So, a big step towards reclaiming the Origin shield has been taken by Queensland tonight. And what a way to do it. They headed into the sheds at the break 8-0 down (even though they could easily have had three tries of their own), but a remarkable second-half recovery, led by the irrepressible tryscorer Dane Gagai, ensured Daly Cherry-Evans’ debut as skipper ended in victory. A tremendous game of rugby league, as fast-paced, skilful and brutal as expected. Let’s hope for more of the same when the circus rolls onto Perth for Game 2 on Sunday 23 June. It’s a game NSW now have to win.
That’s all from me tonight. I’ll leave you with Nick Tedeschi’s match report. Cheerio.
And what about DCE, who marked his Origin captaincy debut with victory. “It does [feel good]. Everyone here knows how hard it is to win a game of Origin. To get the first one it’s a big effort from the team. Certainly won’t be getting too ahead of ourselves. Half the job.”
Josh McGuire praises the officiating tonight. “Referees put the whistle away I thought was good. I thought the referees let us test each ow other out. After that 20 minute mark I thought both teams slowed down. Few opportunities starting to arise for both teams.Come in at half-time not too much possession and missed opportunities. We are confident we score points. No better feeling than winning at home than in front of fans.”
Kalyn Ponga is speaking on Channel Nine: “It was an awesome game. First half was probably definitely the hardest footy I played. Then our boys in the second half were outstanding.We got the win. We were still positive [at half-time]. Created three opportunities to score. Couple of disallowed tries. We knew we were in the game. We weren’t behind or anything at all. We weren’t in front. We came out in the second half and gave it to them.”
Phew. Hectic stuff towards the end there. I’ll catch my breath and some final thoughts to follow shortly.
And two-try Maroon hero Dane Gagai: “Like I always say it’s off the back of hard work and effort from the boys. There was a set there where it was going back and forward. We managed to lock them in. The boys was a massive set and they ended up kicking out of 20 or 30. It makes my job easier when I’m catching around 40 and 50.”
Updated
Gracious words from Damian Cook: “It’s always special up here. As a new South Welshman you love coming up here. They make it extra hard. Great turn out. State of Origin is the best game. Great turn out and great footy. Would have been nice to get the win.”
What a game! Something of an instant classic. Here’s Cameron Munster: “Knew it was going to be hard physical game. We knew we had to grind the 08 minutes there and keep the ball in play. Play to the game plan. Did that in the second half. It was frustrating at times. I knew I was. Remained a couple of line breaks there. Didn’t do the icing on the cake. We knew if we kept to gameplan in the second half we scored points we showed that tonight.”
Full-time: Queensland 18-14 NSW
80 min: Last play for the Blues, but Cotric can’t get on the end of the kick and the ball runs out of play! All over and the Maroons draw first blood!
78 min: It opens up for Mitchell and he bullocks his way towards the line as Ponga bounces off him, but hasn’t quite got the momentum to get past the remaining Maroons defenders! This is going right down to the wire.
77 min: Gagai earns his crust (if he hadn’t already) by taking a high, swirling bomb in his own half, under pressure from a posse of blue shirts. Excellent, and important, catch.
Conversion: Queensland 18-14 NSW
76 min: The conversion is taken quickly by Cleary and it’s good. Surely not....
Try: Queensland 18-12 NSW
75 min: Hang on! Trbojevic scores for the Blues as barges over from close range! And the game is back on!
74 min: It’s going to have to be a comeback for the ages now for NSW. Frizell barrels his way to within a metre or so from the Maroons line, but they’ve got him wrapped up.
Conversion: Queensland 18-8 NSW
72 min: Ponga gets it this time and the hosts have opened up a 10-point lead with less than 10 minutes remaining.
Try: Queensland 16-8 NSW
71 min: Gagai! He squeezes in at the corner and there’s nothing Mitchell can do to stop it. It’s given the green light and you’d think the Maroons are home and dry now. It stemmed from a brilliant pass by Ponga, but there was still a lot to do by Gagai. That’s his 11th in 11 Origin games. Incredible.
Updated
70 min: Oh dear it’s all going wrong for NSW now. Tedesco loses the ball and the Maroons pick it up less than 10m out.
68 min: Ponga’s off target with the conversion and the lead is just four points. But the momentum is very much with the Maroons.
Try: Queensland 12-8 NSW
67 min: Intercepted by Gagai, right on his own try line! He sprints all the way to the other end of the pitch and gleefully touches down! He just telegraphed that one from Jack Wighton! Nothing less than the Maroons deserve to be honest.
