That will be all from me tonight. Mike Hytner’s full match report with all the drama is here.
And I will leave you with this bantery interview between Fittler and Bennett.
Updated
How’s this for an illustration of wildly differing fortunes. Bennett has the smug grin of a man staying in “a good motel”. Brad Fittler looks as if he’s headed back to Adelaide’s YHA.
Freddy is being interviewed by Nine.
“I felt like we didn’t do enough in the first half,” he says. “We defended awesome and pushed Queensland away a few times. We didn’t get a kick in the first 10 minutes. The tries come from a couple of nice bits of play. I just don’t think we at all dragged Queensland of any energy at all.
“Then in the second half I thought that their halves controlled their kicking so well ... it was a pretty strong breeze at the northern end. We just couldn’t get out of trouble.”
Updated
But wait, there’s more. Cherry-Evans, man of the match, is talking about Wayne’s world. He’s waxing lyrical about Bennett’s aura and his presence, and Mal Meninga has felt it too.
“Mal I have been lucky enough to be coached by him and he definitely has a presence amongst him,” the Maroons skipper ays. “It is not unnerving or unsettling but it makes you comfortable and assure of yourself.”
Meanwhile, Coates is loving life!
Every single rugby league fan needs to see this.
— NRL on Nine (@NRLonNine) November 4, 2020
What a happy young man, well done mate. Soak it in. 😃#Origin LIVE and exclusive on @Channel9. #9WWOS pic.twitter.com/aQGuQgI0lJ
Updated
Andrew Johns is sideline with Munster and the Storm star is speaking so fast he’s about to bite a chunk out of the the furry microphone cover. Here’s the Joey-Cam correspondence.
AJ: How hard is that backing up after winning a GrandFinal and the long celebrations?
CM: I have had some withdrawals, especially with my nephew Cooper and Byron and letting me know they have had a good time. Really enjoying camp at the moment. I guess the team has done it really good tonight.
AJ: What about going into the game, did you feel a responsibility now that you are a senior member?
CM: A lot of young faces in your team. It is a good thing about our team a lot of young faces. There is a lot of hunger in that group and no one gave us a chance tonight. We just dug deep and you would know that, just completing sets and kicking to the corners and that is what we did.
AJ: What about half-time? What about Wayne say? What did Mal Meninga say to the team?
CM: We were a bit frantic and it showed with the impreltion completions in its red zone and we were fortunate enough they did it.
AJ: What did you think when Josh Addo-Carr went over behind the post? What were you saying?
CM: I was pretty much swearing “Boys, you can’t lose it. We need to dig deep and Blues are a great outfit and they can score all over the field. We just needed to get up.”
If that didn’t excite you, nothing will.
Here is Gagai’s dazzling moment.
Gagai turns NSW inside out! 🤯
— NRL (@NRL) November 4, 2020
And QLD take the lead 12-10. #Origin pic.twitter.com/Fn61dzf142
Brimson is one of those new faces and the Titans 22-year-old can’t wipe the smile off his face.
“The atmosphere was crazy,” he says, “and it was a dream come true. To get a win on debut it was awesome.”
They are back, baby. To clarify, I am a New South Welshwoman, but credit must go to that Queensland performance. That relentless, infuriating second-half pressure wore away at a Blues side that were sitting pretty with a 10-point buffer, and they crumbled under the pressure. Their attacking plays disintegrated, and forced defensive errors paved the way to a comeback for the ages. Eight debutants Bennett fielded tonight, partly through necessity, but he will be content with this.
Here is an early match report with more to come.
Full-time! NSW 14-18 Queensland
80 mins: Thirty seconds to go. Felise Kaufusi is in the sin bin for a professional foul. The Blues have two plays to get snatch victory from the jaws of defeat. Cleary to Keary to Walker and they are 10m out with seconds on the clock. But the whistle has blown.
78 mins: NSW are back in possession inside their own 20 and Tedesco passes to Walker, who plays the ball inside the 40m line, Tedesco cops the third tackle on halfway. Crichton is next and the Blues use the fourth to go left where there are plenty of players waiting in the wings. They get a scrum feed and another six. Arrow is clutching at his hamstring. It’s all happening here, folks.
