Thanks for your company this evening, and apologies for not getting to some of your correspondence. As you can imagine, I didn’t have time to scratch myself there, such was the pace of the game.
I will leave you with the match report. Congratulations NSW. One in a row!
Final thoughts:
What a game, what a result. After a slow start the match exploded into action and despite being on the wrong end of a controversial no-try call Queensland raced to a 10-0 lead. But it was NSW who would go to the halftime break with a 12-10 lead after a try to Addo-Carr and only the second penalty try in Origin history.
NSW then stretched their lead to 18-10 before Qld threw everything at them. After reducing the deficit to 18-14 Qld benefited from James Roberts’ sin binning but despite being down to 12 NSW heroically held off the Maroons who were sparked by a wonderful debut performance from Kalyn Ponga. Given recent history it seemed inevitable Qld would fashion a winner but it was not to be and NSW will go to Brisbane for Game 3 knowing they are champions for only the second time since 2006.
The NSW selectors made the right call —at long last one might argue— clearing the decks after last year’s series defeat. Laurie Daley exited, as did a host of Blues stalwarts. Brad Fittler came in with a fresh attitude, with confidence, and with him came a young, exciting, in-form Blues team. In just two matches they’ve brought the Origin shield back to NSW and begun the significant job of exorcising the ghosts of the past.
Queensland were incredible. Tough, brave and full of endeavour. Billy Slater was in everything and Ponga almost won the game in his debut match. He’d didn’t manage it this time but you just know his time will come.
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James Maloney [who has won an Origin series for the first time]: “I’ve been here a few times so this makes it special. I’ll remember this one. It was good. We said before we came out that we were going to have to face adversity at some point and how we reacted to that would determine the result. But we kept turning up. Some of these young guys playing their first series they probably don’t appreciate the significance of this. Hopefully it’s the start of something.”
Greg Inglis speaks: “It was ours for the taking. Three or four times in the second half we had them on the ropes and we had space but we tried the fancy stuff. We didn’t get the little things done. I’m proud of the effort but I know we could have had it, we shot ourselves in the foot. Kalyn Ponga? He’s made for Origin and almost got us the win.”
James Tedesco speaks: “That was outstanding. We lost a man but we kept defending our line. It’s a great feeling. We didn’t take the chance last year and to come here and do it... [transmission ended as Tedesco is set upon by a delighted Brad Fittler].”
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The Blues drop to their knees, scarcely believing they’ve done it.
Good sportsmanship shown by Queensland who warmly congratulate the winners. Cordner, who was wobbling like a drunk at closing time minutes ago, is on the field with his teammates looking healthy and ridiculously happy.
Fulltime: NSW 18-14 Queensland
What an effort by NSW, what a game from Queensland, what a spectacle is Origin football!
80 min: NSW go one out, soaking up time. The clock counts down... 10...9...8... etc. And it’s all over! NSW WIN! NSW WIN! NSW WIN!
79 min: NSW 20m out and James Roberts is back on. It’s 13 v 13 again. On the last Cook, from 5m out, rolls in a left-foot kick. Bodies converge on the tryline and Hunt is ruled to have knocked on! A NSW loose head and feed, 10m out from Qld’s line with just 30 seconds remaining! Surely it’s NSW’s game and series now!
78 min: Rushing NSW defence keeps Qld pinned. On the fifth, they run it left and Inglis finds Holmes. He races downfield and when he finds himself squeezed towards the sideline he kicks ahead. But Tedesco takes a slips catch to win possession for NSW. They then win a penalty!
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77 min: NSW push into Qld territory on the third tackle. They can’t hold on and win can they?
Qld with the scrum feed on their own 10m.
75 min: Ponga and Slater get heavily involved as Qld probe for an opening. And on the last it’s Slater who swings a ball out to Chambers on the right ... but he’s set upon by Addo-Carr and he hurries a kick that sails over the dead-ball line.
