NSW have only their former assistant coach Andrew Johns to thank. After a tirade of racial slurs resulted in one of the most controversial lead ups to a State of Origin match in the series’ 30 year history, Queensland’s Indigenous and Polynesian players stepped up and belted their opponents off the park.
It took only three minutes for Johnathan Thurston to put Greg Inglis over for the first try of the match, in what would have been a worse case scenario for the bookies’ “first try scorer” field.
Just eight minutes later, Israel Folau, who was another NSW target in the game’s much hyped build up, silenced his selection critics by scoring Queensland’s second try.
It was a benchmark that Inglis and Folau set for the rest of the night as the Maroons soared to a 34-6 victory.
On countless occasions Folau leapt up to disarm and attack bombs, highlighting just why the AFL is paying $6 million to lure him over to their code.
With the game still in the balance just minutes before half-time, Inglis once again proved the game breaker, drawing two defenders and putting an unmarked Darius Boyd to score untouched down the line.
Just eight minutes after the break and four minutes after a Willie Tonga try, Folau put the game out of the Blues’ reach, receiving a double cut out ball from Lockyer and scoring in the corner.
However a clearly pumped up Inglis wasn’t finished with NSW and continued to physically impose himself over his opponents all night, which came to a head in the 58th minute when he was involved in a punch up with Beau Scott – possibly his first ever biff in the professional football arena.
It was an aggression that was mirrored across the whole Queensland team – Indigenous and non-Indigenous players alike – who were no doubt fuelled by a ravenous 52,000 strong Maroon crowd.
However coach Craig Bellamy avoided using the racism saga as an excuse, rather blaming brief lapses in defence and attack for the score blow-out.
“I’d love to use the Timana/Joey thing as an excuse, but I really don’t think we can,” he said.
“We had back to back errors, and you can’t do that against them.”
BennO
Guest
"Scott is penalised after Inglis was clearly the aggressor" Ha! That's a good one. He's here til Tuesday folks. Try the veal!
Ronnie the Eel
Guest
Would be good Chris, but good old Gus has stated without reservation that he won't coach the Blues again. But to David, the author of this article, stop making the QLD win or origin about race issues! Are you saying that Inglis and Folau would not have had the same impact or aggression if this whole media-fuelled circus didn't blow up prior to game 2? Of course they would have. I've watched enough of the both of them to see them play with fire and aggression before this. Unfortunately for us NSW supporters, it seems to happen each time they (and others) pull on a QLD jersey. The only way we (NSW) might have done better is if we pulled Laurie Daley and Freddy Fittler out of the coaching box - and added Joey and Matty Johns in the side for a bit of spice!
Nick the Rooster
Roar Rookie
Not only did the racial slurs inspire the Maroons to a big win, they also clouded the referees judgement. I am not blaming the referees for the pathetic performance shown by NSW. What I am accusing the referees of is not penalising Thaiday and Inglis when it was clear they should of been. Example 1 Thaiday was the first person to run in to the fight caused by O'Donnell. Barett ran in to pull Thaiday off O'Donnell. Yet, Barrett was spoken to by the referees after the fight and Thaiday was not. Furthermore, Thaiday ran into the fight a second time and hit O'Donnell when O'Donnell was wrestling with Dave Taylor. Again, Thaiday was still not spoken to. Example 2 Beau Scott tackles Greg Inglis. Inglis grabs hold of Scott who is at marker and doesn't let him follow the ball once its been passed on. A fight breaks out. Scott is penalised after Inglis was clearly the aggressor. Was it a coincidence after the week we've just experienced? I don't think so.
chris henry
Guest
please NSW give GUS the whole job next year i mean as coach and sole selector and retire the other idiots Daley and co
amband
Guest
quote "NSW have only their former assistant coach Andrew Johns to thank. After a tirade of racial slurs resulted in one of the most controversial lead ups to a State of Origin match in the series’ 30 year history, Queensland’s Indigenous and Polynesian players stepped up and belted their opponents off the park." I see, so the afroementioned players took it out on NSW. Looks like Johns is not the only racist if you believe this authror!