubbering into the right upright. Boyd fields it in his in-goal and he can’t make it back into the field of play.
22 min Thurston kicks downfield from just inside his half and Jackson hits him like a careening truck. It wasn’t blatantly late and is not penalised. Which doesn’t mean Thurston’s head wouldn’t be ringing.
After retrieving the ball NSW win a penalty when Ferguson is not allowed to play the ball in a timely fashion. A hint of a chicken wing in that tackle. Not one from the Colonel, either.
Penalty! Queensland 4-4 NSW (Thurston 21)
Easy peasy for Thurston from close in.
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19 min Great ball-and-all tackle by Walker on Inglis but, for some reason, Reynolds comes in late and is penalised. Another fresh set from 5m out. Can NSW hold them out? On tackle 4 they give away another penalty! This time for a high tackle by Maloney on Cronk.
Qld look to have them stretched but again they go for the two points.
16 min A relieving penalty for Qld. And a second one a few tackles later. Qld start a fresh set from 10m out.
Here’s a still of that Thaiday tackle on Gallen:
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Penalty! Queensland 2-4 NSW (Reynolds 15)
Reynolds puts NSW in front as the commentators praise the running efforts of Robbie Farah.
13 min NSW jolting the Maroons’ heads back with some heavy tackling. Gallen gives Oates the kitchen sink, with plug. Thurston kicks downfield.
And here’s another penalty to NSW. No arguments about it. Thaiday upends Gallen after Parker had him around the waist. Gallen lands on his head. That was ugly and dangerous and Thaiday is on report.
NSW are on top at the moment but they resist the urge to find touch on the Qld 22 preferring to take a shot at goal from right in front, 35m out.
Penalty goal! Queensland 2-2 NSW (Reynolds 11)
They do level up. Some nice play rewarded.
9 min Penalty NSW for Qld being inside the 10. After much defending that’s rather timely for NSW who find touch.
And here’s Aaron Woods splitting them, straight past Scott, before being hauled down! Frizell follows up with a strong run and as he gets up to play it the ball comes loose. A Qld hand was responsible, says the ref. Penalty NSW and they should level up from inside the Qld 22.
8 min Queensland are targeting NSW’s right side. As such, Inglis, with the ball in hand, will be asking Walker some tough questions tonight. But considering Inglis went for a field goal this year when Souths were down by two with seconds remaining I’d venture they won’t be mathematical in nature.
Penalty! Queensland 2-0 NSW (Thurston 6)
From a few metres left of the posts Thurston couldn’t miss.
5 min Was Inglis tackled without the ball, just as Thurston looked to put him over the line from a few metres out? Yes. Moylan it was with the over-enthusiasm. But it was a good option for NSW. Inglis may well have scored and now Queensland are settling for a crack at a penalty goal.
4 min From the next set Queensland tackle NSW in their own in-goal after a Thurston grubber. Their passage downfield was helped by a break from Cameron Smith of all people. Not a good sign for NSW.
2 min NSW spread it on the fifth and two players in from the right touch Dylan Walker puts it on the toe. It looks like it will be claimed by Boyd but the bounce beats him. Will it pull up in the in-goal? Nup.
Peeeeeeep!
1 min NSW kick off and the Maroons end their first set with a Cronk bomb caught by Moylan on his own 22.
Controversy! Though the game is in Queensland the anthem singer has pronounced advance as “advarnce”.
And here come the NSW players! Newbie Tyson Frizell (he’s Welsh, you know?) and almost newbie Dylan Walker manage a smile when they see themselves on the big screen. They must be bricking it.
Fashionably late, Queensland join them, and the crowd erupts like the mother of all pimples.
Shhh, the anthem’s on. “Orstayans let us oar rejoice...”
Did Brad Fittler say earlier, “if there’s a pass there to be passed...they’ve gotta pass it”? I hope so. It’s up there with Donald Rumsfeld’s “known unknowns” statement at a Defense Department briefing.
Players are still in the sheds, by the way. Perhaps someone has misplaced the national anthem.
Anyway, lots of Blues supporters in the crowd. Seeing them in their painted faces I think of a winter that is no longer coming but has well and truly set in. Faces painted maroon, meantime, make me think of impending aneurysms.
What are your predictions, folks? Drop me a line.
Me? I’m tipping Queensland, 24-10. If NSW win, however, the score will be 20-12.
Who let Silvio off Sopranos in the #QLD dressing room? #Origin pic.twitter.com/XjoJnKjNDu
— Ra Pomare (@RaPomare) June 1, 2016
As per tradition kick-off time has come and gone. Not even mad anymore.