75 min: As Cordner struggles to get up after hitting his head on Napa’s hip, Qld earn a penalty when Peachey is penalised for an attempted trip on Ponga. Cordner goes off for treatment as Qld take possession of the ball on their own 30m. NSW still with 12 men.
74 min: Jake Trbojevic carries four Maroons five metres to the try-line before being bent backwards. Qld hold on.
72 min: Chambers lifts Maloney high in the air and, as in Wrestlemania, slams him hard into the ground. Was that a suplex? Frizell reacts and shoves Chambers and a brouhaha ensues. The wash-up? A penalty to NSW and they start a new set 20m out from Qld’s line.
71 min: NSW try to keep it alive on the last but eventually they kick and Slater finds a charging Holmes. Trbojevic does well to haul him down.
Three tackles later only a brilliant cover tackle from Cleary prevents Holmes from having a 30m run to the line.
70 min: Yes. For now, at least. On the third tackle Hunt inexplicably grubbers for his outside backs and NSW delightedly watch it roll over the dead ball line.
69 min: It’s no try as Trbojevic was always going to win the race for the ball. But Roberts has been sent to the sin bin. Qld with the penalty, 10m out. Can NSW hold on?
68 min: Ponga steps inside the NSW defence from 40m out and is in the clear! He seems try-bound but for a last ditch tackle from a chasing Tedesco!
Next play Qld go left and Hunt kicks early for Gavin Cooper but James Roberts holds him back. Qld want a penalty try of their own.
We go upstairs...
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67 min: NSW struggling for field position as Qld aim up in defence, and Cook is forced to kick on the last, 40m out from his own line. Qld come again.
66 min: 40m out from Qld’s line Mitchell bumps out of two tackles and slip passes to Addo-Carr, but the winger overruns it and can only watch it bobble into touch.
64 min: Holmes misses the wide-out conversion but Qld have a head of steam at the moment. De Belin does his best to put a dampener on that that with a big tackle on Hess.
82,223 in attendance.
TRY! NSW 18-14 Queensland (Chambers 62 min)
A few plays later Qld go right, Hunt to Kaufusi to Chambers, and the centre dives over untouched! What a blunder by Mitchell.
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61 min: Qld on the charge again, deep in NSW territory. Hunt kicks, poorly, and Mitchell catches in his own in-goal.
But Mitchell butchers the 20m restart! In his attempt to find Addo-Carr on the fly he misdirects his pass and Coen Hess picks it up.
60 min: Gavin Cooper tries to burrow through from a metre out, but the NSW line holds. On the last Qld run it right and Ponga does well to slip a backhanded ball to Chambers but he’s hit hard and wrapped up ball and all.
58 min: Holmes stays down after a head clash with Frizell. But he’s up soon enough and Qld shift right with intent.
56 min: NSW push deep into Qld’s red zone but Cordner is tackled on the last, 10m out. Changeover.
54 min: Deep in NSW’s half Qld again shift right again but Mitchell rushes up at Slater and, seeing his approach in the same way I’d see a runaway locomotive heading my way, Slater panic passes to his right and it’s ruled forward. The crowd cheer heartily.
NSW win a piggy back penalty. Another big cheer from the home crowd.
53 min: Maloney’s kick on the last doesn’t have as much on it as he’d have hoped, Slater claiming it on his 30m. On the fourth, Mitchell hammers Munster and he gets up delighted with his work as Munster tries to rise with a significant crease in his midsection.
Moments later Qld push right and earn another six when MItchell plays at the ball and sends it over the touchline.
Conversion! NSW 18-10 Queensland (Maloney 51m)
From just inside the left touchline Maloney’s kick is unerring. From 10 down NSW are now 8 ahead.
TRY! NSW 16-10 Queensland (Mitchell 50m)
... who crashes over from a metre out!
I credited Cordner with that tackle moments earlier, the one that saw Qld turn over possession, but it was Jack De Belin, the best tackler in the game at the moment.
49 min: NSW play hot potato inside Qld’s 10m, James Roberts almost squeezing through after a Cleary offload. Qld knock the ball down next play and it’s six more to NSW. Qld hold and hold but on the last NSW run it, Tedesco passing from dummy-half to Mitchell ...
