Thanks for your company tonight. NSW will leave Melbourne as happy as they could have hoped, and I’ll leave you with Mike Hytner’s match report.
See you next time.
Final thoughts
NSW have the upper hand in the 2018 Origin series after this win tonight. Better yet for them, game 2 is in Sydney (on June 24).
I don’t think even the most maroon of Maroons supporters could say NSW didn’t deserve it tonight. Their 11 debutants were nerveless and they held their nerve when Qld, inspired by a tireless Greg Inglis, came from eight down to lead 12-8 early in the second half.
Particularly impressive for NSW were Tedesco, Damien Cook and Tom Trbojevic, while the team’s old head, James Maloney, didn’t let some personal errors (both of which led to Qld tries) shake his confidence. He finished with three try assists.
Qld seemed to have the better of NSW in the forwards, their defence regularly keeping NSW pinned in their own 30m. But it was around the ruck NSW carved out enough space to make inroads, and once they were up against a broken defensive line they had the speed to make Qld pay.
In a game of momentum swings the turning point came when NSW scored twice in five minutes to turn a six-point deficit into a six-point lead.
James Tedesco has been named MOM.
What a game from Tedesco! #Origin pic.twitter.com/ccUq2DLs7E
— Wide World of Sports (@wwos) June 6, 2018
Tim Griffiths returns to let us know the meeting was “rubbish”. Aren’t they all, Tim? Anyway, he’s happy! “ONE IN A ROW, ONE IN A ROW, ONE IN A ROW!”
Technically, Tim, it’s one-third in a row. NSW need to win one of the next two matches to make it two-thirds which, in a mathematical twist, adds up to 1 in Origin series.
Greg Inglis, who was brilliant tonight: “Little things cost us. Can’t fault the effort. That was terrific. Just key moments cost us in the second half.”
James Maloney (3 try assists) speaks: “Impressive. It went in swings and we had time we were rucking out of our own end and kicking long. But the boys kept turning up. The debutants all handled the occasion well. I knew [Cleary] was suited to this. And [Tedesco] was outstanding.”
Blues fans surely won’t be getting ahead of themselves. Last year NSW won the opener and were ahead at halftime in game 2:
Blues on track to emulate the famous 2017 "120 Minute" dynasty #origin
— Liam / πNRL (@pythagoNRL) June 6, 2018
Fulltime: NSW 22-12 Queensland
That’s all she wrote! NSW open the ledger for 2018.
80 min: Last minute of the game, Qld kicking in centrefield. Qld regather but they’re tackled and at the call of ‘handover’ from the ref the NSW players allow themselves a moment to embrace.
79 min: Tedesco with 223m tonight in surely a man-of-the-match performance.
79 min: Maloney finds Addo-Carr 2m out. He shimmies in front of Gagai and is pulled down a few centimetres short, losing the ball in his attempt to reach out. Still, the game appears won. Even Qld can’t win from here.
78 min: NSW get six again and they’re still 10m out looking for the killer blow!
77 min: Possible try to NSW! Latrell Mitchell on his back out on the left reaching out for the line with Anthony Milford under him... No try! Milford slipped a hand under the ball to stop Mitchell touching down. There was a millimetre in it. So, held up. But NSW come again.
76 min: A let off for NSW! Qld move it left and Morgan, seeing Trbojevic racing in, catches and kicks in one motion. Had he put one less lace on it it may have sat up for Holmes but it hits the corner post. That’s a 20m restart for NSW.
In another world, Earth 2 perhaps, that sat up for Holmes to score.
75 min: Campbell-Gillard knocks Gavin Cooper on his arse with a bellringer. But what’s this?! A 40-20 by Qld! Here we go!
74 min: Smart play by Maloney who grubbers into touch inside Qld’s 20m giving his side a breather and a chance to gather their thoughts.
73 min: Addo-Carr pulls Chambers down on the right, 40m out from NSW’s line. Tedesco cleans up a Qld kick as Peachey comes on for Roberts.
