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It’s been a tough decade for the NSW Blues. State of Origin is always something to get excited about mid-season, but Blues fans have been confined to more a sense of optimism than real confidence that they can win the series.
This is due to the almost complete dominance of the Maroons over the past 11 years, winning all but in 2014. While that record couldn’t be considered acceptable for NSW, when you look at the kind of players Queensland have had you begin to understand why.
Darren Lockyer, Johnathan Thurston, Cooper Cronk, Cameron Smith, Billy Slater and Greg Inglis, among others, have been the best in their respective positions over this time, some even flying close to Immortal status.
This dominance in key positions has eluded NSW, going a long way to creating the Queensland dynasty.
But with a number of Queensland players in the twilight of their careers, NSW want anything but to win merely because a host of legends are retiring.
Inglis is already out for the year. Thurston may miss a couple of games if not the series with a shoulder injury and has indicated 2017 will be his last season in the representative arena. Slater has missed the last four Origin games through injury and is off-contract at the end of this year. Cronk’s future remains undecided, while Smith is signed with the Storm until the end of next year, at which time he will be 35.
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The puzzle will become clearer as the series and the year goes on, but whichever way you cut it, the Maroons will lose some quality and experience for 2018.
When it was revealed that Thurston would miss some of this year’s series after such a long run of games, it was not met by positivity by Blues fans. NSW recognise just what a big impact JT has had on the game and the send-off he deserves.
Although without him the Blues’ chances increase, this may be the last opportunity NSW has to genuinely beat this champion team.
The prospect of 2018 featuring a new set of halves for the Maroons is strange but a genuine possibility now and while there are some great young players waiting to make their mark, they are no JT or Cronk.
When the teams run out in Game 3, in what is hopefully a decider, most fans want JT playing for the Maroons – you want to beat the best in this game and Thurston has made the past decade his own at all levels.
The Blues need a final opportunity to get one up on the maestro before another, hopefully brighter, era begins for them.
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