46 min: Another break for NSW! Gagai knocks on 20m from his own line when Cordner upends him in a tackle and drives him hard into the turf.
44 min: Addo-Carr is like lightning, ducking down the left sideline, and he nearly scorches Qld. But he’s just pulled down with 40m of open field ahead of him. On the last Cordner kicks ahead and Slater counters brilliantly, slipping a ball to Holmes who eats up 20m before he’s tackled. Qld have space on the right however, Maroon jerseys lining up, but a Qld pass goes to ground. A real let off for NSW.
42 min: Munster, on the right, steps inside again and again before lofting a long ball to Inglis. Inglis goosesteps and then tries to run through James Roberts, as if he was made of rice paper, like the interior walls of a Japanese apartment. But the NSW centre hangs on and drags him to ground.
41 min: Cook scurries out of dummy half and finds Prior on his shoulder. Cook needs to do more of that this half. He was dynamic in Game 1 but has had much less influence so far.
Peeeeep!
41 min: Greg Inglis restarts play with a deep kick-off.
The teams are heading back onto the park. NSW are 40 minutes away from a series win, but they will need to improve to get it. Queensland are unlucky to be trailing. Not just because of the penalty try but they’ve played more expansive and creative football.
Much discussion in the commentary box as to whether that should have been a penalty try. It will come as no surprise to hear that Johnathan Thurston and Wally Lewis were not so sure, asking if you could be 100% certain Cordner would have scored.
In response:
If there's one thing I can guarantee in rugby league, it's that a studio analyst will wrongly state that for a penalty try to be awarded you need to be 100% certain a try will be scored.#Origin #NSWvQLD pic.twitter.com/vpbsc0tXg3
— Ryan Nixitu'a (@NewYorkNixon) June 24, 2018
On a related matter, everyone is wondering why Ben Hunt wasn’t sent to the sin bin for the clear professional foul.
Half-time: NSW 12-10 Queensland
While I duck off for a dose of smelling salts and some scraps of food, here’s Larissa O’Connor’s take on Friday night’s Women’s State of Origin:
40 min: Qld scramble, desperate to get the last say in the half, but NSW do enough to hold them out and that’s the siren!
Phew, after a cautious start, that turned out to be a bell-ringer of a half.
39 min: Qld go left again, Munster doing well before Inglis attracts a horde of defenders - which were needed what with the big man being just 10m out.
38 min: A turning point? NSW kick from their own 20m line and it hits the ground 40m out, bouncing on its point back into the hands of a Blues player before it then rebounds into the hands of Maloney. NSW set off with acres of space ahead of them but that rebound was ruled a knock-on. Line ball I would have said.
38 min: McGuire irons out Tom Trbojevic. Actually, it was Ponga who hit him amidships with McGuire swinging him around.
36 min: Qld have a few strong runs on NSW’s right edge where so far they’ve looked dodgy. But NSW hold firm so Munster goes for a long cross-field kick. It sails over Gagai’s head and bounces over the touchline, a metre out from NSW’s line.
35 min: What a turnaround! NSW were way behind less than 10 minutes ago. Both on the scoreboard and in terms of momentum.
But this may change things around again! NSW spill it 10m out from their own line.
Conversion! NSW 12-10 Queensland (Maloney 33m)
From right in front of the posts (due to the penalty try being awarded) Maloney puts NSW in front.
PENALTY TRY! NSW 10-10 Queensland (Cordner 32m)
Rare as hen’s teeth, but the penalty try is given! The video ref deemed Cordner would have got there but for Hunt’s illegal tackle.
It’s the second penalty try in Origin history, after Mal Meninga was awarded one in 1981.
The @NSWRL are awarded a Penalty Try!