64 min: The Maroons look in control of the game now. They get another set of six, 20m out, but the Blues get a lucky deflection and the ball lands neatly in Addo-Carr’s grateful arms. The pressure valve is turned slightly.
62 min: Queensland charge forward and twice keep the move going with passes from first Ponga and then DCE when they were in the clutches of opponents. Hunt ends up with the ball but he can’t weave any magic this time.
61 min: Cotric has hit the turf and seems to be in some pain. It’s his knee that’s bothering him. At least everyone gets a chance to take a breath as he’s seen to by the medics.
60 min: An hour gone, and it’s Queensland who are in the ascendency now. They’ve just evened the ledger and are a man up for the next 10 minutes. NSW are under the pump.
Penalty goal: Queensland 8-8 NSW
59 min: Ponga opts to take the penalty goal. He nails it and we’re all square in Brisbane.
58 min: No penalty try is the call, much to the disappointment of the massed ranks of Queenslanders in the stands. The ref’s call was that he couldn’t be sure Gillett would have scored a try. The locals’ mood is improved moments later though as Mitchell is dispatched to the sin bin for 10 minutes, for a professional foul.
58 min: Massive chance for the Maroons as Gillett is impeded by Tedesco and Mitchell as he tries to run onto a kick into the Blues’ in-goal. And there may be a penalty try though for interference on Gillett.
Updated
58 min: The crowd appear to be going nuts and the Maroons will look to ride that wave of fervour now.
57 min: Confirmed, no try. More impressive, last-ditch defending by the Blues. But they’re under the cosh here.
56 min: Queensland look dangerous at the moment. Morgan surges over the line but it looks like the Blues have managed to keep him on his back, turtle-like, and hold the ball up. Still, they’ll have a look at it.
55 min: A silly penalty to give away by Payne Haas here. Absolutely no need for him to shove the Maroons player to the ground as he’s trying to play the ball. 52,191 is the crowd here tonight, by the way.
Conversion: Queensland 6-8 NSW
54 min: Ponga takes his head gear off, as is his way, before setting himself for the kick. It’s tight, but the ball comes back just enough, before scraping the post and going through!
Try: Queensland 4-8 NSW
53 min: Oates does score this time! It’s a carbon copy try of the disallowed effort in the first half – a huge Superman-like leap in the corner, and this time the foot he boosts off remains in play before he touches down. Spectacular stuff from Oates and the locals like that one!
51 min: “I feel good,” says coach Fittler. “Defence first 10 minutes looked solid. We haven’t stopped playing. Be good if we got in better position come out of trouble. We had that good ball down the other end and one several coming off our own line. That’s disappointing.”
49 min: Young Fifita is on, and here he is making some key tackles close to the NSW goal line. That’ll give him some confidence.
47 min: Ponga sweeps up in his own in-goal, dancing out of trouble before he’s grounded by a posse of hungry Blues.
46 min: Quick word on the forgotten aspect of Origin – the biffo. In short, there’s been absolutely none. Plenty of big hits and hard tackling, but no aggro at all.
44 min: Here’s a bit more on the anthem boycott from earlier.
43 min: Ponga makes a hash of a high ball – he falls over and spills the ball. Not an auspicious start to the second period for the youngster.
42 min: On the way out of the sheds, Queensland coach Kevin Walters said his side need to tighten up their defence. “Missed about 26 tackles. That’s not where we needed to be. But we’re creating good opportunities with our attack. That’s moving nicely. Got to fix up tighten up our defence a bit. Get that right in the second half. It will create opportunities with our attack. We have to keep believing. Great test in the second half. I 100% believe we’ll get the job done.”
41 min: Mitchell, who was probably the most underwhelming player during that electric first half, gets us back underway for the second half.
Ponga tries to catch his breath and talk at the same time on his way off the field. He’s struggling to do both, to be honest. “We created opportunities,” he says. “We need to execute them. We’re creative. We should execute them.”
Tedesco: “Just around the ruck our forwards getting tired. Working around that middle. Create some havoc.”
Half-time: Queensland 0-8 NSW
40 min: And that will be that for the half. What a breathless half of Origin football. Plenty to enjoy there. And the Blues head in with an all-important lead.
39 min: Munster makes some metres with a jinking run and the pressure on the NSW defence increases. But they do enough to hold out and the Maroons run out of tackles.
