And that is my lot for tonight. Thanks for your company, everyone. I’ll see you soon.
I’ll leave you with a word from our prime minister, a man who, cough, cough, splutter, lives and loves rugby league.
What a win! Congratulations @NSWRL!
— Malcolm Turnbull (@TurnbullMalcolm) May 31, 2017
And losing skipper, Cameron Smith:
Hear from @camsmith9 after #Origin I!#NRL pic.twitter.com/geVXSnKLnr
— NRL (@NRL) May 31, 2017
A word with James Maloney:
Hear from @jim_jim86 after #Origin Game I!#NRL pic.twitter.com/VfuwUoS9bA
— NRL (@NRL) May 31, 2017
An early look in at Joe Gorman’s match report:
The wrap
As you’ll no doubt read about in the coming moments and days, NSW were superb tonight. Apart from their kicking game which, Maloney aside, troubled no-one but themselves, they did everything right. Near perfect ball control, controlled aggression, aggressive intent in attack, and attacking defence, if you know what I mean.
That try on the half-time siren may have changed the game, for it looked pretty even before that; and exciting too, both teams throwing it about. But NSW just ran away with it in the second half and Qld just didn’t look like coming back. Dare I say, they looked old and tired.
For NSW, Fifita was superb. He bent the line with every carry and made some telling offloads. Wade Graham had a corker too, as did James Tedesco and James Maloney. Mitchell Pearce ended the game in the sheds early after a concussion but he had a fine game with the ball in hand (it was only when the ball went to his foot that he failed to shine).
The win is the Blues’ biggest, margin-wise, at Lang Park in Origin history. Not a bad base on which to go for a series win in Sydney in three weeks.
Channel Nine Melbourne, which I’m watching, didn’t even wait for the players to leave the field before leaving the game for the AFL Footy Show, quite possibly the worst TV show in the history of television. But as if in tribute to the NSW Cockroaches, there’s Sam Newman.
That’s a long way of saying I’m now flying blind.
Full-time: Queensland 4-28 NSW
All over at Lang Park. NSW have won and won in some style.
80 min: Into the final minute of what has been a superb NSW performance in the lion’s den.
Napa backs into the defence but can’t free his arms. McGuire is then tackled on the last. Change over.
79 min: A big tackle by Hayne on O’Neill, slamming him to the ground. As he falls O’Neill’s head bangs into the turf. He’s going off now for treatment.
77 min: Qld on the attack again. Smith grubbers in behind but Tedesco takes a sharp catch to defuse the situation. He’s been brilliant this half, Tedesco. Qld have played him into form!
75 min: Darius Boyd is held up! Qld play hot potato near the left touchline inside NSW’s 10m. Oates pops a ball to Darius Boyd who spins out of the first tackle and, falling now, reaches behind him to touch down. But Boyd Cordner falls on top of him, which isn’t a good thing (he looks heavy), and prevents the try!
74 min: NSW working the ball out from their own line. I haven’t mentioned Peats much tonight, if at all, but he’s been solid. No errors, nothing flashy, but hitting the right mark all evening.
73 min: Myles is down with an elbow injury but he’s back on his feet.
@pfconnolly first time in years I've looked at the two teams and thought nsw were stronger. Not surprised at the score, class throughout
— Joe Lewis (@josebish86) May 31, 2017
72 min: Ferguson spills a Dugan flick pass. Some great work by Maloney in the build-up.
71 min: Guerra appears to have scored after a Qld break down their left side. A few smart inside-outside balls sees Guerra in space, he sells Tedesco a dummy, and he has the line open ahead of him. But as he dives to score Dugan reaches around and knocks the ball from his grasp.
70 min: Here’s that Tedesco tackle. The first one:
What a stop!@jamestedesco93#Origin#NRL pic.twitter.com/3nMXcgnool
— NRL (@NRL) May 31, 2017
69 min: Chambers drags Dugan into touch 10m out.
67 min: Adrian Lane writes in to say “G’day” (G’day, Adrian) and to delight in the scoreboard. Oh, he asks, “any possible way we could cancel the regular empty stadium games and just have Origin series after series? Would it increase attendance?”
Scrum win to NSW 40m out from Qld’s line. Imagine a NSW fan wanting more Origin games after the past 10 years. How quickly they forget!