72 min: If you’ve watched Origin for more than five minutes you’ll know this is not over.
TRY! NSW 22-12 Queensland (Addo-Carr 70m)
From marker 45m out, Tedesco, from marker, slips through three tackles as if he’s smeared in peking duck fat. He races 15m before he’s hit amidships by Morgan. But Tedesco stays on his feet, and passes left where there’s an ocean of space. One pass to Maloney who floats a long ball to Addo-Carr. He steps past Chambers and touches down, his boots dangerously close to the sideline.
Maloney just misses the conversion from the left touchline.
Updated
70 min: Possible try to NSW! Addo-Carr over in the left corner after another Tedesco break!
68 min: Cook muscles Morgan over the left touchline after the Qld custodian ran himself into a cul-de-sac, 30m out from the NSW line.
67 min: Qld bring it out from their own 30m line as the crowd figure is announced: 87,122.
65 min: On the NSW 20m, Munster runs in a circle looking for support players. A bomb follows and Addo-Carr leaps over Chambers and he looks to race downfield. Ah, but he leapt from his own in-goal and that’s a 20m restart. Had it been play on Addo-Carr might have had a 100m sprint for the line.
62 min: 10m out Munster is called for a knock-on after the ball came loose when he looked to offload. Can NSW get out of their own territory? Not if Inglis has anything to say about it! Inglis pulverises Cleary after a hospital pass from Jake Trbojevic.
On the last Maloney reefs the ball down field but it runs touch in goal. Qld with the 20m restart.
61 min: NSW just aren’t stopping Qld in defence. But Addo-Carr is! He jumps onto Chambers like a cheetah on a zebra as Chambers looks to skirt down the right touchline. Next play Qld bomb and drag the NSW receiver over the goal-line. NSW drop out! Qld on top.
59 min: With Cook down, Qld go left and Inglis is into open space! But he’s brought down 30m out before Qld move it right. But on the third Chambers kicks ahead for himself and NSW say thank Gawd for that. Odd decision from Chambers.
58 min: Hunt kicks to Trbojevic again and once more he comes up with it safely. NSW are struggling a little here; they look gassed. They are playing forcings back and losing ground on every set.
57 min: Tedesco tries to crawl out of his own 10m line such is his desperation. Qld throwing the kitchen sink at NSW in an attempt to keep them pinned down. NSW kick but Qld come again.
55 min: Trbojevic takes a bomb nicely. He looks so at home on this stage. As does Cook. And Inglis, but there’s no surprises there. He’s been immense tonight, Inglis.
54 min: NSW working it out from their own half before it’s kicked to the Qld 20m line. Chambers is met by a gang of Blues who now have their tails up.
52 min: Credit to Tedesco for the hand he had in both those tries. Maloney, too ,who could have been hanging his head after his two errors led to two Qld tries. Phil Gould has just said Maloney has a terrible memory which in football can sometimes be an asset it seems.
Conversion! NSW 18-12 Queensland (Maloney 51m)
From five metres inside the right touchline Maloney converts.
What a turnaround, NSW with 12 points in six minutes.
TRY! NSW 16-12 Queensland (T Trbojevic 50m)
... who rises above Inglis, pulls the ball from the arms of Holmes, and falls over the line! What a try!
The refs had a good look at it but they couldn’t take it off NSW.
Updated
50 min: On the halfway line Tedesco does a two-step on Kaufusi and Chambers and races to the Qld 20m. Next play Maloney kicks wide for Trbojevic ...
TRY! NSW 12-12 Queensland (Mitchell 48m)
No obstruction! Not even close. Maloney goes left to Tedesco who double pumps before putting Latrell Mitchell into a small gap a few metres out, and he muscles over!
Maloney misses the conversion from a few metres inside the left touchline.
47 min: A big break for NSW! Gagai, on his own 20m, gets up to play the ball and loses it as Angus Crichton peels away from the tackle. Crichton helped but Gagai’s hold on the ball was tenuous. Can NSW strike right back?