— NRL (@NRL) June 24, 2018
Blues lead 12-10 after 33 minutes.#Origin #NRL pic.twitter.com/Cg6y7MYOKk
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31 min: Cordner taken out by Ben Hunt while chasing down a Maloney grubber kick. Could be a penalty try! There wasn’t a Maroon near him. ‘He was going to get that easily!’ says Phil Gould. ‘Penalty try!’
Cordner was certainly the only man who could have got that ball but would it have bounced over the dead ball line first?
30 min: Ponga’s first act is to stray offside with Paul Vaughan charging at him. NSW are dead centre, 10m out. It’s a gimme 2 points but they decide to run the ball.
28 min: Holmes spills a midfield bomb but it’s ruled a knock back. I didn’t realise knock back was a thing any more. You rarely see it called. Qld can’t make the most of it, however, as on the next play Gagai is dragged over the touchline after failing to get around Mitchell.
Kalyn Ponga is on!
Conversion! NSW 6-10 Queensland (Maloney 26m)
Maloney, who was so brave in making that long pass (considering the intercept try he gave up in Game 1), just steers it inside the left upright from wide out. Back to a four point margin.
TRY! NSW 4-10 Queensland (Addo-Carr 25m)
NSW strike back! From close to Qld’s line, on the last, Cook passes left to Maloney who throws a huge cut out pass to Addo-Carr standing inside the left touchline. The Melbourne flyer’s first act is to step sharply off his left. He does so again to wrong foot the cover defence and he dives over.
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24 min: NSW get a welcome penalty on their own 20m line. Can they start to put a few plays together? They’ve had precious little possession and done little with the ball when they’ve had it.
23 min: Tom Trbojevic does well to out jump Slater to catch a bomb. He ‘captain-balls’ the footy backwards to his brother but he spills it and Qld will claim the ball 20m out from their own line.
22 min: What a start by Qld. Slater is pure class. He’s had a big hand in both tries and NSW will have to find a way to stop him if they hope to get back into the match.
Conversion! NSW 0-10 Queensland (Holmes 21m)
A lovely sideline kick from Holmes gives Qld a 10 point buffer. No less a lead than they deserve.
TRY! NSW 0-8 Queensland (Gagai 20m)
They can’t take this one away! Hunt steers Qld to the right and it’s Slater again making the extra man. He finds Chambers who finds Gagai 20m out. Gagai fends off the covering tackle of Addo-Carr and he stays just inside the right sideline before diving over to score.
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18 min: NSW get expansive for the first time and Mitchell thinks he’s put Addo-Carr into space 40m out. But Gagai’s cover tackle sees Addo-Carr put a foot in touch before he passes back inside.
17 min: Gagai rises to take a bomb on his own line and Addo-Carr is penalised for bumping him while he was in the air. That’s another penalty to Qld which will piggy back them out of their own 20m. Third time in a row, I make it. NSW will need to improve their discipline, which hasn’t been great as a result of over-enthusiasm I’d say.
15 min: From wide out on the left Holmes fails to land his conversion. NSW kick off and Qld, looking slick, come again.
TRY! NSW 0-4 Queensland (Holmes 13m)
It was coming! Qld open the scoring, Holmes finishing off a left shift by Qld. Munster to Slater to Inglis to Holmes who crosses inside the left corner flag untouched because Trbojevic came off his line to aim up at Slater when Roberts had him covered.
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12 min: Tedesco retrieves a Gagai grubber in behind, which followed a munting crossfield kick from Munster. Tedesco tries gamely but he’s tackled in his own in-goal. Drop out.
10 min: NSW on the attack deep in Qld territory. Maloney chips ahead for Mitchell and though he takes the ball a few metres out he can’t free his arms to make the killer pass.
Now Qld get a penalty which will put them back on the attack. This game is warming up, Qld looking the better side. Slater is making a real difference to their attack.
9 min: Possible try! Qld go right at pace and it’s Holmes, the left winger, passing to Gagai the right winger! With Addo-Carr around his legs Gagai appears to touch down in the corner. The on-field call is ‘try’ but we’re going upstairs.