64 min: What a tackle! Cronk puts Gillett into a huge hole and he only has to run 10m to score. He’s in for all money but Trbojevic hits him low as Tedesco hits him around the shoulders bending him back. Wow.
Moments later, after some last-gasp passing, Qld attack right. Gagai is flying for the corner only for Tedesco to hit him midships, sending him in to touch. Take a bow, Tedesco!
62 min: Qld need points fast now. Silly, then, for NSW to lie in the ruck when Qld are on the fourth tackle 40m out from the NSW line. But that’s what’s just happened.
Try! Queensland 4-28 NSW (Hayne 59)
Blimey! NSW run it on the last, Maloney out to Graham out to Hayne who has the defenders sliding to Morris... so Hayne zips forward and runs 30m to score in the corner! Hayne then keeps running into a Blues contingent in the crowd to celebrate.
That’s his tenth Origin try.
Updated
57 min: Pearce is awake in the sheds. Awake enough to have jumped for joy at that try.
Conversion! Queensland 4-24 NSW (Maloney 56)
Plenty of time left but Qld would have to do a Qld to win this one now.
Oh, it wasn’t Chambers. Sorry, Will. It was Justin O’Neill who dropped that ball on his own line.
Try! Queensland 4-22 NSW (Fifita 54)
Bang, bang! NSW are in again!
Having received the re-start Maloney kicked high to the left wing of Gagai. He took the ball under pressure but from the next play Qld put it down. Chambers, I think it was. Fifita picked it up and rolled over close to the posts!
Conversion! Queensland 4-18 NSW (Maloney 53)
20m in from touch Maloney just steers his conversion inside the right upright.
Try! Queensland 4-16 NSW (Tedesco 52)
Tedesco slips into dummy half, 10m out from Queensland’s line, and catches Qld off-guard. He goes right, then left, and manages to wriggle free of three tacklers to just touch the ball down!
Tim has done the reverse mocker!
52 min: Emailer Tim Griffiths isn’t confident of NSW’s chances. “The Blues will look imperious first 40,” he writes. “And then watch QLD score two quickly after the break to extinguish any hope of NSW not being a joke.
Me for the last XX years...”
XXXX years, surely, Tim.
HOLD THE PHONE...
51 min: Pearce is flat on his back, seemingly in another world. Chambers hit him hard after Pearce passed the ball, his shoulder hitting Pearce square on the jaw. Not malicious in my opinion.
With Pearce down NSW push on and come close to scoring in the left corner after a little kick gives Morris a chance. But Cronk comes from nowhere to bat the ball dead.
Pearce is going off. Jack Bird will slip into the halves.
49 min: First Tedesco tackled in the air by Gillett (barely). Now Klemmer is lifted above the horizontal and all-but speared into the turf. McGuire and Morgan were the culprits, I think. Penalty.
47 min: A lovely offload from Fifita ends up with Hayne, then Morris on the left. Morris seems to have lost a yard of pace and he’s rounded up.
Later, NSW go right, Dugan is in a little space near Qld’s 20m but his attempt to kick ahead ends up as a blooper. He took an air-swing, so it turns into a drop. That’s twice Dugan has done that tonight. NSW seem to have the edge at the moment but not because their kicking game has been superior.
45 min: Hayne hits the line like a front rower. Gagai gives him a face massage with his forearm like a front rower.
NSW miss a chance to extend their lead. Gagai completely misses a bomb. Hayne reaches out for the rebound but can only get a finger or two on it, knocking it forward. Had he caught it he was a few metres out with no defender in front of him.
43 min: Tedesco makes a bust near the half and finds Maloney who runs without backup to Qld’s 30m. Nothing comes of the good field position, however.
42 min: Maloney kicks deep into the corner after NSW’s first set. It will be interesting to see what Pearce’s kicks are like this half. He overcooked every one in the first half. Played well otherwise, however.
Peeep!
41 min: Cameron Smith boots the ball off the tee, Klemmer takes the first hit up for NSW.
The teams are heading out. Can NSW hold off Queensland? As sure as day follows night they will come at NSW like hot flannels at a dirty-faced kid.
“That’s the easy half out of the way,” says Peter Sterling.
