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One of the great things about State of Origin is that no one ever runs out of opinions and it seems that the public’s desire to examine every aspect in advance is insatiable.
Now the curtain has closed on Origin 1 we can revisit all of those issues to see how it all turned out.
How long did Channel Nine delay kick-off until?
When I was a young tacker in the 1980s eagerly watching the State of Origin on my parents’ old 4:3 Panasonic tube colour TV with the chipboard casing that was covered with wood grain contact, the match would kick off at around 7:35pm.
Now Channel Nine stretch the pre-game out as long as they can. Sure enough, Queensland didn’t even get onto the field until 8.15pm. NSW joined them at 8.17 before kick-off finally happened at 8.21pm. The halftime break went as long as a short AFL quarter, with the second half not kicking off until 9.25pm. The game finally ended around 10.15.
More from State of Origin 1:
» Five talking points
» The Liebke Ratings
» Laurie Daley drops a post-Origin bombshell
» State of Origin Game 1 full time: Queensland hold on to win
» All the action in our live blog
Did they fill the joint?
If there was a spare seat in the stadium, I couldn’t see it. The crowd roared from the moment the players ran out. While it seemed like a seriously parochial Blues crowd, when Dane Gagai scored in the 37th minute you could hear there were plenty of Queenslanders at the ground. All-in-all it was a pretty good turnout.
How did the refs go?
I can’t remember a game of footy this year, let alone a round, where I didn’t think a referee had made a howler. Last night Gerald Sutton and Ben Cummins pretty much got every call right.
At the death when Dylan Walker tried to milk a penalty they were having none of it. The only crappy decision they made was penalising Paul Gallen for going high on Matt Scott early in the game when it was actually a good tackle around the shoulders.
However, for the most part, they stayed out of the play and let the game flow. I expect to see both back for Origin 2 – in spite of Laurie Daley calling for them to be dropped.
How did the bunker go?
The bunker finally got called on in the 66th minute to check whether Josh Morris had scored. While Sutton and his touch judge – Jeff Younis (the touchy’s name FYI Channel Nine commentary team, who has officiated over ten Origin games) – sent it up as a try, there was clear evidence that the ball had not made the line and the try was disallowed.
After the bunker oversaw two shocking decisions on the weekend (the Nathan Ross no try and Blake Austin no try), I’m sure Tony Archer was hoping that his department would be well away from the headlines after Origin 1. Cue Laurie Daley…
What were the key moments?
The key moments obviously included the two tries: Cordner in the 25th minute, Gagai in the 37th. However, the most important play turned out to be Gagai knocking the pass down in the second half that, had it got to Josh Mansour, would have been four very valuable points.
Who starred?
Matt Gillett got the man of the match award for his massive defensive effort so he must have done well. I’ll be honest and say I didn’t really notice him.
The players that stood out to me were as follows:
• Josh Papalii. He was huge in attack and defence. In the first half he was the main impetus of the Maroons’ forward pack. Brave, strong and fit. His best Origin match so far.
• Blake Ferguson. I’m still mad at him for walking out on my club so this praise is not lightly earned. He got put under a lot of pressure and did not make one error. He fielded grubbers, chips and bombs all equally well and returned the ball with strength and purpose. He made all his tackles too.
• Greg Inglis. He constantly troubled Josh Morris. Had Corey Oates been in a better position he probably would have scored on debut. Inglis is strong and incredibly skilful and it showed. There was no suggestion of any injury.
• Michael Jennings. He really came alive in the second half and his incredible speed was a constant threat to the Queensland defence.
• Darius Boyd. He is as safe as houses at the back and his playmaking abilities are really starting to shine. His superb positioning and holding up of his pass for Gagai was superb.
Who stank?
Dylan Walker. To be fair, he didn’t really have enough time allotted to him to make an impact. However, he made no impact whatsoever.
Josh Morris. I’m a fan of Brett’s brother, but he hasn’t had a great year. While his two errors weren’t crucial to the result of the match, it wasn’t a good night for the Bulldog. He may not go to Suncorp.
Was Cooper Cronk’s ankle OK?
When news came through last Friday that Cronk had badly twisted his ankle at training alarm bells were ringing. However, Cronk took his spot in the line up and played all 80 minutes.
His usually impeccable kicking game was a bit off, maybe as a result of a sore ankle that pictures pre-game showed to be black and blue. He was guilty of back-peddling on a running James Maloney that led to the Cordner try. However, he was pretty strong otherwise.
Was Dylan Walker a good choice?
Lots of people were incredulous about Daley’s choice in selecting Walker. I was certainly among them. That Daley didn’t even run him on the field until the 70th minute was bizarre.
The only impact he had on the game was showing how dirty his teammates’ jumpers had gotten. His failed effort to milk a penalty at the death was emblematic of his contribution: a misguided and poorly executed effort.
