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As Queensland continue to celebrate regaining the State of Origin shield after having their eight-year dynasty ended by New South Wales in 2014, the post-mortems have begun south of the Tweed as to where it all went terribly wrong.
The Maroons regained the Shield after handing the Blues a record 52-6 humiliation in the third and deciding game of the series at Suncorp Stadium on Wednesday night.
In doing so they achieved the largest winning margin in State of Origin history and sent veteran centre Justin Hodges out a winner, while at the same time proving that they are not yet a spent force as many feared they’d become after they had surrendered the series to the Blues last year.
However, one record they failed to break was the highest team score in a match, which the Blues can consider very lucky to keep as the Maroons fell one try short of at least equalling the southerners’ record of 56 in Game III of the 2000 series.
Now that the dust has settled on the State of Origin series for another year, it’s now time to carry out the post-mortem into the Blues’ failure to successfully defend their shield and find out where did it all go wrong.
Firstly, the Blues had players missing from last year’s squad for various reasons. Jarryd Hayne had left for the NFL, Greg Bird copped an eight-match suspension following a lifting tackle on Jason Nightingale in the Anzac Test match in May, and Paul Gallen and Robbie Farah missed Games I and III, respectively, due to injury.
These four were instrumental in the Blues’ Origin success last year, with only Bird missing the first game (he missed the whole series this year) due to suspension.
The absences of Gallen and Farah in Games I and III this year proved to be the difference as they lost by the narrowest and worst of margins, respectively. Gallen and Hayne also missed the decider in 2013, which they lost by two points, due to injury.
Farah’s replacement for the third game, Michael Ennis, put in a performance he would rather forget in what was his first appearance since the 2011 decider, and appears destined not to be selected again as long as Farah is still playing.
Secondly, the selection panel should never have left Josh Reynolds out of the side, irrespective of whether he and Trent Hodkinson were in good form for the Bulldogs at the time or not.
The pair were selected ahead of incumbents James Maloney and Mitchell Pearce last year after the latter got himself involved in an incident at a Kings Cross nightclub, landing himself in hot water with the Roosters in the process.
Coach Laurie Daley said at the time of the Pearce incident that he wanted a club halves combination in his side and Pearce’s omission from the side meant that Maloney also missed out, leaving him with no option but to pick the Bulldogs halves pairing of Reynolds and Hodkinson.
The pair made the most of their call-up and after an against-the-odds victory in Brisbane in the opening game, the pair were instrumental in delivering New South Wales their first Origin series victory in nine years with victory in the second game.
But with Reynolds having been suspended twice throughout the first half of this season, it was obvious that he would not have had enough game time to retain his place in the New South Wales starting side.
This was what led to coach Laurie Daley recalling Mitchell Pearce into the side, albeit in the unusual position of five-eighth with Trent Hodkinson retaining his role as halfback.
Since he last played Origin in 2013, Pearce featured in the Roosters’ premiership winning team that year and was, in tandem with James Maloney, instrumental in their late-season charge to consecutive minor premierships last season.
Daley said that his ability to bounce back from his omission from the side in 2014 was a key factor in selecting him for this year’s series. However, he again failed on the Origin stage, but does that necessarily mean we have seen the last of him?
Who knows what the answer to that question could be. Maybe yes, perhaps no. The Roosters halfback has had way too many chances in the past and the one just passed could have been the last of them.
Pearce, who along with Boyd Cordner and Michael Jennings have been backed by the Chooks as they charge towards the finals, is one of the few players whose Origin future hangs in the balance following Wednesday night’s record humiliation.
The likes of Will Hopoate, Ryan Hoffman, Trent Merrin and Cordner are all in the firing line, while Paul Gallen’s future remains unclear after his club coach Shane Flanagan inadvertently revealed that he may have played his last Origin game.
However, Gallen himself has reiterated that he has not made a decision on his Origin future as yet, and remains keen to lead his state again in 2016 as they seek to put this year’s series behind them.
The Blues will have the advantage of having two home games next year, with Games I and III to be played in Sydney, and Game II in Brisbane. That could provide the perfect platform for their State of Origin redemption in 2016.
With this year’s series done and dusted, it’s now time for the players to refocus on their club’s run to the finals, with almost every club except for the last-placed Wests Tigers in contention for a place in September.
Queensland’s Origin dominance this year is reflected at the top of the NRL ladder, with the Brisbane Broncos and North Queensland Cowboys occupying the top two places on the ladder.
The Sydney Roosters and St George Illawarra Dragons, who between them supplied six (seven if you include the Maroons’ Aidan Guerra) players for the Blues, are third and fourth respectively, with the Chooks shaping as NSW’s best hope of preventing a likely all-Queensland grand final.
The Dragons, Melbourne Storm, South Sydney Rabbitohs, New Zealand Warriors and Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs are all locked on 20 points, with defending premiers South Sydney to enjoy their bye this coming round.
And as mentioned before, the Wests Tigers are dead last on the ladder but will also enjoy their bye this weekend, leaving the Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles and Newcastle Knights last on the ladder entering their respective matches against the Gold Coast Titans and Canberra Raiders.
Going back on topic to finish off, who do you think should be named in the New South Wales side for Game I next year? Do you think Mitchell Pearce should get another chance next year? And will Paul Gallen play on next year?
Those are just some of the questions that will be asked as the Blues divulge their State of Origin series defeat.
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