And here’s Qld’s try:
Corey Oates!#Origin#NRL pic.twitter.com/PcVn63d9My
— NRL (@NRL) May 31, 2017
Welcome back to what has been a ripping game, one allowed to flow by the refs who, I think, have only blown two penalties all game. Super high standards, too. Ball handling, inventiveness, defence.
Fifita is the standout forward on the park, playing like you always felt he had the potential to play in Origin. Here he is setting up NSW’s opening try. I may have undersold Maloney earlier. He had plenty to do:
Big @andrewfifita up the middle.@jim_jim86 backs up to score!#Origin#NRL pic.twitter.com/dAxqCBt8ZP
— NRL (@NRL) May 31, 2017
Half-time: Queensland 4-12 NSW
“How was the speed of that, Jimmy,” Fred Fittler asks James Maloney as the five-eighth walks off. “Fast, mate.”
How fast, though? As fast as a leopard?
Back in a moment:
Updated
Conversion! Queensland 4-12 NSW (Maloney)
Maloney adds the extras after the siren. No guessing who’ll be enjoying their jelly snakes more at half-time!
Try! Queensland 4-10 NSW (Pearce 40)
What a finish to the half for NSW! On the last, NSW run it spinning the ball left. Graham shapes to pass to his outside but passes back inside to Tedesco who’s in space, with only Boyd to beat. Up on Tedsco’s inside is Pearce backing up and he scores under the posts!
40 min: Fifita busts right through on the half but his torso is ahead of his legs and his legs can’t catch up. He falls but maintains possession and NSW have a sniff.
38 min: Smith, on kicking duty, missed the conversion from about 10m in from touch.
Qld pouring forward for another with Milford on the fly... but Tedesco has it, danger averted for the Blues.
Try! Queensland 4-6 NSW (Oates 36)
From one end to another, Qld score! After a clever Smith pass and a big run from Gagai that helps Qld into NSW’s 30m, Smith fires it out to Cronk who deliberately drags a kick across his body and it flies on an acute angle to Oates who catches cleanly ahead of Ferguson and trots over!
Updated
34 min: NSW so, so close to a try! Hayne palms off two Qld’ers on the half and slips one around the back to Morris. He has open space in front of him but in his attempt to swerve inside he’s tackled by Boyd. A tackle later Graham is pulled down inches short.
33 min: Will late-in-the-half fatigue open a few cracks in both team’s defence? Almost! A clever Smith kick for a flying Cronk almost ends up the Qld half’s hands in the shadows of the Blues’ posts — but Tedesco pinches it.
32 min: From the 20m restart Qld march relentlessly downfield but Gagai loses count and is tackled three metres out from NSW’s line by Hayne on the last.
31 min: Wade Graham drags three defenders within a metre of the line. NSW are set left. Peats to Pearce who stabs a kick... straight to Gagai’s breadbasket!
30 min: Great NSW defence forces Qld to kick from inside their own 20m. Tedesco takes Cronk’s clearing kick on the fly. NSW on the attack!
29 min: Another Pearce kick in Qld’s half give Oates catching practice. Pearce has overhit every kick.
26 min: Morris, seemingly okay, smothers Gagai after the Qld wing catches a Maloney chip kick near the Qld line. Plenty of probing at the moment but neither team has come close to a try since Maloney got the scoreboard attendants away from their crosswords early doors.
Quality: Both teams have completed 14/14 sets.
24 min: Morris does well to climb highest to a Cronk bomb but he doesn’t catch it cleanly. Fortunately for NSW it falls backwards where Tedesco cleans up. Morris, it seems, is a bit ginger with a knee complaint from an earlier run which ended with his torso being folded over his legs.
23 min: Benchmen, Trbojevic, Klemmer and Thaiday all on.
22 min: Big run from Fifita, dragging defenders with him. Was like a ride-on lawnmower careening through the washing on a Hills hoist.
Updated
20 min: Fifita, Tedesco and Woods are the leading metre-eaters at this point. Each team’s sets are flying by. Both sides are managing quick play-the-balls. The refs are obviously policing the ruck more than usual.
19 min: After a Qld possession, NSW end another set with Pearce putting up a high bomb. Again Oates takes it with no Blues in his grille. I think the pace of the game has made chasing bombs a tough ask.
18 min: Oates, then Gagai, chip in with some metres to get Qld away from their line after a Pearce bomb was taken with no pressure by Oates.