Further, for all his touted dynamic play he only carried the ball once. From what Daley said post-game it is highly likely we’ll see him turn out in blue again in three weeks’ time at Suncorp Stadium. I’d vastly prefer Blake Austin or Josh Reynolds instead.
Was Peter Sterling right about Paul Gallen?
Last night Gallen made 15 runs for 138 metres and made 26 tackles. Those are pretty good stats for a player. However, Gallen is the captain as well. Since the departure of Jarryd Hayne, Gallen is the side’s only talismanic leader.
As Andrew Johns stated emphatically in the post-match examination of the match, NSW need to score more points. Is Gal the man to inspire or lead the side to greater attacking vigour? He is the byword for gritty, grubby, and grind. He is nothing to do with expansive attacking play.
Of the 16 matches that Gallen has captained the Blues for, they’ve only won five. That’s a 30 per cent success rate. Further, only one of those wins has been in Brisbane – a place they must win at in three weeks’ time. Under Gallen, the Blues have an average score of just 12 points in Brisbane, to Queensland’s 27.
Should Daley have gone with Michael Ennis?
For all of the derision that is regularly heaped upon him, Robbie Farah was OK last night. His kicking out of dummy half was probably the best kicking from NSW. He made his tackles and gave pretty good service from dummy half.
In previous years, he has mistaken himself for a playmaker and the Blues have suffered for it. Last night, while he didn’t shine, he was certainly serviceable. As serviceable as I reckon Ennis would’ve been. However, is NSW OK with serviceable? Will the call for Nathan Peats or Mitch Rein grow ever louder?
Did the Maloney/Reynolds combination work out?
Yes and no. James Maloney looked pretty damn good. I wouldn’t have selected a turnstile such as him for such a big match. However, with the support of his bodyguard Cordner (cue Whitney Houston singing), Maloney only missed two tackles. Neither of which resulted in line breaks.
Further, he looked dangerous at times. His drawing of Cronk was brilliantly executed and led to NSW’s only points. He’ll be back for the next game.
Conversely, Adam Reynolds was a bit insipid. His kicks for field position were nowhere near deep enough and rarely found grass. In the first 20 minutes that was partly responsible for Queensland’s dominant field position.
When asked about Reynold’s performance at half-time, Daley said, “he’ll be better in the second half”. Hardly a ringing endorsement. Perhaps his worst action was to miss the very getable conversion of the Cordner try. Those two points turned out to be vital. However, most would still prefer Reynolds to Mitchell Pearce.
As for a combination between the two, I didn’t notice one.
Matt Moylan at fullback: Success or failure?
Moylan will be a star at this level but he had a bumpy start to his Origin career. While his first high ball take in the seventh minute was great, he then let a bomb bounce in the 17th minute that directly led to a dropout.
At the beginning of the second half he dropped a bomb that – had it not been for some good defence from Maloney (of all people) – would have led to a try. However, when he chimed into the backline he looked dangerous, smart and talented. The selectors will be wise to stick with him long term in sky blue.
How did new boys Oates and O’Neill go?
Corey Oates is certainly big enough to play Origin football. He hit the ball up ten times for 82 metres. As well, he didn’t miss any tackles.
However, twice he was out of position and not in support of his centre, Bowraville (FYI, that’s in Queensland) product Greg Inglis. On both occasions Inglis would have put him away – had he just been where he should have been. He’ll learn from it and I expect to see lots of him at Origin time for years to come.
Justin O’Neill is a very good attacking centre. However, he can be dodgy in defence. Last night he made 71 metres from ten runs. However, tellingly he missed three tackles and made two errors. NSW are sure to target him in Game 2. Cameron Munster would be a good option in that position if he weren’t banned from playing for Queensland in 2016.
How did the ageing Queensland pack go?
While age has surely wearied them, the 30-plus brigade of Cameron Smith, Nate Myles, Sam Thaiday, Corey Parker and Matt Scott were still able to tackle their bums off. While my pick for best performer in their pack was Josh Papalii – and the young Gillett was awarded the man of the match – you can tell that ‘Dad’s Army’ is still very much alive and kicking.
Captain Cam performed a few tackles where he had fairly solid hold of his opponent’s neck (see just before half -ime). Nice to see that some things never change.
What was with the headphones on Kevvie’s mate?
Anyone watching the telecast would’ve seen a bloke sitting next to Kevin Walters in the coaches’ box with a set of headphones on that looked like something Lando Calrissian’s Cloud City offsiders in The Empire Strikes Back would have refused to wear because they were too ridiculous. What’s up with those things? And who was that bloke? We want answers Kev!
The last word
In a post-match interview Thaiday summed up his side’s win thusly:
“It was a bit like losing your virginity: not pretty but we got the job done.”
Where to now?
To Suncorp of course. And the Blues will be pushing crap uphill to win there. A scary stat for NSW is that in the 33 series so far the side that has won the first game has won 25 of them.
After you take out the two drawn series that means only six times (18%) has a side lost the first game and then won the series.