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Last year, Cooper Cronk showed his worth by not being there come Origin time. This year, he has already reminded us of just how well he controls a game.
Cronk is the closest thing in rugby league to a quarterback in the NFL.
The way he dissects a game, according to his own individual strengths, his team’s strengths, the opposition’s weaknesses and what he sees in front of him at any given time, is so methodical, but at the same time he has the ability to be spontaneous.
Cronk is a master of control and was the major reason Queensland beat NSW in Origin I.
Last year, he was forced out of Origin I early on with a broken arm and missed Origin II. The Blues won both games, by four points and two points.
Cronk returned for game three and the Maroons won easily.
You can never be sure about these things, but you could certainly build an argument to suggest Queensland would have won last year’s series and been sitting on nine series straight had Cronk not been hurt.
NSW coach Laurie Daley was lavish in his praise of his team’s defence after the 11-10 loss and it’s true, their defence was great.
But when you’re basing your team’s chances mainly on commitment in defence and you fall one-nil down in a three-game series, it puts you squarely in the corner.
What are the Blues going to do to win Origin II at the MCG? Defend even better?
Obviously, both teams have a commitment to defence, but the Maroons have a greater commitment to attack and they’re one-nil up now. They’re in a position of enormous strength.
A game at the MCG in the middle of winter appears unlikely to break out into a points-fest, so the Blues are going to be in with a chance, but I don’t see that there is more improvement in the NSW team than the Queensland team from game one to two.
Greg Inglis is tackled by James Tamou and Mitchell Pearce. (AAP Image/Dan Himbrechts)
The Blues have a great record at ANZ Stadium. They had won six out of seven series openers there before the opening game of this series. But the Maroons have now cleared that hurdle, however narrowly, and can build on what they did.
There is nothing worse for a NSW team than a Queensland team with the series lead and the confidence it brings.
The Blues certainly had their chance to win. They were very strong in the first half and deserved the 10-6 lead they took to the break. But in the second half they made way too many mistakes.
NSW defended tremendously well as Queensland repeatedly came at them through the middle part of the second half, with the score at 10-10, but the thing about the Maroons is that they don’t panic.
They didn’t get what they wanted at that time, but they came back later to get it and at the back end of a tight Origin game, when composure is king, Queensland had it and NSW didn’t.
Cronk took his field goal expertly. NSW fluffed their lines and Josh Dugan, who obviously wouldn’t have been the first choice for a shot at a one-pointer, ended up having to try to take a shot on the run. He missed.
Cooper Cronk of the Maroons scores a field goal during State of Origin Game I (AAP Image/Dan Himbrechts)
Daley says he will stick with his halves for game two. Presumably, Paul Gallen will come into the squad for someone, but it would be preferable to see him go around in at least one NRL game first.
We’ll know how the Blues are going to play it in Melbourne from the look of their bench for game two. Presumably, Daley will go for four forwards again, rather than a utility-type spark player like Queensland did with Michael Morgan.
It will come down to which team does what it does best, better. I think that will be Queensland again.
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