16 min: Another poor last tackle option from NSW. Deep in Qld territory Dugan finds himself standing still 15m from Qld’s line, on the last, and he attempts a grubber which goes straight to Qld. Some exciting play in the build-up, however.
14 min: This is a fast game, with both teams willing to throw it around. After Gagai’s run, Gillett makes a bust which takes Qld deep into NSW territory. On the last Ferguson brings down a charging Oates and appears to have hurt his shoulder doing so.
13 min: Tonight’s players are wearing GPS trackers... or at least the results of the GPS trackers have been made available to Ch. Nine. News just in: Corey Oates has hit the fastest speed so far, 34.27kph.
12 min: Huge run from Gagai inside his own 20m after a Pearce grubber attempt more or less stops dead on his boot, gifting possession to a grateful Qld.
11 min: A penalty to NSW sees them start a set just on their own side of the half. They are running with real purpose, wind in their sails and all that.
9 min: What a great start for NSW that is. Pearce played a part, but it was Fifita who made that. He had no right to shake off Myles so easily, nor hold off Gillett and another tackler before making a clever offload.
Conversion! Queensland 0-6 NSW (Maloney)
An easy one to start with for Maloney.
Try! Queensland 0-4 NSW (Maloney 6)
6 min: On the half, Pearce passes inside ball to Fifita who shrugs off Myles like he’s a dirty raincoat. Fifita, despite three tacklers, then finds Maloney on his inside and the five-eighth has the legs, just, to score under the posts!
Updated
5 min: After Milford almost steps through the NSW line 10m out, Boyd dribbles one in behind to his winger, Oates. Oates launches himself as if from the blocks of an Olympic pool but he can’t manage to wrap a mitt around it. We went ‘upstairs’ for a look but it wasn’t close.
4 min: Tedesco having taken a bomb, gets the Blues off to a set of six from deep. Third tackle in and Woods is smashed again. His high ponytail has seemingly enraged the Maroons.
After a kick, Qld are awarded the game’s first penalty when NSW stray offside.
2 min: Woods hits it up and is met as hard as you’d expect, Nate Myles using his forearm to gently caress Woods’ left ear.
Peeeep!
1 min: Maloney kicks off, the Blues running right to left on my TV screen. Qld survive any fumbles and Cronk boots the ball long and high where it’s taken safely.
A moment of silence is being observed for Queensland police officer Snr Const Brett Forte tragically killed in the line of duty this week.
Kick off is imminent. NSW’s James Maloney to get us underway...
The teams are heading out into the ‘cauldron’. Here come the Blues, led by new captain, Boyd Cordner. He gets a warm welcome from the sporting Lang Park crowd. “Good luck, that man!” yells one fellow in a maroon wig. “All the best, son,” screams a woman dressed as a cane toad.
Oh, alright, Cordner and the Blues are booed silly.
And now the Maroons ooze from the tunnel, led out by Cam Smith playing his 40th Origin, just two behind the King, Wally Lewis.
Please stand for the anthems...
Get your game faces on, folks. We’re nearly there.
In the earlier game, NSW u20s defeated Queensland for the sixth year in a row. That certainly bodes well for the future for the Blues and their fans.
Congratulations to the U20s @NSWRL who defeated @QLDmaroons 30-16!#Origin pic.twitter.com/h4UkNfPPhp
— NRL (@NRL) May 31, 2017
Laurie Daley has just been interviewed and he admits to nerves but says NSW are as well prepared as they could be. His Qld counterpart Kevin Walters was on earlier, and he unsurprisingly dismissed any notion that Qld were vulnerable due to the notable names missing on their team sheet. Daley and Walters are good mates and they certainly come across as good natured, decent blokes.
Speaking of nerves, here are a couple of, ah, intimate pics. Can’t blame them, though. If I was playing tonight you wouldn’t get me off the john. Still, you wouldn’t think Cronk would be so nervous give he’s played 19 Origins so far:
FINAL TEAMS
— NSW Blues 🔵 (@NSWRL) May 31, 2017
Laurie Daley has confirmed his 17 for #Origin Game One tonight.
📝 https://t.co/LijeBLhI7W pic.twitter.com/1qgWOrjYaQ
MAROONS CONFIRMED
— NSW Blues 🔵 (@NSWRL) May 31, 2017
These are the men we'll face in just under an hour.https://t.co/0LKn8TCKTQ pic.twitter.com/JD9BAKzD88
The officials!
