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Stand by for the most entertaining game of this year’s State of Origin series.
Game 2 wouldn’t be hard to beat. It was difficult to watch. Great that NSW won to clinch the series, if you’re from that side of the border, but that was the match’s only saving grace.
It was niggling on the field and even more painful off it, and even a brand as strong as Origin wouldn’t be able to sustain too many games like that before people began to shake their heads and consider turning away.
But Game 1 set a high standard. It was a great Origin game in that the attack was regularly threatening and the defence was fantastic. The game had a constant battle played at high speed and which was enthralling.
Game 3 will be much more like Game 1 and might even open up a bit more with the series having already been decided. Players sometimes loosen up a bit more in attack under those circumstances.
The key is the fact there has been a change of referee.
Shayne Hayne was the senior referee in the partnership with Ben Cummins for Origins I and II. The fact he has been discarded for Origin III is a clear indication he was considered responsible for what we saw in Origin II.
Had the referees clamped down on the niggle early and kept the two teams apart the full 10 metres, it would have been a much better spectacle.
Gerard Sutton has replaced Hayne and he’ll realise he hasn’t been employed to help make the third game a repeat of Origin II.
Cummins, now the senior referee, and Sutton will be expected to keep the teams apart, jump on any rubbish and keep the game moving quickly.
I like the idea of Cummins running the show at Origin level. He’ll stick to the job and won’t make the mistake of trying to impose his own personality on the game.
So which team would a fast game suit better? I don’t think either. Both teams will be suited by the game speeding up.
But the player I think it will suit the best is NSW fullback Jarryd Hayne.
He was great in Game 1 and although the manner in which Game 2 was played made it difficult for him to have the impact he is capable of having, he still threatened and wasn’t far off cracking it open.
Watch for Hayne to cut loose with a big play or two in Origin III. Whether that is enough to make the difference for the Blues remains to be seen, but we’ve already seen that it can be enough this year because it was in game one.
Hayne is the most influential player going around at the moment.
I’d love to know what’s going through the minds of the Queenslanders. I don’t know how many of them were out late on Tuesday night, but it appears at least some of them were and we know Will Chambers was involved in an incident.
I realise that a few beers eight days before an Origin game isn’t going to stop them from winning on its own, but I’m just wondering about their attitude.
I would’ve thought that, down two-nil and trying to avoid being clean swept, it wouldn’t have been hard to pass up on the bonding session.
It seems a bit arrogant to me, and a good sign for NSW. I think the Blues are going to win up there again.
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