We’re getting vision from the sheds now. NSW are wrestling, or perhaps playing ‘stacks on’. Queensland are watching episode nine of Game of Thrones just to get themselves in the mood. Kevin Walters has just knocked a large tub of popcorn out of Sam Thaiday’s hands with a ‘what the heck?’ look on his face.
Laurie Daley has just revealed that his final message to the Blues tonight is “Have a crack.”
Genius! Put the house on NSW.
The brilliant Johnathan Thurston, meanwhile, is about to play his 35th consecutive Origin match. For someone targeted as much as he is that is phenomenal. And it’s not as if he just punches his time card. No, he wrings himself out every time and more often than not seems to operate on a higher plane. Phil Gould has just called him the greatest footballer he’s ever seen.
Meanwhile:
interesting choice of match ball tonight. personally it looks a little small #origin pic.twitter.com/D30E3f1hbG
— Vince Rugari (@VinceRugari) June 22, 2016
I wonder if it’s a “Cocoon” joke in reference to the age of some of the Queenslanders.
Paul Gallen will captain NSW for a 15th time tonight, equaling the record of Danny Buderus. Set to retire from Origin at the end of the series it will be his last match at Lang Park where he’s looked upon about as warmly as a rat in your larder.
The Courier-Mail, ever the trolls, suggested Queensland had extra motivation to win tonight as it would make Gallen’s farewell home match in July a dead rubber. The beauty of that, it reckoned, was that fewer people would be in attendance at Homebush to salute his service.
As you can see, there’s been a late change for NSW. Dragon Tyson Frizell will start in place of Greg Bird who moves to the interchange bench. A Frizell in the hand is worth two Birds on the bench?
On Nine, Billy Slater is tipping Greg Inglis to cut loose. Look out Dylan Walker. Andrew Johns has just tipped Matt Moylan for man of the match.
As the toss takes place (NSW will kick off) here are your teams for tonight:
Final game two #Origin teams are IN! pic.twitter.com/nY1gvxDVFr
— NRL (@NRL) June 22, 2016
If all that sounds terribly pessimistic, Blues fans, this might make you feel even worse:
This is currently @AdamMobbs favourite song. #Origin @timmorrissey @DaveyCampbell85 @BooBaileyTelehttps://t.co/pPpRShcEzD
— Emily Benammar (@EmilyBenammar) June 22, 2016
Preamble
Evening, all.
Heading into the 2006 State of Origin series the concept of Origin was being questioned such was NSW’s dominance over Queensland. A fourth consecutive series loss in 2006 could, new Maroons coach Mal Meninga said, have negative ramifications on the ongoing viability of Origin and even the health of rugby league in Queensland.
If Origin’s sky was falling after three consecutive series losses, where does that leave us now, heading as we are to Lang Park with Queensland on the verge of winning their 10th series in 11 years?
NSW supporters are often looked down upon by those with Maroon necks as being more fickle than they are, less passionate. Yet for all the misery they’ve endured since 2006 NSW supporters are still turning up to take their seats, still flicking on the TV in the hope that the day of the Blues’ day will dawn once again.
Do you feel even an ounce of pity, Queenslanders. Do you want their pity, New South Welshmanandwomen? Let me know, I’m all ears:
Paul.connolly.casual@theguardian.com or @PFConnolly
Lang Park (I’m old school) has not, of course, been a happy hunting ground for NSW. You have to go back to the carefree days of 2000 since NSW last won a game 2 in Brisbane —and that was on their way to their last clean sweep over the Maroons.
And it’s not since 1998 that NSW have won a game 2 in Brisbane after losing the series opener in Sydney. Couple those factoids with the composite score from the last 10 games played in Brisbane —Queensland 269, NSW 122— NSW will need stepladders to get over the hurdles placed in front of them tonight.
As for Queensland, you figure that as long as their bus driver knows the way to Lang Park victory will be theirs, but could complacency creep into the Maroons camp like a wolf in Explorer socks? Queensland are getting older, however, and they are much, much closer to the end of their reign of terror than the beginning. But, barring the outlier that was 2014 (the year Cooper Cronk missed the bus) they continue to win the big games.
This dominance will end, there’s no question. So there’s some hope for you, Blues fans. But will it end tonight? I wouldn’t stake my life on it. I wouldn’t even stake your life on it.
Kick-off: 8pm-ish (local)
Paul will be here shortly. Before he does arrive, here are a few of his thoughts on tonight’s game:
Considering how dominant Queensland have been these past 11 years – a dominance underlined so ruthlessly in last year’s 52-6 win in the decider at Suncorp Stadium – it’s getting to the stage where NSW have started to have much in common with basketball’s hapless Washington Generals, a team whose raison d’être was to be the Harlem Globetrotters’ sacrificial lambs during their exhibition matches. How often can NSW wind up under the heel of Queensland’s boot before they start to believe they belong there?
Read the full article here.