Yes! I think. Mitchell crashes over out wide but the on-field call is ‘no try’ due to a possible obstruction.
45 min: Since I’ve mentioned it a few times I should update you on the speed men. Addo-Carr has recorded the top speed so far: 36.3 kph ahead of Holmes 35.2.
Conversion! NSW 8-12 Queensland (Holmes 44m)
Holmes magnificently steers it over from the right touchline. After being down 8-0 Qld have got their noses in front.
TRY! NSW 8-10 Queensland (Gagai 43m)
At second receiver Hunt kicks in behind Addo-Carr and Dane Gagai races through to beat Tedesco to the ball! That forward pass has cost NSW dearly!
43 min: Maloney makes up for it with daisy cutting tackle on Chambers after Hunt seemingly put him over the line. But it hardly matters because...
41 min: A deep kick by Hunt on tackle 4. Tom Trbojevic traps it delicately with his right boot before picking it up.
Late in the count Maloney passes left to Mitchell but it’s ruled forward. If that’s forward, every pass Cameron Smith has passed since the under 8s has been forward.
Peeeeep!
41 min: NSW kick deep...
Anyway, players are back out. We’re good to go!
Lots of talk on social media about sartorial matters.
Kevvie Walters is dressed like my dad after the divorce when he started dating again.
— Former Legend (@Former_legend) June 6, 2018
Freddy is dressed like my Mum’s first boyfriend after the divorce. #origin
Another has said the NSW coaching staff look like they are about to launch a new iPhone.
Not spectacular, but a solid half of Origin football all the same. No sign as yet that the 14 debutants on the field look overawed. The momentum has swung from team to team. At first it was with Qld until NSW gained the upper hand and scored. They looked like doing so again until Holmes’ intercept try in the 28th minute put Qld back on the front foot.
Back soon.
Half-time reading? This will fill the time and more:
Half-time: NSW 8-6 Queensland
That’s oranges!
40 min: Hunt bombs to Tom Trbojevic’s wing this time and the young Manly man does brilliantly to hold onto the pill in the shadows of half-time.
39 min: NSW run it on the last, 30m out, with Maloney passing left to Mitchell who immediately passes back inside to Cordner. But it’s slightly behind him and NSW turn it over.
37 min: A quick play the ball sees Morgan cut into NSW’s 20m line dragging Blues jerseys behind him. Qld shift right and Hunt kicks cleverly in behind where Addo-Carr and Gagai contest the bouncing ball on the try-line. It goes dead in goal.
Initially the call is for a NSW drop out but the replay shows Gagai got the last touch. A welcome break for NSW who look to be feeling it at the moment.
36 min: Great tackle by Frizell on his own goal-line to stop a flying Arrow from point blank range. Don’t think Arrow realised that was the last tackle. Handover.
35 min: Chambers kicks for himself from 20m out and Tedesco tries to shepherd it over the dead-ball line with Chambers in pursuit. The margins are so fine at the end that Tedesco has no option but to run the ball dead. Drop out.
33 min: That Holmes try:
See ya! @val_holmes1 goes length of the field!#Origin #NRL pic.twitter.com/uUEEIeFzsA
— NRL (@NRL) June 6, 2018
31 min: Cleary slips but offloads on the half before Cook grubbers for himself. Optimistically. He’s nowhere near regathering and it gives Qld a run into NSW territory for the first time in a while.
Hunt bombs to Addo-Carr on the last and he takes it safely despite three maroon jerseys bearing down on him like missiles.
30 min: Qld needed that and no doubt that will give them a fresh take on things just when they were looking weary. How will NSW respond to the setback?
Conversion! NSW 8-6 Queensland (Holmes 29m)
Qld have no specialist goalkicker so they’ll be hoping to score under the posts all night. Holmes knocks it over from in front.
TRY! NSW 8-4 Queensland (Holmes 28m)
INTERCEPT! Inside Qld’s 20m NSW spin it right and Maloney tries a long ball to Trbojevic which Holmes reads like a comic, plucking the ball out of the air and racing 80m to score under the posts.
