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How will the weather affect State of Origin Game 2?

The MCG hosted more than 80,000 fans for a BBL game. (Photo: Twitter)
17th June, 2015
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As we know, there’s plenty at stake in the second State of Origin match tonight at the Melbourne Cricket Cricket Ground. But what will the weather be like in Melbourne, and how could that affect how the match is played tonight?

The first match of the 2015 State of Origin series was played in fine conditions at ANZ Stadium, with the ball being slippery in the early exchanges due to dew on the surface.

Every NRL player has to deal with that on a weekly basis, though, so it was no excuse for the players.

More:
» State of Origin Game 2 Preview
» State of Origin Game 2 Teams
» State of Origin Fixture
» State of Origin
» Why NSW will win Origin 2
» Why Queensland will win Origin 2

The conditions at the MCG promise to be a fair bit slipperier this evening, with a 40 per cent chance of rain at 8pm AEST, the time of kickoff. This moves up to a 48 per cent chance of some rain throughout the game.

The Bureau of Meterology’s official word on the weather in Melbourne today is that there will be a ‘shower or two’ floating around. There’s a 60 per cent chance of rain overall, and the total amount is only between 0 and 1mm. It’s not much, but it could have an effect.

Being a cricket and AFL ground, it’s debatable how much moisture this will actually add to the surface, with there being dew around at that time of night anyway.

It would suggest, however, that the ball will be greasier, making handling more difficult for the players.

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Aside from that, winds look pretty docile, though they do swirl in the oval MCG, so it’ll be interesting to see whether the fullbacks and wingers have any trouble fielding high kicks.

Realistically, as with Game 1, there are no excuses for any of the players on the field tonight.

The ball is slippery every week in the night, so a little moisture on the ground isn’t much of a point of difference.

You could put the conditions advantage ever so slightly in the hand of NSW, who will want to play the game in tight, but it would only be slight.

Enjoy the game tonight, as the Maroons chase another series victory, and he Blues hope to prevent going down 2-0. It should be cracker.

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