QUICK WRAP: State of Origin, men's game 2
21 June 2023 - Queensland play New South Wales in game 2 of the men's State of Origin series on Wednesday night at Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane
The game
The Blues, instead of trying to asphyxiate their opposition in the grind, held the ball and tried to ramp up the pace in attack, daring the Maroons to come with them. Queensland’s scrambling defence had all the answers it needed to keep New South Wales’ increasingly individualistic offensive strategy at bay, pitching a shutout in the first half and calmly wrapping up the husk of Tedesco, finally getting after Luai and handing Moses just enough rope.
With the handful of chances that presented themselves at the other end of the field, the Maroons found ten points. The first came early from an incredibly lucky aerial battle won by Coates over Addo-Carr - or rather, not lost by Coates - followed by a grounding by Holmes. The second came from an honestly astonishing Cherry-Evans break after a Carrigan tackle bust, a quick swing to the left on the subsequent and Fifita, Tabuai-Fidow and Taulagi found the space needed to get around To’o and the Blues disrupted line.
For all the pomp and ceremony and backs to the wall, this game was always going to come down to one question: did the Blues want to win badly enough? Queensland were (overly) heavily favoured by the bookies. The Maroons were playing at home. They had the better side on paper. But the margins in Origin are always fine, and if the Blues wanted it enough, as stupid and cliche as it sounds, that might have been enough to keep the series going. The answer was no.
It’s clear that Slater has instilled a sense that defence is all about effort and if they each put that effort in for themselves, for their teammates, for their state and for their people, then they’ll win the game. The sheer weight of possession meant that the Blues would score eventually but it was only through the most broken of play and, presumably Cook hanging out in the middle of the field out of habit, to find a way through. The Maroons’ defence was otherwise impenetrable, proof that Slater’s system is working. Moreover, they found time to absolutely whack guys in a defensive performance that was a perfect balance of aggression and desperation.
The same was not true of the Blues who have now conceded 58 points in two games because it turns out “just play footy” is not the strategy of a mastermind. While the smooth hands of Carrigan and the electric speed of Walsh and the finishing of Holmes and Taulagi and a dash of luck all play a role, there are huge holes in the Blues’ line and they had no answers. In the second half, Holmes and Coates got over on the right, Tabuai-Fidow found a way past part-time fullback, Payne Haas, on the left and Nanai scored points near the middle. Queensland scored six tries in the end because where there’s a will, there’s a way.
Final result
Stats
If the scoreboard wasn’t clear enough, it was a straight knock-out by the Maroons. The possession came out to a very similar ratio to the first game but the Maroons only finished with 30 fewer metres this time, instead of a deficit of nearly ten times that. The Blues gave the Maroons the space to breathe from the go, although I’m not sure why based on what happened last time, and Queensland made them pay for that blunder, among others.
The penalty count was bullshit and I dunno how NSW got two captain’s challenges after the first one was unsuccesful. Cam Munster was right to laugh in Klein’s face.
Let’s gronk
There are many great highlights in of this game that aren’t tries but thanks to our copyright overlords, capturing them would delay this email unnecessarily, so I’ll leave you with this if you somehow didn’t already see it:
Boxscores
Notes
I had my doubts that a overconfident Queensland wouldn’t just get rolled by an extremely motivated New South Wales, despite all the various factors that pointed the other way, but Billy Slater wouldn’t let that happen. He’s killed off his first Blues coach as a coach himself and we’ll see how many more fall before he gets tired of it and moves on to the NRL.
What was your moment that you knew they were home? I didn’t unclench until Tabuai-Fidow scored.
The last game was the biggest Maroons scoreline since game 2, 2016. This game is the biggest scoreline since game 3, 2015.
Cherry-Evans had his best game and is having his best series as a Maroon at the ripe old age of 34 years old. The tackle on Crichton and the break on the following set are not match winning highlights by themselves but there were incredibly important plays. His long kicking kept the pressure off Queensland in the first half. It’s now gotten to the point that I’m actually starting to not look forward to his retirement and wondering who might actually be able to fill that role in the next generation. It’s quite the turnaround for me personally, having wanted him skinned alive at various points over the last five years. My apologies, I wasn’t familiar with your game.
There was a moment where Walsh fell into line on the left side of the field with Tabuai-Fidow and Tualagi and I didn’t think anyone in the world that could stop those three. There’s no substitute for speed. Kalyn whomst?
There were many great hits but Lindsay Collins ending Jarome Luai is up there. Collins had a blinder overall. Rueben Cotter rules. Valentine Holmes turned in a vintage performance.
I’ve never seen Payne Haas upended but Nanai managed to find the fulcrum. Astonishing tackle. Perhaps Haas was fatigued from having to fill-in for James Tedesco, who - it bears repeating - is playing like a late career Darius Boyd. There’s still time for a gender reveal after they lose game 3.
Losing Tom Trbojevic so early wasn’t the reason the Blues lost but it won’t have helped. Cook at centre and Robson playing a full 80 definitely weren’t on the cards and without early points, it was always going to be a struggle the longer the match was a contest.
I didn’t realise Andrew Johns was on the comms until like an hour in. I spent more time hearing from Mat Thompson about how New South Wales were just about to get back into the game, despite the evidence of the previous 145 minutes of Origin that he had commentated and presumably watched.
Jarome Luai head butting and Josh Addo-Carr throwing a punch in the last 30 seconds of a game they’re down by 24 points is a perfect encapsulation of why New South Wales Just Don’t Get Origin. Where was that fire earlier when you could have made a difference?
Walsh hamming up his send off - I’m still not clear on why but whatever, I really don’t care - while winning by 24 points in front of his home crowd is a perfect encapsulation of why Queensland Just Gets Origin.
Fittler sounded resigned to his fate at half time. The Blues would’ve been better off locking Fittler in a bathroom.
Some absolutely outstanding quotes from Tim Brasher.
Go Dozer.
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