Had Holmes not caught that NSW would have had an overlap and likely try but on such small margins...
Updated
27 min: BOOM! Greg Inglis leaves the line and blindsides Tom Trbojevic with a mammoth hit, the young Blues’ head rocking back like he’d been hit by a bumper car. But it’s a penalty to NSW because Inglis was metres offside when he took off.
Updated
24 min: Chambers drops the ball again, although this time he may have had a hand. Either way, NSW are on the attack again.
But now they drop it. A let off for Qld.
Conversion! NSW 8-0 Queensland (Maloney 23m)
Over she goes! A nice buffer to NSW with a quarter of the game gone.
Fastest man on the pitch so far is Tedesco at 35.1kph. Out of interest Usain Bolt’s top speed ever recorded was 44.72kph, recorded during his world record run in Berlin in 2009.
TRY! NSW 6-0 Queensland (Tedesco 22m)
First try of the night to NSW!
Damien Cook ducks out of dummy half and he finds a gap left by McGuire. Angling left he beats Kaufusi and dishes off to Maloney who sprints 15m before passing inside to Tedesco who skips away 20m to score beside the left upright!
Updated
21 min: Queensland shift right and Hunt puts Kaufusi into a hole! He then passes right to Chambers but the centre spills it with open pasture ahead of him.
19 min: According to GPS data the NSW backs have travelled 10% more distance than their Qld counterparts so far.
In the commentary booth Darren Lockyer says Qld would have been relieved NSW took the two. They look tired, he says.
Penalty! NSW 2-0 Queensland (Maloney 18m)
The Blues must have been tempted to keep the pressure on but this is a gimme.
Updated
17 min: Tactical penalty? Dylan Napa comes in late to slow a NSW play the ball under the posts and he’s pinged. Take the certain two? Yes.
15 min: Another bust by Addo-Carr gets NSW into Qld territory. After Cleary steps inside to take on the line, Maloney grubbers in behind for Cordner. Qld clean up but that’s another drop-out. NSW building ...
13 min: On the fifth Cleary finds Cordner on the burst from 5m out but he’s tackled and held up over the line. Good defence by the men from Queensland.
12 min: NSW hit the Queenslander’s hard but they hold firm. On the last Cook grubbers between the posts and Morgan touches down in-goal. Drop out.
11min: Tedesco and then Addo-Carr make great ground from inside their own half and you can hear the register of the crowd rising as the Melbourne flyer gets his mitts on the ball. Next play Maloney is held back and NSW are awarded a penalty. This will put them right on the attack!
9 min: Morgan takes another bomb and almost catches Holmes by surprise, off-loading inside his own 10m line. Holmes does very well to bust a couple of tackles and gain 20m.
7 min: NSW needed that. A penalty which will help them push into Maroon territory.
And on the fifth Tyson Frizell gives Inglis a magnificent fend. Maloney then kicks on the last but Morgan rises to the challenge and takes it after a juggle.
5 min: NSW’s line holds under pressure as Qld shift left (where Inglis is wrapped up by Roberts) and then right. Morgan’s grubber to the right is secured by Tedesco.
NSW are struggling to get out of their half giving Qld great field position. And here’s Inglis with a half break down the left!
3 min: Holmes bent in half by Damien Cook on the halfway line. Next tackle NSW are penalised for holding the man down. Great opportunity for the Maroons.
2 min: Qld begin their first set on their 30m line after Cleary’s clearing kick drops shorter than he would have liked. On the last Addo-Carr does well to field a bomb and he skips past the first tackler.
Peeeeep!
1 min: Qld kick us off and Klemmer takes the first hit up, imitating a car with a severed brake cable entering a car park.
The players are making their way down the tunnel and onto the MCG. Greg Inglis leads out the Maroons, featuring three debutants, Jai Arrow, Felise Kaufusi and Andrew McCullough.
And here come the Blues to a chorus of boos — as you’d expect in Victoria which, to a person, will never get over the fact that NSW has Sydney Harbour and they have Port Phillip Bay.
