The dynasty is over. Too old. Too slow. Not hungry enough. Did anyone from NSW actually say those things about the Queensland team before State of Origin 1?
Well, it doesn’t really matter, because even if they didn’t, Queenslanders should pretend they did anyway. That’s how we roll.
Even if no one said them, they should have, because in the deepest, darkest recesses of that maroon heart, Queensland fans will be concerned that their team of legends, assembled for the final time, is cooked.
Does Justin Hodges have more of those jinking, stuttering runs that somehow find him 20 metres advanced? Does Nate Myles still have that famous engine and unerring accuracy with ball in hand? Does Billy Slater still have the gas to burn every chaser in blue haring after a Cooper Cronk special?
Full State of Origin wrap:
>> ORIGIN 1 MATCH REPORT
>> FULL ORIGIN RESULTS
>> Live blog and highlights
The answer to all those things, for Game 1 of the State of Origin series, is emphatically yes.
Legends all have to step aside at one point, but there is a destiny about this year for Queensland. This is the year where the team that Mal Meninga put together all those years ago puts to bed any doubts about its greatness.
Last year was an injury-riddled anomaly. 2015 is the year of the Maroon. Here’s why (at least in the context of Game 1).
Cooper Cronk is back
There’s no coincidences about what happened in last year’s series. Cooper Cronk had his arm broken in the first half of Game 1, and NSW won in a tight one.
Game 2 was as stingy affair as they come, with Trent Hodkinson’s try and conversion enough to earn NSW redemption after eight years of waiting. Cronk wasn’t playing in that game, either.
Game 3 was a massacre. Cooper Cronk was playing in that game. Correlation? Causation? I’m inclined to go with the latter.
The best half in the business holds all the keys to unlocking every defence in the game, and that includes the Blues’. He points those big forwards around the park, and has an extra-sensory link with Billy Slater, Johnathan Thurston and Greg Inglis.
Between those three men Queensland has the best attacking arsenal in rugby league, but they still need the person to point the gun and shoot it. That person is Cooper Cronk.
Famed not only for his pre-match rhyming couplets, Cronk’s game in the Maroon jersey is pure poetry. His presence means victory, and Mal will be making sure that Sam Thaiday, Aidan Guerra and Corey Parker ensure there’s no repeat of the injury which cruelled Queensland’s hopes last year.
They’re primed for victory
Rather than focus too much on what went wrong last year, it’s probably a better idea to focus on why Queensland have the strike power in them to win this game on the back of their ability.
Well, a big reason why they’re going to take this one is that they have the best player in the game at the absolute peak of his powers. Johnathan Thurston has been, quite honestly, in astonishingly good form in leading the North Queensland Cowboys to seven straight victories.
He has been a pillar for that team, and when things aren’t quite going the way of his team it is often JT who steps up and does something about it.
The Melbourne Storm, Brisbane Broncos and North Queensland Cowboys are all sitting on top of the ladder (alongside the Dragons), and the core of those teams is the core of this Queensland side. South Sydney sit in sixth, and Greg Inglis is playing his heart out week after week for that club.
Basically, this Queensland team is assembled from winners, and when they’re assembled they’re used to being winners. Unlike last year, there won’t be any stumbles. This team has too much quality for that.
Queensland will be hungry
If Queensland thought their legacy as the stronger Origin state was assured when the current crop retires, then 2014 should have put any scrap of that to bed.
Their legacy is all but assured.
Eight in a row was the legacy. A win this year will cement that legacy. But as for what happens Inglis, Slater, Hodges, Matt Scott, Thurston, Smith and Cronk are all running water and microphones up and down the sidelines, nothing is assured, everything is in the air.
There is a rebuild on the way for Queensland. Soon, it will be more like the days of Paul Bowman and Adam Mogg pulling out the best performances of their lives for that jumper than giving the ball to Greg Inglis and laughing as he rolls in for another try.
If these players want that legacy, 2015 is the year they’ll have to earn it.
Reckon you can pick the winning team? Build your own dream team with Draftstars daily fantasy and compete on any match. For great odds on the NRL head on over to PlayUp. Imagine what you could be buying instead. Set a deposit limit.
Queensland often has the right mix of generational talent, playmaking brilliance and these nuts-and-bolts players that bind them together like glue.
Despite Kalyn Ponga's form, the NRL 360 co-host doesn't believe the Maroons will pick the Knights star, saying they'll "stick" with Reece Walsh.
Despite a poor season by his own high standards, Latrell Mitchell is still a chance to force his way into the NSW team for…
Veteran Queensland trio Felise Kaufusi, Dane Gagai and Kurt Capewell have been included in a 34-man Maroons squad that will meet in Brisbane to…
Matt Ballin will replace Cameron Smith on the Queensland coaching staff this State of Origin series. An assistant coach at Brisbane since late 2021,…
Proposed rule changes to Origin eligibility might be that rarest of things: a solution that works for everyone.
