Despite New South Wales dominating the opening 40 minutes of Game 2, it’s Queensland who takes the lead into the sheds, 10-4.
Only a try to Dane Gagai, converted by Johnathan Thurston, separates the two teams, which was dominated by whistle-happy referees in the first 20 minutes.
The first points of the match came on the back of some early pressure for Queensland, who mounted a strong attack with Johnathan Thurston jinking through the line and looking to offload to Greg Inglis, who was held early by Dylan Walker.
» Re-live the first half with our live blog
Thurston converted the penalty goal for Queensland to go up by two early.
The Blues levelled it up not long after, with a jinking run from Aaron Woods setting up a promising passage for NSW.
A penalty ensued, and they brought it to 2-2. Another penalty goal soon followed after a lifting tackle from Sam Thaiday, bringing the score to 4-2 after 15 minutes.
To continue the penalty-fest, Queensland got four in a row, before they elected to take the points and level things up at 4-4.
It was an aggressive, niggly first half that saw the Blues take a distinct advantage for much of the half, but a couple of poor kicks and a handling error from Greg Bird killed the momentum they had accumulated.
But despite their dominance, it was Queensland who would score the first try of the game. NSW attempted to put further pressure on the Maroons by running the ball on the fifth tackle, but a bit of loose interplay between centre and winger for the Blues saw the ball spill loose to Gagai, who ran 80 metres to score a try.
Despite a gargantuan effort from Tyson Frizell, who made an effort to ankle tap the winger, he managed to slide over, and Thurston converted to give Queensland a 10-4 lead.
The final ten minutes saw the game open up slightly, with both sides tossing the ball around a little more, giving Michael Jennings in particular a bit of space to work in. Neither side could capitalise on the more open football, and the teams went to the sheds at 10-4.
In the end, it was simply a matter of poise for the Blues, who couldn’t show it at the back end of sets of six, and really that was the only reason they failed to put a four-pointer on the board.
Queensland found themselves under a bit of pressure, but defended ably enough to hold the Blues out.
Reckon you can pick the winning team? Build your own dream team with Draftstars daily fantasy and compete on any match. For great odds on the NRL head on over to PlayUp. Imagine what you could be buying instead. Set a deposit limit.
New coach Michael Maguire is considering as many as 50 players for the State of Origin series opener with not even captain James Tedesco…
Queensland often has the right mix of generational talent, playmaking brilliance and these nuts-and-bolts players that bind them together like glue.
Despite a poor season by his own high standards, Latrell Mitchell is still a chance to force his way into the NSW team for…
Michael Maguire is saying all the right things about how he wants to guide NSW back to State of Origin supremacy but the inescapable…
Wayde Egan's rise to star hooker status at the Warriors should earn him a place in conversation to play at No.9 for NSW in…
Hilton Cartwright and Joel Paris have powered Western Australia to a five-wicket win over NSW in the one-day cup final, securing a historic third…