Try! NSW 14-18 Queensland
75 mins: Game on, says Addo-Carr. We imagine that’s what he’s muttering as he dives over in the corner to give his Blues a shot at a late, late comeback. There isn’t much time and Cleary will have to convert to take this deficit down to two points. He cannot, meaning Queensland must come up with another try in the last four minutes.
76 mins: The Blues get their first sniff in their opponents’ half in the second half. Capewell snags another set but his troublesome niggle has given out and he’s off. Wighton is staggering off too after being tackled hard down the left wing.
Updated
73 mins: Captain’s challenge for a knock-on call on Addo-Carr but it couldn’t be clearer. A waste of a challenge.
71 mins: Cook isn’t at the races at the moment and the Souths hooker’s creative output just about sums up his team’s current predicament. Cherry-Evans has suddenly made a break on that same right edge. He gets rid of a persistent Luke Keary and finds Jaydn Su’a inside 20m but the subsequent pass is too far in front of Gagai and the ball drops into touch.
68 mins: Welch suffers a knock and is on the sideline now for a HIA. Would be a shame if he doesn’t return after that almighty effort. And suddenly it is Queensland protecting an eight-point lead having gone into half-time 10 points down. Some boilover this would be.
Try! NSW 10-18 Queensland
65 mins: Jack Wighton has absolutely barrelled into Coates. And wait, what is this? Christian Welch is heaoing the pressure on Tupou and offloads but the ball has hit the deck before Walker can get to it. Cameron Munster chases it into an open field and the rest is simply. Cleary makes a last-ditch play and tussles with his five-eighth counterpart but Munster wins the chase and dives over. DCE makes it three from three.
61 mins: The Blues are on their fifth tackle and the kick goes up. Queensland are at 40m on the fourth and it is back with NSW again. As Cody Walker comes on the commentary team point out he was taken off at the 58th minute of the corresponding match last year.Now he’s been sent into this battle where they are down by two at almost the same point in the game. Capewell has just made a big intercept!
58 mins: This is more of an Origin-esque contest now. What did I say about the Maroons before the game? Never write them off. Do so at your peril. Where they paid for mistakes in the first half, they are forcing errors onto their opponents in the second. The Blues are toiling in their own half and it doesn’t seem to sit pretty with them.
Try! NSW 10-12 Queensland
53 mins: Gagai is at it again, setting up Coates for his first Origin try. That young dude we were just talking about. Hunt was the engineer, ran the ball backwards then forwards, then offloads to Gagai who makes his dash down the right. DCE is with him inside but he passes right to Coates and they are over again. Again Cherry-Evans converts and suddenly we have a game on our hands.
Try! NSW 10-6 Queensland.
49 mins: Right on cue. How about that. Capewell does a number on Gutherson and skirts around him into space. Blue shirts chase in vein in his wake and and Capewell does brilliantly to kick on the run. By some stroke of genius, AJ Brimson is there to collect and does the rest. That try took five sets of six but they got there in the end. DCE adds the extras.
48 mins: But enough about the Blues. The men from the north need to pull a rabbit out of a hat. They are 12m out here and Cherry-Evans flicks to Jai Arrows but suddenly the ball is turned over and Tedesco is in possession. They are trying their luck on the edge a lot, Queensland, and could do with a more versatile approach.
45 mins: NSW have the advantage but Queensland have a history of coming back to win after being down at half-time. Cordner is back and appears to be completely fine. The Roosters skipper is the personification of experience, in comparison to young Coates. The Broncos 19-year-old is debuting after 15 NRL games, which is apparently the fewest since Matt Scott in 2006.
Second half! NSW 10-0 Queensland
42 mins: NSW are in possession and Cleary is attempting a kick but drops the drop uncharacteristically and possession is with Queensland.
Gearing up for the second half now. Players are back on the field and Fittler is saying a few words:
“Our defence is fantastic,” he says. “Gave up the ball too many times at this standard. We keep the ball closer to the ruck it might help us out.”
Most recent reports regarding Murray’s injury are that it is a hamstring. This angle looks awful ...
Comment from a Phil Withall:
“Strange game tonight, even Gus seems mildly disinterested. An out of season Origin played in a neutral state in front of a distant crowd isn’t really cutting it. Maybe that’s just me.”
