A three-try haul from winger Dane Gagai and a best-on-ground performance by captain Cameron Smith has seen Queensland take out the second game of the 2016 State of Origin series, and their tenth series victory in the last eleven years.
Victory in the opening game in Sydney by the scoreline of 6-4 put the Maroons in the box seat to claim the series within the first two games, and that’s exactly what they did as they gave new coach Kevin Walters the perfect start to his Origin coaching career.
Walters was left with huge shoes to fill following Mal Meninga’s promotion to the Australian Test head coaching role last year, but the 48-year-old appears to be handling the Origin pressure cooker very well. He will now have the chance to become the first coach in Origin history to win a debut series 3-0.
It was a very close opening half with both sides trading two penalty goals in the opening quarter of the match before a long-range try to Newcastle Knights winger Dane Gagai saw the Maroons take a 10-4 lead into half-time.
More from Origin Game 2
» Game 2: Queensland seal the series
» State of Origin results
» Re-live the action with our live blog
» Origin 2 in pictures
The Blues, in their first appearance at Suncorp Stadium since last year’s embarrassing Game 2 defeat, put up a competitive performance but poor decision making would eventually cost them their tenth series defeat dating back to 2006.
In particular, Michael Jennings would cost his side a try, and potentially the victory, when his fingertips just nudged the ball forward before Tyson Frizell, who had scored the Blues’ first try earlier in the second half, touched down.
A few plays later the Maroons would go down the other end and through Corey Oates score the series-winning try in the north-western corner of Suncorp Stadium to put the home side ahead 26-16.
After the Blues were denied another try again as a result of a Jennings knock-on in the lead-up to a claimed try by James Maloney (who had scored a brilliant intercept try earlier to get the Blues to within four points), the Maroons were in the box seat.
In the end Kevin Walters’ men held on for a 26-16 victory, but it didn’t come without the challenge from New South Wales that many expected as the southerners attempted to keep the series alive.
The result means that for the first time since 2010, the Maroons have wrapped up the series within the first two games and will now head down to Sydney on July 13 with the chance to go for a 3-0 clean sweep for the first time since that same year.
As for the Blues, while they were defeated yet again, they were far from disgraced. Poor decision making from the halves in particular, missed chances and the absence of Adam Reynolds in the second half due to injury all proved very costly.
Debutant Tyson Frizell was among one of the Blues’ best and it’ll be hard seeing him dropped for the third game, which will come as bad news to Wade Graham, who would’ve been the one playing instead of Frizell had he not been careless enough to catch Johnathan Thurston high on June 13.
Captain Paul Gallen couldn’t be faulted either, and after yet another lost series under his captaincy, the Blues’ focus will now turn towards sending him out on a high in Sydney on July 13 and thwarting the Maroons’ attempt at a clean sweep.
Having been under pressure leading into the game, it will now remain to be seen what the future holds for Blues coach Laurie Daley, who has now presided over a third series defeat in four years since taking over from Ricky Stuart in 2012.
It will also be interesting to see how many fans turn up for the dead rubber at ANZ Stadium in three weeks’ time, but despite yet another series defeat Blues fans shouldn’t be too disheartened as they know that their side gave it their very best shot as they attempted to level the series in enemy territory.
While the post-mortems start south of the Tweed, north of it the celebrations are only just getting started.
Congratulations to the Maroons for achieving their tenth series win in the past eleven years, and may this be the first of many Origin series victories for new coach Kevin Walters going forward.
And most importantly, commiserations to the Blues, who will be out to salvage the series in front of their home fans in three weeks as they turn to the 2017 series, which if they are to win will have to contend with only one home game next year.
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