And it’s NO TRY! That was desperately close. Gagai’s right leg was deemed to touch the sideline at the same time he planted the ball. Could have gone either way. Lucky for NSW, that one.
8 min: Qld shift left inside NSW’s 10m and with Slater again chiming in to the backline Qld create space for Holmes but the final pass is knocked down by Tom Trbojevic. A try saver. Qld retain possession.
6 min: Slater now takes a bomb a few metres out from his line. He’s been busy so far as you’d expect, trying to make up for missing Game 1.
Overenthusiastic defence by NSW now, Addo-Carr and Mitchell dragging Will Chambers over the touchline but the ref says Chambers’ momentum had been halted. The penalty to Qld will give them possession deep in NSW territory.
5 min: Qld do take a risk on the last, creating a 2 on 1 on the left side after wrapping around Munster. He puts Holmes into space but his kick back inside for Slater rebounds off the Blues.
3 min: The Maroons move the ball some 50m but their final kick isn’t a good one, Tedesco having plenty of time to take a chest catch. Both teams playing conservatively at the moment.
2 min: Prior rattles Munster as the young five-eighth clears the ball way down field. And NSW safely negotiate their first set, which ends with a high kick by Cleary.
Peeeeeeeep!
1 min: James Maloney kicks off, NSW running right to left on my screen. Napa takes the first hit up and Klemmer and Frizell drive him into the turf by way of greeting.
Are you ready? We’re about to go, NSW looking to win their first series since 2014 and their second since 2006.
At long last the teams are making their way onto the paddock. Greg Inglis, that champion player, leads out the Maroons, including Billy Slater who will play his 30th Origin match tonight.
Boyd Cordner leads out the Blues and the crowd roar with approval. And there’s Matt Prior. How’s he feeling making his Origin debut at 31? Two NRL premierships under his belt but this will be something else.
Stand for the anthem. Or don’t. I don’t mind what you do to be honest.
The teams are going through their final preparations in the sheds; you know, nails being trimmed, earrings covered with tape, one last listen to The Final Countdown, that sort of thing.
Scheduled kick-off time has, of course, come and gone, but this is as much an Origin tradition as Queensland being underdogs.
Not sure how I feel about a Sunday evening Origin, but I think I can live with it, particularly as its come at the end of a ripper of a rep round. I think a 7pm kickoff would be better, however. For the kids. For the oldies like me.
Pre-match at ANZ Stadium, Sydney #origin pic.twitter.com/vYyF0W6m8W
— Dean Swift (@spacelander4) June 24, 2018
NSW were brave and full of derring-do in Melbourne three weeks ago so it’s little surprise they will line up tonight with a mostly unchanged side.
The only absentee is Reagan Campbell-Gillard who had his jaw broken (thankfully his moustache survived unscathed) in Penrith’s last start against the Roosters.
The ever-unfashionable, but ever-reliable, Matt Prior (the human equivalent of a Toyota Camry) will take his place and make his Origin debut, jumping those Blues reserves, like Ryan James, who were seemingly ahead of him in the queue. Showing his class, James has gifted Prior his allocation of tickets so that Prior can invite more family and friends to see his big moment.
For Queensland, Billy Slater has recovered from a hamstring injury and will take his place at fullback (slotting in for Michael Morgan, injured in his last NRL start). Coming onto the bench is Kalyn Ponga who, need I remind you, has played just 24 NRL matches. Could the livewire Ponga show tonight that he’s about to embark on a long career as a thorn in NSW’s side? I can’t help recall Billy Slater’s first year of Origin in 2004 when, in just his second match, ‘Billy the Kid’ scored that famous chip-kick try.
The lads from Dingley Village in Melbourne, Jet, are on stage at the moment performing Are You Gonna Be My Girl.
Always hard to gauge crowd reaction from one’s lounge room 800km away but I can tell you there is someone in the crowd gesticulating with one of those oversized hands with the pointing index finger. Read into that what you will.