Matt Cecchin and Gerard Sutton are your referees for Origin I.
Brett Suttor and Chris Butler will be the touch judges.
Bernard Sutton will act as the senior review official in the bunker, and Ben Galea will be the other review official.
Tonight’s squads:
Final Teams are IN!#Origin pic.twitter.com/2h1sJOy07h
— NRL (@NRL) May 31, 2017
Items of note:
Cameron Smith, who never gets injured, perhaps because he made a pact with the Devil (you never know), is playing his 40th Origin. Dylan Napa debuts, Milford too. For NSW, Nathan Peats breaks the Robbie Farah stranglehold on the Blues’ hooking spot. Jake Trbojevic (the spelling of whose surname I simply cannot remember without looking it up) also debuts. Paul Gallen isn’t playing which, some will say, will increase NSW’s chances as the big Shark is seen by some critics as a hog.
If you read my preview earlier today you’ll know I referred to Queensland’s long dominance as the Maroon Empire, and that I mused upon the truism that all empires eventually fall. Such a reality has fascinated scholars through the ages:
Speaking of scholars, here’s a famous shot of the NSW brains trust past and presence playing musical chairs:
This is the greatest moment in #origin history according to reliable sources on my timeline. pic.twitter.com/do8y4zEKni
— Andrew Bryan (@AndrewBryan321) May 31, 2017
Preamble
Evenin’ all, nice to have your company for yet another instalment of State of Origin, the thrice-yearly footballing extravaganza during which mate plays mate and state plays state, and where hate seems to have taken a backseat of late. The continued ban on punching? Oh, won’t somebody think of the children middle-aged men pining for the good ol’ days?
Tonight’s match comes from Name of a Bank Stadium formerly known as Lang Park, which was named after a former minister, politician and progressive from Australia’s colonial past, John Dunmore Lang. Looking over his resume, he’s certainly dunmore than I ever will. Zinger!
Interesting fact No.1: Lang seemed to have been a much bigger presence in Sydney than Brisbane so it seems rather generous of Queenslanders to have named their favourite sporting venue after him.
Interesting fact No. 2: The site of the stadium used to be a former cemetery and then a rubbish dump, which almost amount to the same thing. A cemetery, ay? Did anyone who okayed the build actually watch Poltergeist?
Tomorrow night's venue. If you're a Queenslander, get to Lang Park and support Wally Lewis and the rest of the Maroons. #origin #NRL pic.twitter.com/ojEniVd9VX
— The Winfield Cup (@winfield_cup) May 30, 2017
Anyway, tonight’s match.
Queensland go in with one of their weaker teams since they began their reign of terror in 2006 (if you can call a team containing Cameron Smith, Cooper Cronk, Darius Boyd, Anthony Milford and Matt Gillett a weak one). But it’s all relative, innit?
So, given that, everyone, including me, has given NSW a real chance tonight but let’s be honest, no-one will be at all surprised if Queensland jump out of the blocks early, get a roll on, and have a resigned NSW, who’ve seen it all before, chasing the game before we make the turn for home. Shaking off the mental scars of the past will be, for NSW, half the battle.
The key to the game, as always, will be NSW’s ability to get on top in the forwards and at the ruck, and for their halves to orchestrate what is a talented backline —on paper. All eyes, then, will be on Mitchell Pearce, who will be carrying enormous pressure on his shoulders. Given his record in Origin he’s become the scapegoat for many a NSW loss but people in the know, like Peter Sterling, have said that he’s in as good a place as he’s been in a very long time. I wish him well.
For Queensland, five-eighth Anthony Milford will be on debut, filling the BFG-sized boots of Johnathan Thurston. Will he shine or get a case of the yips?
All will be revealed from 8.12pm. Or thereabouts.
Enjoy the ride and feel free to drop me a line (details on your left… no, not that far left!).
Let’s get ready to grumble! Rumble!
Paul will be here shortly, which gives you just enough time to have a read of his preview for tonight’s big game in Brisbane, which starts like this:
History tells us, if we’re inclined to pay attention, that all empires come to an end. Some come crashing down, others slowly fall apart, but in the end most wind up as ruins, tourist attractions beside which to sell ice-cream and overpriced tat.
Updated
