Sam Thaiday best summed up Queensland’s 11-10 win over NSW in Origin 1 at ANZ Stadium last night, “I’m absolutely knackered after that, we busted our guts out there”.
It was a mighty hard slog all night from both sides with only one genuine bust by NSW fullback Josh Dugan midfield over 40 metres as he pegged Josh Morris out to his right.
Full State of Origin 1 wrap:
>> ORIGIN 1 MATCH REPORT
>> FULL ORIGIN RESULTS
>> Live blog and highlights
>> Cameron Smith given man of the match
>> The Roar’s official New South Wales player ratings
>> The Roar’s official Queensland player ratings
With Dugan’s perfectly placed chip kick bouncing right into Morris’ waiting arms, NSW turned a 6-0 deficit into a 10-6 half-time lead, virtually against the run of play.
That in itself was no mean feat as the Queenslanders were the only side firing in the first 20 minutes.
And after the break, yet again it was all Queensland, which begs the question why didn’t they score a lot more points?
Greg Inglis had one of the quietest games of his stellar career, being hospitalised for three days with a throat infection obviously took its toll.
Quite the opposite for his centre partner Justin Hodges, cut foot and all, who was in the thick of everything.
As was Queensland skipper-hooker Cameron Smith who won his fifth Origin man-of-the-match in 32 starts. Barring injury, Smith will join former skipper Darren Lockyer as the Maroons’ Origin record holder with 36 appearances, during next years series.
Smith constantly kept NSW under pressure. But the Blues were equal to the task, with Queensland scoring only two tries despite enjoying a 63 per cent territory advantage
There was no better defender than NSW captain Robbie Farah who had to have his left shoulder heavily bandaged at the break, but the gutsy little hooker still managed to see out the journey with a game high tackle count of 63.
When winger Will Chambers scored his first Origin try at the 55-minute mark it was locked at 10-all, until Cooper Crock kicked his customary drop goal seven minutes from time.
Dugan had a crack at sending the game into extra time, but his drop goal attempt was well to the right
So 11-10 was a fair result for the 80,122 crowd, which was a serious number when ticket sales were lagging for most of the last week.
In the final result – with the exception of an out-of-sorts Inglis – every player did something of importance, especially the debutants – Josh Jackson and David Klemmer for NSW, and Michael Morgan with Josh McGuire for the Maroons.
So Queensland head one-up for the MCG for Origin 2 on June 17, a virtual home game for Cameron Smith, Billy Slater and Cooper Cronk.
After the one-point loss, it will take a monumental effort from NSW to retain the shield, with Origin 3 at Suncorp on July 8.
But coach Laurie Daley can take some comfort from the fact his young side more than held their own against the vastly more experienced Queensland outfit.
Simply, Queensland is a damn good rugby league side.
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