It’s a sell out at ANZ, by the way. When you consider NSW have lost 11 of the past 12 series you can’t accuse NSW fans of being fair weather fans. They turn up with renewed hope every year, and no doubt there’s plenty of hope in the stands tonight.
It’s the hope that kills you, of course.
I’ve come back home to Australia to an unreal weekend of footy and the men’s #origin hasn’t even begun yet! @WRugbyLeague #PacificTest @NRL @fijirugbyleague @PNGKumulsRL @RLSamoa @tongaNRL
— Patrick Mills (@Patty_Mills) June 23, 2018
What a weekend it has been for rugby league.
In case you’ve missed it, on Friday night the inaugural Women’s State of Origin was held at North Sydney Oval (the two states had contested matches before, of course, but this was the first held under Origin selection criteria). In a high-class game that attracted a crowd of 7,000 and a TV audience of 700,000, NSW endured 16-10, Blues’ centre Isabelle Kelly powering through four defenders to score the match-winning try with six-minutes remaining.
On the back of last year’s Women’s World Cup, and with the Women’s NRL competition set to launch later this year, women’s rugby league is demanding attention.
On Saturday, Papua New Guinea played Fiji in the first of two ‘Pacific Tests’ held at Campbelltown Stadium. In something of a surprise result, the Kumuls dominated the Fijians 26-14, debutant Junior Rau scoring a double. In the follow-up Test, Tonga underlined their status as a rising power in international league coasting to a 38-22 win over Samoa. Honours were even after a stirring ‘war-cry’-off before the match, but Tonga blew Samoa off the park early, with captain Jason Taumalolo a colossus.
Finally, last night, England overcame a slow start against New Zealand in Denver to run away 36-18 winners.
And here we are now, men’s Origin on Sunday night in Australia, to cap off what has already been a thrilling weekend of rep footy, showcasing the appeal of rugby league beyond the confines of the domestic competitions.
Preamble
After their impressive 22-12 Game 1 victory in Melbourne a few weeks ago the New South Wales Blues are a mere eighty minutes away from just their second State of Origin series win in 13 years. After so much hurt over so many years —and with chief tormentors Cameron Smith, Johnathan Thurston and Cooper Cronk now watching from the sidelines— the Blues won’t get a better opportunity to get back on the winners’ dais (though they may need help finding it).
Are they capable of grasping this chance on home turf? Or will they’ll go weak-kneed in the bellicose face of Queensland’s unshakable self-belief and thus give the Maroons the chance to claim yet another series win on home turf in Game 3?
I’m inclined to think NSW will win tonight but let’s recall that NSW have won Game 1 five times over the past 12 years and won only one series. Let’s recall, too, what happened last year, shall we? (NSW fans, you may want to hug your blankies right about now.) NSW won the opener 28-4, in Brisbane no less, and it seemed likely that a new dawn in Origin football, a blue dawn, was imminent.
Such thoughts were underlined at halftime in Game 2 when NSW led 16-6. The Origin shield engraver was all but cracking his knuckles, readying himself for his moment. But then Queensland took a leaf out of Queensland’s book and scored 12 unanswered points in the second half to send the series to a decider and give NSW fans —and players, I’d venture— that familiar sinking feeling.
The Blues didn’t recover from that second half turnaround and their inferiority complex kicked in and fanned the flames of Queensland’s superiority complex. Accordingly, in Game 3, Queensland ran riot, winning 22-6.
For the Blues it was a crushing end to a series and it precipitated the end of Laurie Daley’s Blues’ coaching career. It also ended, in all likelihood, the Origin careers of so many Blues players; players who can’t close their eyes at night without seeing images of cane toads doing unspeakable things to cockroaches.
Will history repeat itself tonight or will Brad Fittler’s ‘Baby Blues’ prevail and show that Queensland’s long era of dominance is finally over?
(Answers on the back of an envelope or, preferably, sent to me by email or Twitter. Be great to have your company tonight.)
Kick-off: 7.40pm AEST
Paul will be here shortly. In the meantime have a read of Matt Cleary’s preview of tonight’s game.
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