Time for Advance Australia Fair, with the first word pronounced ‘advarnce’, very much against convention in NSW and Qld.
Tim Griffiths writes in with a lament: “[I’m] depending on text coverage as some inconsiderate so and so booked a meeting right across Origin time. Who does that? Probably a Queensland supporter.
“Can we please take a moment to recoginse that NSW have already won, in terms of facial hair. Step forward Reagan Campbell-Gillard.”
It is a fine mo, fo sho. Part YMCA, part Burt Reynolds.
The trolls are out from under the Twitter bridge:
Hey @VictoriaPolice don’t be alarmed by a crowd enjoying a good game at the G tonight. It’s called #Origin – it’s like AFL but for non-hipsters.#qlder
— Queensland Police (@QldPolice) June 6, 2018
Meanwhile, an Aussie great makes her allegiances clear:
Carn @QLDmaroons!!! #QLDER #Origin
— Cathy Freeman (@CathyFreeman) June 6, 2018
“Is this the biggest game in NSW Origin history?” is a question asked of Paul Gallen. It’s certainly the biggest game in NSW Origin history since the last biggest game in NSW Origin history. I think we can all agree on that.
Does any sporting occasion do hyperbole as well as State of Origin?
Maybe in America, certainly in America, but Origin could be the best of the rest. Even the AFL, which lays it on thicker than Barbara Cartland used to do, can’t outdo Origin.
Speaking of Nine commentators, here’s Brad Fittler, in a pea coat, being interviewed by Andrew Johns. In past years it’s been Fittler conducting the pre-game interviews. He looks as relaxed as you could be when you’ve bet the house on a team of rookies.
Cameron Smith, who has played more Origins than the entire NSW squad tonight, is in the Nine commentary box. He was always headed there but I’m surprised he’s arrived so early. Be interesting to see if his on-field smarts translate to the microphone. I suspect they will.
Oh alright then, here they are for real — although that bloke on the right could be league reporting legend Steve Mascord.
The boys from @pekingduk are READY! 🤘🏼#Origin pic.twitter.com/7z09UZpktw
— NRL (@NRL) June 6, 2018
Electronic duo Peking Duk have just cranked out a number on stage (that could be worded better) but I can’t say I paid much attention.
I could show my age and ignorance by saying ‘Pekinhg Duk? Never heard of them!’ but I won’t.
NSW, as you’ve heard, have 11 on debut, the most in an Origin team (excepting 1995 when the ARL excluded Super League players) since the NSW Game 3 side in 1994.
As such no-one in the team has played in a series winning match (Boyd Cordner only played game 3 in 2014, a game NSW lost after winning games one and two).
The player I’m most delighted to see picked is Josh Addo-Carr. NSW Origin teams have shown in the past they are reluctant to pick (relatively) svelte wingers, and I recall here the scandal of Nathan Blacklock never winning Blues berth.
So all speed to the fastest man on the pitch tonight.
I know it’s gimmicky but I love the real-time info emanating from the tracking devices the players wear these days:
The @Telstra Tracker highlights the moment Josh Addo-Carr hits his highest speed of the season so far!#Origin#NRL pic.twitter.com/eRlV7L03eX
— NRL (@NRL) June 5, 2018
Excitement is building in the ’G which will host its fifth Origin match, with the Blues holding a 3-1 advantage.
The last time Origin came to Melbourne was for game two in 2015, a thriller won by NSW:
The first time was in 1990 – though this video makes it seem like 1890:
NSW walked, Qld got the bus. Lazy buggers.
The @QLDmaroons are in the house! #Origin pic.twitter.com/YQl9TKzfLk
— NRL (@NRL) June 6, 2018
There was plenty of talk this week that Ben Hunt and Dane Gagai were struggling with injury. Was it a classic game of ducks and drakes, par for the course for the Maroons who will happily walk backwards from the centre of a room so they can say they have their backs against the wall? Was it legit?