38 min: Two minutes left in the half and that could prove to be a costly penalty by Mitchell. Queensland will look to finally get on the scoreboard in the dying moments of this half. They’re 5m out from the try line...
37 min: Addo-Carr leaps into the night sky and makes a crucial interception. Any misjudgement there and Ponga’s pass would have surely resulted in a try for Queensland.
35 min: This is set up very nicely now. The home side, spurred on by a partisan crowd, chasing the game a bit.
33 min: There might have been a time, in the not-so-distant past when NSW would be three tries down here. But their last-ditch defending is much improved - it’s almost like they believe in themselves in the cauldron of Suncorp.
31 min: Another chance goes begging for the Maroons, after some brilliant work by Munster. He offloads to Chambers who is closed down by Tedesco and when he tries to flick the ball back to somebody, anybody, there’s no Maroons teammates there to help out.
30 min: That’s a let-off for the Blues, and you wonder how the Maroons will respond to that disappointment – their players were convinced they’d scored and were all back on the halfway line when the verdict was delivered.
29 min: The Maroons get on the scoreboard as they take full advantage of a kick that strikes the post and bounces back! No Blues player can get on it and amid the confusion, Napa gets there to touch down with his forearms! But wait. They’re having a very good look at it. NO TRY! He didn’t have control of the ball! Big call to make. But probably the right one, after much video scrutiny.
29 min: Ponga’s ability to change direction in a heartbeat is truly incredible. Mitchell doesn’t fall for it this time though and he makes a key tackle.
28 min: Hunt opts against the kick at goal, and plays the ball. Another penalty to the Maroons follows as Walker is pulled up for a second pop at Oates. Still they opt against the kick.
27 min: But here go Queensland. End to end stuff at Suncorp. Ponga high-steps as he looks to find a way through. And we’re all given some respite as the Maroons win a penalty. Phew.
26 min: Oh, brilliant stuff from Cook, who breaks clear before passing out of the back of his hand! Kafusi makes a try-saving tackle!
23 min: The pace has been relentless this half. Even more so than usual in an Origin game? It seems that way. NSW are on top here, no doubt. Here goes Tedesco again, who opts not to pass out wide; he runs into traffic inside instead.
Updated
Conversion: Queensland 0-8 NSW
21 min: Cleary, from a wide angle, bends it through the posts! Cracking kick from the youngster! NSW have an eight-point lead in Brisbane.
Try: Queensland 0-6 NSW
20 min: Morris barges over the line for the first try of the game, but it’s all about Tedesco again, who shimmies his way through the challenge of Munster before offloading to Morris, who just has to use his momentum to get over!
Updated
19 min: Munster grounds the ball in Queensland’s in-goal under pressure from Tedesco who races onto Cook’s grubber through. They’re having a second look at this as there is doubt whether Munster does indeed get his hand to the ball. Replays show he does - eventually. That was a close one, but the Maroons got away with it.
18 min: So, the good news is that there was no doubt about that try being ruled out. Oates’ boot was clearly out of play. The bad news for Maroons fans is that NSW are on the attack again.
17 min: Decibel levels spike as Oates takes to the air and touches down in the corner, following a thrilling attacking move, which saw the ball cross the entire width of the field. The crowd love it – but not for long, as it’s ruled out. Oates’ foot went out of play!
15 min: Addo-Carr hoons off on another return, stretching those lengthy legs of his. Moments later Cook makes a break through the first line of Maroon defence. This is frenetic stuff.
Penalty: Queensland 0-2 NSW
13 min: Points on the board! Queensland give away a penalty and Cleary takes the chance to have a kick at goal. He nails it and the Blues have an early lead.
Updated
12 min: NSW are 20m out. Klemmer barges forward and the visitors are now less than 10 from the Maroons’ tryline.
11 min: Queensland are pulled back after Gagai gets a hand to a Mitchell flicked pass. He races after the ball but it’s a knock-on.
10 min: A quarter of the way through the first half, and Tedesco does what he does best – jinking inside and out, swivelling those hips as he gets away from a Maroon challenge.
9 min: As expected, this is being played at a rip-roaring pace. Plenty to enjoy so far. Here goes Cotric, with a powerful run for the Blues.
7 min: Nice play from Tedesco, who offloads to Morris. NSW are looking good here. Cleary now dinks the ball through hoping Tedesco can sprint onto it, but it bounces out of play just before the Roosters star can reach it. Blues danger abounds.
