Another Origin opener, another win from a Queensland team which now threatens to storm its way to an unprecedented sixth straight series. Here’s a look at the single stat which told the story for each player in the Maroons line-up.
1. Billy Slater – 5 tackle breaks. Another Origin nailbiter, another pivotal try from Billy Slater in the last 10 minutes. Always dangerous in centrefield, Slater steamed on to a textbook inside ball from Lockyer, shrugged off Paul Gallen and again came up with the telling play.
2. Darius Boyd – 4 one-on-one tackles. Although he didn’t see any open space in attack, Boyd’s stellar work in defence kept Queensland on top in key moments in both halves.
Of his seven tackles (no misses, no ineffective tackles), four were one-on-one – including a couple of bellringers on Dragons teammate Mark Gasnier when the Blues were threatening the Queensland line.
3. Dane Nielson – 19 tackles. A busy night in defence against NSW’s favoured left-hand attack for the Maroons centre debutant saw him rack up by far the most tackles of any of his backline teammates.
4. Willie Tonga – 80 minutes. Somehow managed to labour through an entire 80 minutes of Origin footy despite partially dislocating his shoulder early in the first half, with some brave defence against Gasnier and co late in the piece.
5. Jharal Yow Yeh – 1 try. Added a telling try on debut for Queensland after doing the same in the green and gold last month. Looked solid at the back and set for a long career at this level.
6. Darren Lockyer – 11 tackles. For all the predictable talk about working Darren Lockyer over in defence, the Maroons pivot was only called upon 11 times in Game One – less than in any game last year.
Queenslands 58% share of possession may have helped. Either way, he was fresh as a daisy to come up with the matchwinning play in a representative match – just like in the Ashes 2003, Three Nations Final 2006, Origin game three 2006 and countless other big games over the years. Legend.
7. Jonathan Thurston – 2 goals from 4 attempts. Another solid game from the Queensland number seven could have been remembered for all the wrong reasons after his Croker-esque miss on a penalty goal right in front with 20 to go saw NSW recover possession and steam back into the game.
8. Matt Scott – 15 runs (154 metres). Whatever this guy is on, we want some. Another unbelievably strong performance carting the ball up from the Cowboys prop, capped off with the half-break and quick play the ball on Mick Ennis which preceded the match-winning Slater try.
9. Cameron Smith – 121 receives. Man of the match, and with good reason. Smith had his hands on the ball a whopping 121 times for Queensland, expertly steering his forwards around the ruck, darting out for 10 dummy half runs (one of which produced a try) and feeding his backline with customary aplomb.
Between them, NSW’s hooking duo managed zero dummy half runs and no breaks from only 70 receives. The difference in direction up the middle told on the scoreboard, as it has consistently over recent series.
10. Petero Civoniceva – 16 runs (143 metres). Petero. Price. Scott. Webcke. Hannant. Enough already.
NSW have completely given up on matching the excellence of the Maroons up front, to the point where they are now selecting starting and bench props who consistently contribute single-digits on the hit up front.
11. Nate Myles – 28 tackles. Produced 10 fewer tackles from the same amount of minutes in the corresponding game last year, with Queensland completely dominating possession wise, making a whopping 82 fewer tackles than NSW.
12. Sam Thaiday – 13 runs (104 metres). It was Origin-vintage Thaiday again last night, with the Broncos battleaxe terrorising the NSW left edge defence with the ball and as a decoy – helping Lockyer and co set up for the big right-to-left sweeps.
13. Ashley Harrison – 34 tackles (2 missed). Combined the highest tackle count for his side with the busiest attacking performance of any of Queensland backrowers.
14. Cooper Cronk – 1 try asist. Kicked for the crucial Yow Yeh try and looked dangerous every time he touched the ball after being injected from the bench – the wonders of having an interchange player who can offer some legitimate gamebreaking ability.
15. Corey Parker – 7 runs (58 metres). Produced some important work late in his limited minutes as the other Queensland forwards tired. Made more hitups than any of the NSW prop rotation bar Tim Mannah, despite being on the field for less time than all of them.
16. Jacob Lillyman – 2 errors. Produced two fumbles as ugly as his grotesquely enlarged hamstrings. Has done well to re-earn his Origin stripes after a few years in the wilderness, but will have to hope that Big Mal is feeling generous at the selection table before Game Two.
17. Ben Hannant – 13 runs (120 metres). Got through a mountain of quality work in his 33 minutes.
The kind of guy NSW would kill to have on the bench – although given the Blues predilection for churning through about 10 props every year, Hannant would probably miss out unless he was playing for whatever team happened to be topping the table right now and / or Manly.
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