Whatever your take, both have been named as starters tonight. As expected, Michael Morgan goes to fullback in place of the injured Slater, while there is no room, even on the bench, for the dynamic Kalyn Ponga.
For all the talk of major absences in the Qld team the Maroons have plenty of talent still on show, not least Inglis, Hunt, Morgan, Val Holmes and last year’s game 3 star, Cameron Munster.
NSW, by contrast, are a team picked on both form (eight players from the ladder-leading Dragons and Panthers) and promise, and they certainly look capable of winning tonight despite having just 39 caps between them.
As mentioned, there are 11 debutants on show: Tom Trbojevic, Latrell Mitchell, James Roberts, Josh Addo-Carr, Nathan Cleary, Damien Cook, Reagan Campbell-Gillard, Jack de Belin, Paul Vaughan, Angus Crichton, and Tyrone Peachey.
Final teams are in! #Origin pic.twitter.com/JCrNdx3CpC
— NRL (@NRL) June 6, 2018
The Blues have turned green by walking to the ground tonight. (Did they forget their Myki cards?)
This would have put them within heckling distance of all the Qld fans making their way to the MCG. Not quite like walking down Caxton St towards Lang Park but potentially unsettling all the same.
Brad Fittler must have weighed up whether the exercise could backfire and put extra jitters into his team of fledglings.
Welcome
Apart from 2014, which turned out to be the eye of the storm, Queensland has, since 2006, torn through State of Origin like a cyclone. Eleven of the past 12 series have been won by the Queenslanders, in no small part because, blessed by providence (and, quite possibly, the power of pineapples), the Maroons have had at their disposal a collection of modern greats all peaking at the same time: Cameron Smith, Johnathan Thurston, Cooper Cronk, Billy Slater and Greg Inglis.
If there was any consolation for long-suffering NSW fans – who have had to huddle in their cellars for so long with their tinned food, army-cots and chamber pots that they’ve forgotten what happiness feels like – it was that one day time would catch up on the greats and the storm would pass; that one blessed day they could swing open the cellar doors, feel the sun on their faces again and look up at the sky and see blue. Only blue.
With game one of the 2018 Origin series about to kick off it seems a reasonable time to wonder if that day is suddenly upon us.
Change was in the air after the 2017 series when Thurston and Cronk (37 and 22 Queensland caps respectively) called it a day. Then, just weeks ago, Smith (40 caps, and perhaps the chief architect of NSW’s misery) surprised everyone by suddenly retiring from rep footy. If that wasn’t fortuitous enough for NSW, Slater (29 caps), this week succumbed to a hamstring injury, having already announced 2018 would be his last in maroon.
Not since 2003 has Queensland been without at least one of these players. Throw in the dropped Darius Boyd (28 caps) and Matt Scott (22) and, even though Greg Inglis (30 caps) is still there, it’s a relatively inexperienced Queensland side coach Kevin Walters will send out onto the MCG turf tonight.
Of course, intriguingly, an even more inexperienced NSW side will face them. New coach Brad Fittler has seemingly drawn a line through a number of players who have ‘been there, lost that’ for NSW over the years. It’s as if Fittler remembered that pop jargon definition of insanity: “Doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.”
In any case, Fittler, who had much success wearing the Blues jersey himself, figured a fresh start was needed and he has recruited an incredible 11 Origin debutants, men who aren’t mentally scarred by the Maroons. Callow they may be but they are also young, fast, imposing and, you’d think, optimistic that they can begin to end, once and for all, this incredible Queensland era.
Of course, history may show that while the old Queensland era ends tonight – a new one will begin. It’s an intriguing scenario and I truly don’t know what to expect tonight. If I HAD to make a prediction it would be NSW by eight, which pretty much guarantees a Queensland win.
Good to have your company for what should be a cracker of a match. Kick-off: 8pm-ish local. Oh, I should of course mention that I’d love to hear your thoughts and predictions on the game tonight. Drop me a line to paul.connolly.casual@guardian.co.uk or tweet me on @PFConnolly.
Updated