6 min: Ponga picks up a grubber played through towards the try line and is immediately hit high. He rides it though and is up on his feet before too long.
4 min: Oof. Ponga gets hit hard and then Frizell delivers a late shot. NSW win the ball back and now they finally get over halfway. Klemmer shows all his size and strength to carry the ball further upfield.
3 min: Cordner gets hit after playing the ball, but he’s up and running again soon enough. Papalii has a run before Gillett does likewise. Tedesco takes a high ball soon after and the Blues will try to get out of their own half once again – something they haven’t managed so far.
2 min: “Queenslander, Queenslander” is the roar from the crowd as they take the ball for the first time. Munster boots high and deep at the end of the set and NSW will come again.
1 min: And we’re off! Queensland get the game underway, and Klemmer has his first battering ram-like run of the night.
An acknowledgement of country from JT precedes the anthem sung by Lucy Maunder. More than a few players joining Walker et al in not singing it. Cheers from the crowd follow the completion of it. And we’re nearly ready to get going.
Updated
Here come the players. Out come the Blues, to a predictable reception from the hospitable Queenslanders. Impossible to imagine what they’re feeling at this point. And here come the Maroons, led by DCE as the Blues line up and link arms. Anthem to come.
And here’s Kevin Walters, Fittler’s counterpart, who’s being drowned out a bit by his players running through a few drills in the background. “Opening 10 minutes, certainly [is the most important thing for Queensland tonight]. Just to get out of the blocks really nicely. How we want to play. That is being nice and aggressive with our defence and completing our sets. Getting through our sets. Defensively we have got to be really strong tonight and that is a big part of it as well. I’ve said it all week, I’m really excited about these 17 Queensland players. As a group, they’ve worked together beautifully and tonight, we get a chance to see all of their work that they have done throughout the week.”
Here’s NSW coach Brad Fittler, speaking on Channel Nine: “I definitely feel alive at the moment. It is great watching the boys warming up. Sitting amongst the coaches. The heart is racing. I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else. I think what we did last year gives us a lot of confidence. Watching them how they handled training. It feels like we are better than we were last year.I can’t see us not doing a good job. If we were to get beat, Queensland will have to do a hell of a job. I think we have got to be aggressors early. We spoke about that. So they are very important that. So they are very important that we get off to a good start.”
Twenty minutes to go. A final chance to have a read of Larissa O’Connor’s match preview.
To think that only 34 points separate the two teams over 37 Origin series shows just how close this contest has been over time and gives reason to why this epic state battle eclipses any national representative match in popularity and number of TV eyeballs. The stage is set at Suncorp Stadium, league’s most intimidating and stirring amphitheatre, and it may be that the location might just prove the difference.
Some music. And it’s Briggs! Decent showing from the hiphop star. Meanwhile, stats:
1 - Only one of the last seven #StateOfOrigin series has seen either team host the opening game and go on to win the series (Queensland in 2017). Hare.#Origin
— OptaJason (@OptaJason) June 5, 2019
AFP raids on the ABC. Is nothing sacred anymore? There are fears tonight’s game will be missed by ABC staff stuck in a room looking at computer files with the feds. Disturbing on many levels.
AFP: the reason that the four smaller files will be created is so that the ABC and AFP can start going through file number 1 while the others are being created. This could take hours. Origin not looking good.
— John Lyons (@TheLyonsDen) June 5, 2019
Cody Walker is one of those making his Origin debut tonight, although his story is perhaps more inspirational than most. Asked why he didn’t make his NRL debut until the ripe old age of 26, he says: “I didn’t have everything it takes to be an NRL footballer. Didn’t like to turn up to training. Didn’t like diet. I didn’t want to be a footballer away from footy. It wasn’t until my missus got pregnant, it just sort of clicked mind into gear that I really needed to do something. I sort of grew up in that split-second and I had to. I had no other choice. I had to build my reputation up to be, you know, a good trainer. One that had a good work ethic, one that made changes within his diet. All of those sort of things. It took me a little while to get there. But I didn’t want to give up so early because if I’m teaching my kids to chase their dream, how can I tell them to chase their dream if I didn’t do everything possible to chase mine.”