Not just you, Phil. Perhaps the errors have contributed to this sentiment. The Blues have been more ruthless and taken their chances against the run of play, but it is not perfect footy by any strength.
Half-time! NSW 10-0 Queensland
40 mins: That’s the first stanza done. Queensland will be filthy with this scoreline given their blistering start. But something has just been ... off. A bit of disunity. Papalii has been a machine and Gagai whippet-fast, and this young side are getting plenty of width. But the Blues’ link-up play is smoother, and they are flooding the middle and finding repeated joy down that right flank.
38 mins: Half-time is fast approaching, and it can’t come fast enough for Bennett’s side. The ‘super coach’ will want to stem the bleeding now. They cannot afford another NSW try before the break. Queensland are 25m out and Ben Hunt gets the ball away Tupou is there to scoop up.
Here’s the Addo-Carr try:
Foxxy chimes in!
— NRL (@NRL) November 4, 2020
NSW lead 10-0. #Origin pic.twitter.com/uFb7jcBg2w
35 mins: The Maroons are under pressure but Gagai is there to do a number on Daniel Tupou. This is Gagai’s 13th Origin game and he’s scored 11 tries. This, however, is a try saved. That’s more like it from Queensland.
32 mins: Cordner appears to have passed his HIA and is coming out of the dressing room. Thought that was definitely goodnight for him. Big call to let him back into the action. Meanwhile, Trbojevic is heading down that right side again where the Maroons are having defensive issues. The Blues get with eight metres but Coates is there for the goal-line dropout.
29 mins: Wayne Bennett is doing Rodin’s Thinker on the sideline and he’s giving nothing away. Not like his young side on the field. And those eight debutants must be feeling this getting away from them.
27 mins: Tedesco is away and Cook gives it to Keary through the middle but DCE has knicked the ball off Cleary.
25 mins: Cameron Murray is off now with a knee issue. So both he and fellow forward Cordner are now out. Payne Haas is the only forward left on the bench now. Suddenly the depth is not so deep.
Try! NSW 10-0 Queensland
20 mins: Tedesco to the right and Clint Gutherson is there with great hands to lay it on a platter for Addo-Carr. The Blues are getting into a rhythm now, understanding each other. This try has exposed some disjointed Queensland defending. Faasuamaleaui is tricked but it is nothing compared the forward pass that NSW that set so close to their line. Cleary can’t pot his conversion from an acute angle but his side will still be very confident with that.
18 mins: Cordner is down. Geez the captain has had some rough luck. Is it yet another head knock? Yep, it’s an errant elbow, and he’s leaving the field for a head injury assessment.
Updated
Try! NSW 6-0 Queensland
15 mins: Damien Cook gets a lucky bounce out of dummy half and pirouette over the line. The Blues have effectively run the length of the field here. Queensland will not be happy with that. They have enjoyed all the ball and territory thus far but you have to hand it to their counterparts for some gritty defence. Cleary converts.
13 mins: My word, Papalii is a wrecking ball. To be fair, we knew that already. The Blues will have problems with him tonight. Jake Friend has a chance here and Tino Faasuamaleaui is tackled a couple of metres out. Papalii is closing in on the line. Coen Hess gives it a shot but it isn’t to be.
11 mins: Felise Kaufusi has hit the deck after what appeared to be a head knock. But he’s back up in no time to play the ball.
8 mins: Boyd Cordner is getting into the game. And Cherry-Evans has missed a penalty from point blank position. Interesting that the Maroons have gone into this game without a regular kicker.
4 mins: Much better from Queensland. Daly Cherry-Evans gets fancy-footed and makes space. Dane Gagai is away and Coates gets a kick away before the Blues regain possession.
3 mins: No try for NSW. Josh Addo-Carr is so, so close but loses the ball as he dives for the corner.
Updated
And we're off!
2 mins: A knock-onfrom the kick-off by the Blues. Damien Cook couldn’t quite get to it. And Josh Papalii has played the ball on the 20m line. NSW are under pressure from the off. But Queensland can’t make good on their set.
The players are out on Adelaide Oval now under an overcast sky, and we are having the national anthem, less than one week after the NRL’s backflip on its decision to scrap the anthem during Origin.
Updated
Nearly there now. We have seen the Welcome to Country. See it is probably an overstatement given the camera cut back to Stefanovic and co during an Indigenous dance. Bit of backlash about this.
