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The New South Wales Blues defeated the Queensland Maroons 18-14 at ANZ Stadium in Homebush last night, preventing a clean sweep in the 2016 State of Origin series.
The match was a dead-rubber, but every Origin encounter is a brutal affair. It’s the nature of the beast when you have the best rugby league players on the planet playing each other, while representing their home state.
Passion and skill rarely equates to a dull event, irrespective of the series scoreline.
NSW won the game, and Queensland the series, so both will take a lot out of last night, but following are the five biggest talking points.
1. NSW’s barren period
From approximately the 26th minute to the 33rd minute, the Blues had 483 – conservatively – repeat sets of six, with a fair percentage of them against just twelve men, after Cooper Cronk was sent to the bin for a professional foul.
How many points did NSW register in that crucial period?
None. A big fat zero.
Despite the opportunity to consistently pepper the Queensland line – minus a defender, no less – the Blues just couldn’t bother the scoreboard. It highlighted what any casual rugby league fan could tell you. NSW lack the composure and execution to seriously trouble the Maroons, and Queensland are as tough as nails.
After 40 minutes of footy, 30 of them against 12 men, the Blues had 61 per cent of the possession, led the penalty count 9-1, and were tackled 36 times in Queensland’s 20. Yet they led just 6-4.
It’s a staggering line of statistics, and if it wasn’t the wake-up call that NSW’s attack is in desperate need of a drastic overhaul, then nothing is.
NSW would be wise to not let the victory hide the fact the first half attack just wasn’t good enough.
2. Farewell Gal, farewell Parker
Last night was Blues captain Paul Gallen’s final game for NSW. It was fantastic that the Blues sent him out a winner, but in many regards it wasn’t quite a fitting farewell. A loss may have been more apt.
Gallen has been a major part of the NSW set-up since his debut in 2006, a period in which the Blues have won just the solitary series.
Since entering the Origin arena, Gallen has been one of NSW’s best players, but seeming as the objective of the game is to win, losing so many series – and being an integral part of the team that lost them – is a black mark against Gallen’s legacy.
Is that fair? I think it is.
Queensland have undoubtedly had a supremely talented team over the past decade or so, and there is an argument to be made that it wouldn’t matter what NSW did, Queensland would have won.
I don’t subscribe to that theory.
For starters, NSW have been very close to winning many games over the years. The gap between the teams – save for one ‘memorable’ blow out – hasn’t been that great. The Blues could have easily won more than one series.
More pertinently, I believe NSW have had issues that were self-inflicted during Queensland’s dominance, and the Blues leadership of the team need to be held accountable for that. That obviously includes their skipper.
There have been whispers of selfishness when it comes to the NSW camp for some time now. Phil Gould has been very vocal on that particular topic, and it’s immensely clear his comments have been directed at Gallen.
Are we seriously to believe that a man with Gus’ connections in the rugby league doesn’t know something? I’m confident that, on this matter, where there is smoke, there is fire.
It’s time NSW moved on from the Gallen era. That’s no disrespect to a player that has physically given his state everything he has, but sometimes effort just isn’t enough, and intangibles like personality, culture and ‘fresh blood’ can have just as much positive impact.
On the other side of the border, Queensland said goodbye to a favourite son.
Tough, talented, durable, passionate, respected, and even just a little bit dirty, Corey Parker is everything you’d ever want in an Origin forward.
Though he didn’t technically go out a winner, he essentially did, and he leaves behind a legacy of a man who may not have got the plaudits of some of his more famous teammates, but was every bit as instrumental in much of Queensland’s recent success.
3. Fifita’s brain explosion
Seriously, what the hell was that?
I’ve written before that Fifita is a penalty waiting to happen, but he outdid even himself in getting ten minutes in the sin bin, after running from the hot dog stand to put a running headlock on try-scorer Gavin Cooper.
It was one of the most bizarre things I’ve seen – no mean feat when talking about rugby league – with no other Blues player even in the TV frame, as Fifita came from nowhere to break up the Maroons celebration huddle single-handedly.
The Sharks prop was deservedly punished with some time in the changerooms for the extremely dumb move, and he was very lucky it didn’t cost his team more. Or seriously injure Cooper. Or himself, via hearty Queensland retribution.
Thankfully he showed remorse and understanding of his stupidity in his post-match interview, by stating that he had no regrets…
4. Do dead rubber victories mean anything?
My spontaneous reaction to this question is always no. The objective is to win the series, and once that has been achieved, it’s natural to believe that a little bit of the sting goes out of the third contest.
Queensland will tell themselves that in the grand scheme of things, last night’s loss means very little. They did what they set out to do. Job done.
Yet you couldn’t tell me the players last night – on both sides – weren’t doing all they could to win the match. If you didn’t know the series was over, and tuned into that match, I defy anyone to tell me that it was of lesser intensity and passion.
Given that, NSW should take some momentum into the 2017 series.
In many respects, last night’s result was the perfect outcome for rugby league. NSW will be buoyed by the win and approach next year with confidence that they can beat the mighty Maroons, while Queensland will lose very little confidence, safe in the knowledge that they were the ones holding the Origin trophy up high. So, everybody wins.
Which leads us nicely into the last talking point . . .
5. I think the refs wanted NSW to win
Thank goodness last night was a dead rubber, or given the referees’ performance, we’d be hearing the whinging from Queensland for months on end.
I wouldn’t have begrudged them a good fashioned blow-up either, for the refs certainly favoured the Blues.
I don’t believe a lopsided penalty count is always an indication of a team being hard done by. In fact, many times, it’s simply just a reflection of a team infringing too much.
However, Queensland were pinged for some very soft penalties last night, and a 12-3 count makes for ugly reading. That doesn’t even take into account other questionable decisions, like Andrew Fifita’s try being allowed, despite Michael Jennings being offside and within ten metres of the play.
The series was over, so we’ll (hopefully) be spared the narrative about conspiracies, NSW bias, or a belief that NSW were handed victory to maintain interest in the Origin concept, but if Maroons fans wanted to take any of that line of thinking, I would find it hard to argue with them.