The national anthem. It’s been one of the biggest talking points since last week’s announcement by Cody Walker that he will remain silent during tonight’s pre-match rendition of Advance Australia Fair. Walker will be joined by Josh Addo-Carr, Latrell Mitchell and Will Chambers in their boycott and while the issue has split the rugby league community (judging by social media reaction over the past week), there’s has been nothing but support from within the respective Origin camps. “Respect” has been the buzz word from players and coaches alike; we’ll soon find out if that respect has filtered through to the Suncorp crowd.
Here’s Jack Latimore if anyone still needs things explaining:
One of the players who’s getting Maroon juices flowing is Kalyn Ponga, who starts for Queensland – and fills Billy Slater’s shoes, not that he wants to do that.
“I want to make my own, that is how I’m going to go about it. I’m excited to see and feel just how enormous that crowd is going to be. I played last year and it was obviously a bit more blue jerseys, but hopefully we will have more Maroons this year. I don’t want to let anyone down. The boys are out there, the family, coaches, just anyone that’s had any bit of me being here, I want to do them proud and give it my all.”
Earlier, the young Queenslanders won the Under-18s game. A good omen?
Congratulations to the Queensland Under 18 side! #QLDER #UnitedinMaroon pic.twitter.com/wOECRe676t
— Queensland Maroons (@QLDmaroons) June 5, 2019
Evans above. Apologies for that, but Daly Cherry-Evans’ ascension to the captaincy of Queensland has been nothing short of miraculous. Here is the man who will lead out the Maroons tonight:
“It’s a special occasion for me and the family, so I’m looking forward to it. I daresay they’d be pretty proud.” When asked about what’s important tonight, he says: “Not necessarily the captaincy, it’s the number on my back, No 7. That direction from me is going to be important for the side tonight. Everyone’s going to get a little bit nervous at some stage but when we’re out there, we have got to trust that we’ve prepared well and this is what we’re here for. We’re here to put on a performance and we have trained really well an put ourselves in a position to do that.”
And here’s Larissa O’Connor on DCE:
Sex, lies and video. It’s been a rather strange buildup to tonight’s opener. Indeed, a buildup “like no other”, the TV has just said. I’ve got to be careful what I say here, but one of the more bizarre moments (in a pretty competitive field) came with the leaked sex tape allegedly featuring a NSW player, who wasn’t the player at all. The mind boggles how NSW officials came to the conclusion it wasn’t, given the alleged star of the video reportedly didn’t show his face. Anyway, it certainly did come at a curious time. Very odd. And we haven’t even started about the motivational gurus.
The teams. A reminder that Queensland have named three debutants, NSW five.
Queensland: Kalyn Ponga, Corey Oates, Will Chambers, Michael Morgan, Dane Gagai, Cameron Munster, Daly Cherry-Evans, Jai Arrow, Ben Hunt, Josh Papalii, Felise Kaufusi, Matt Gillett, Josh McGuire. Interchange: Moses Mbye, Dylan Napa, Joe Ofahengaue, David Fifita.
NSW: James Tedesco, Nick Cotric, Latrell Mitchell, Josh Morris, Josh Addo-Carr, Cody Walker, Nathan Cleary, David Klemmer, Damien Cook, Paul Vaughan, Boyd Cordner, Tyson Frizell, Jake Trbojevic. Interchange: Jack Wighton, Payne Haas, Cameron Murray, Angus Crichton.
Preamble
Here we go then. Game 1 of the 2019 Origin series, a game like no other. Early ascendency, territorial superiority and bragging rights are all up for grabs at Suncorp tonight as the Blues begin their quest to retain the shield for the first time since 2005. In that time, the Maroons have managed to defend their crown nine times, a stat that highlights a seriously maroon-tinged dominance over recent history.
But is that all changing? Last year’s series win by the Blues, coupled with the staggered loss of Queensland’s experienced spine – Greg Inglis, Billy Slater, Cameron Smith, Johnathan Thurston or Cooper Cronk – has New South Wales awash with hope.
Of course, hope is the source of all disappointment. Never mind, there’s as much in evidence north of the border as there is to the south, given the exciting young things that will pull on a Maroons shirt tonight.
It all makes for a tantalising prospect. Two young sides packed with fresh, pacy talent, who will go at each other from the off. On paper, it’s too tight to call and it may well come down to which individuals deals with the occasion the better.
Kick off is slated for 8:10pm AEST. So an actual start time of 8:22pm is my guess. Do stick around for that – plenty of talking points to address in the buildup too. And feel free to get in touch on email (mike.hytner@theguardian.com) or on Twitter (@mike_hytner) in the meantime.