Disappointed @Channel9 cut the Welcome to Country short to swing back to Karl and Andrew and then to the changing rooms, the dancers had only just started ! #StateOfOrigin
— Amy Wood (@CordeliaAmy) November 4, 2020
How dare you cut into the welcome to country. So disrespectful!! Have we learned nothing? #StateOfOrigin
— SIMON HOOPER (@simonmhooper) November 4, 2020
I was watching the Welcome to Country followed by the Indigenous dancers and then the camera cut away while they were performing. Why? #stateoforigin #NotImpressed
— Bevie (@beviesplace) November 4, 2020
Wayne Bennett has been interviewed on Nine and done his utmost not to provide actual answers to questions. He has, however, confirmed the team are staying in “a good motel”. Radelaide at its finest. He also confirmed, upon persistent questioning from Karl Stefanovic, that the debutants are probably nervous. Illuminating stuff.
Updated
Will it be blue or maroon? Or blue or red (see what we did there!)?
Who's winning #Origin tonight?! 👀
— NRL (@NRL) November 4, 2020
More importantly, will you be watching on Fox Sports or Channel Nine? Advice please. The current flicking between television and laptop situation is not sustainable.
Updated
Here are the full teams. We’re unable to embed the NRL website’s official list but you can find it here.
TEAMS ARE IN! Brenko Lee failed a late fitness test only minutes ago meaning Phillip Sami will keep his place in the Queensland side, Kurt Capewell is the man to replace Lee.
— Triple M NRL (@TripleM_NRL) November 4, 2020
NSW 1-17. #Origin pic.twitter.com/e7yahCNOBW
I got ahead of myself with Lee. Poor guy has limped off Adelaide Oval during the warm-up. Sami is in after all.
Conspiracy theories kicking off:
So you’re saying Brenko Lee was a Trojan horse
— mark (@voodoorock) November 4, 2020
Speaking of Gould, he revealed this morning that he got Nathan Cleary on the blower ahead of his first game since that misdirected NRL grand final pass that led to a Melbourne Storm try.
“I just rang just to see how he was going,” Gould told Nine’s Wide World of Sport. “He said, ‘It’s going through my head all the time’. I said, ‘Don’t worry ... I lost a grand final 40 years ago and it’s still going through my head. You’re not going to forget. People say that you’ll forget, you won’t forget. You won’t ever forget it, so don’t think there’s going to be a day where you’ll forget it, you will remember it for the rest of your life; so get used to that and get over it and just go out and go again’.”
I would also like to acknowledge Phil Gould’s excellent efforts to allay fears his Channel Nine commentary is biased. Those NRL grand final haters don’t know what they are talking about.
I don’t like Maroons full stop. 😂😂😂 https://t.co/uusJoxJA9A
— PhilGould15 (@PhilGould15) November 4, 2020
Gus is answering a lot of enquiries on Twitter in the build-up if you are short of a pre-game activity.
So Queensland have confirmed Kurt Capewell will start in the centres. The Penrith utility, who will likely replace Phillip Sami in the backline, had been named on the Maroons’ extended bench but suffered an injury scare yesterday. We presume his groin niggle was nothing serious.
Brenko Lee is expected to overcome a calf issue to partner Capewell as the first rookie centre pairing in Origin history.
Speaking of history, State of Origin turns 40 tonight.NSW, meanwhile, are set to play three debutants in Clint Gutherson, Luke Keary and Junior Paulo.
Updated
Preamble
Good evening and welcome to our live coverage of State of Origin game one. In November. In Adelaide. This is a very different series indeed, but what isn’t other-worldly about 2020? Or is Trump in the White House considered normal these days? If you have been glued to CNN all day and following the Guardian’s rolling US election coverage like yours truly, and need to be eased into another genre, sit back and allow us to do the work for you.
If you are here, you are no doubt aware of Queensland’s much-publicised DIRE circumstances. Injuries, retirements and suspensions have gutted the Maroons squad and if a star-studded New South Wales are switched on Brad Fittler’s side are surely on track for a series three-peat. We, however are not so sure. Well, I’m not, anyway. As long as Wayne Bennett is involved, an upset is on the cards.
Updated
