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Clashes between Wests Tigers and Brisbane are a bit of a fixture around Origin.
More than most other matches during the bye weeks, they seem to have a bit of an Origin flavour.
Perhaps that’s because so many Origin players have been sourced from Brisbane in recent years, while both of the Tigers’ recent captains have been key Blues representative as well.
It may also be because Suncorp is such a quintessential Origin venue.
However, it also feels like the gulf in talent and organisation between the Tigers and the Broncos (and I say this as a Tigers supporter) often seems like a forerunner of the David and Goliath battle that is State of Origin.
Over the last two years, David has triumphed in these bye matches, winning two out of three clashes against Brisbane in the weeks surrounding Origin.
However this year the Tigers’ win feels especially momentous.
Even if they don’t make the finals, they’ve finally caught a break.
Beating last year’s runners-up is one thing, but beating them at Suncorp is something else entirely.
Combined with their victory over Newcastle last week, this may signal the start of the long road out of the Tigers’ mid-season slump.
Granted, Brisbane is fairly depleted by the loss of Corey Oates, Corey Parker, Darius Boyd, Sam Thaiday, Josh McGuire and Matt Gillett to Maroons Camp.
Still, the Tigers have also lost Aaron Woods and Robbie Farah, while James Tedesco is still out injured despite suggestions that he would return against the Broncos this weekend.
While the Tigers were dominant in field position and dexterity with the ball, it was a fairly evenly paced game in terms of the score, with both teams bringing in three tries, two conversions and a penalty goal, and both attempting a field goal from the halves in the dying minutes of the game.
The difference was that Mitchell Moses managed his one-pointer at the 76th minute, while Ben Hunt tanked on the siren with one of his worst kicks all season.
In a year that has seen its fair share of both dud field goals and sublime field goals, Moses’ effort was one of the best.
Not only was it a cathartic counterpoint to Cooper Cronk’s field goal at Leichhardt Oval a couple of weeks back, but it more than made up for Moses’ spotty performance over the first half of the game.
The fact that Hunt missed his chance just made Moses’ timing shine even brighter.
While the NRL community has been quick to rally around Hunt and help him through the disappointment of last year’s grand final, it was hard not to recall his 2015 golden point fumble as he failed to deliver the kick that could have sent last night’s game into overtime.
To make matters worse, it resulted in Brisbane’s third one-point loss of the season.
It didn’t help, either, that Hunt had been fairly inconsistent all evening, with his kicking game becoming increasingly unreliable towards the end of the second half.
While Anthony Milford was more dexterous, both of them seemed somewhat diminished in the absence of their usual playmakers.
On their own, they really felt like Emerging Maroons, rather than Established Maroons, which perhaps made it even more heartbreaking for Queenslanders to see them on the field instead of at Origin Camp where they belong.
If anything, the Tigers provided the halves pair of the night, as Luke Brooks brought in some of his most elegant plays this year, setting up Tim Simona with what should have been the easiest try of the season as well as handling the final passes on the Tigers’ first two tries.
Having now lost three in a row, Brisbane are at a bit of a crossroads in their 2016 journey.
It’s going to be tough for them to travel to New Zealand next weekend on the back of Origin, especially because losing to the Warriors after the last three weeks would be utterly unthinkable.
Meanwhile, the Tigers need to maintain momentum against Roosters at Allianz, although you can bet that Sydney City will be raring to go after two losses and a week off.
Even with Origin on the immediate horizon, both matches are shaping up to be some of the most exciting football this year.
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