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The talk coming into Origin III was how Ricky Stuart had unlocked the secret of new rugby league. No more props, it was going to be Dutch total football forward packs with a slew of back rowers capable of offloads and wearing down the opposing big guys with angled runs.
Never mind that NSW has arguably had a more mobile pack in each of the six series, this time it was different. This time it was 2011 the 2010 model of Queensland props was as out dated as leg warmers and head bands.
It seemed so simple and so effective in Origin II and a blueprint for certain success, provided you rule out the possibility that NSW just executed better or that out of the box tactics are built somewhat on the element of unknown.
It was clear that Queensland were more prepared this time around, but more importantly ,it became obvious that the tactic put control of the game into the hands of the Queensland play makers.
Watch the NSW defence early; they swarmed fast to get to the larger Queensland ball carriers before they gained momentum and they did a stellar job early on. This takes commitment and speed, but most of all it takes precious energy to rush forward, wrestle a behemoth and rush back tackle after tackle.
This isn’t as much of a problem when in five tackles time, you get a chance to throw angled runs and inside balls to keep the big guys moving. You’re both using your petrol but you know you’ve got the bigger tank.
But here is the rub. This only works if you’ve got roughly equal opportunity to wear down your opponent before the scoreboard becomes a 14th man.
In the opening exchanges the NSW forwards were always going to be losing the battle of field position, as the steam trains are going straight ahead whilst the hybrid hatch backs run at angles or look for offloads. What this gave Queensland was attacking field position where the ball players take more of the load and give the big guys a rest.
If Queensland turns that into points or more possession then they are in trouble. NSW did the part that was in their control with an admirable job of restricting points, but the ability to recycle possession rested on the shoulders of the Queenslanders execution.
We all saw the result. Tired back rowers trying to tackle fresh behemoth forwards led to so much time in attack for Queensland that Matt Scott just lodged a claim for squatters rights on the NSW goal line.
The score line may give NSW some false hope that they weren’t that far off the pace, but in reality Queensland could have kept the same tactics rolling and put the shutters up on the game. But 34 guys got white line fever and it descended into touch football scrappiness.
To be clear, this isn’t a criticism of Sticky’s tactics; he played the hand he was dealt. Without the props at his disposal he tried something out of the box, but it was always a big gamble going back to the well a second time.
He might have been better placed in game three putting a bit more starch in the pack and then turning to Soward and saying, “Your kicking game, that is our third prop – make sure he shows up.” At least that way he puts the game into his players hands rather than the best half back, five eighth, fullback and hooker in the world.
But, hey, as a rugby league community, we get pulled in by one match and ironically the same tactic every year.
Sure hindsight is 20/20, but this is a storyline more predictable than a Sandra Bullock rom-com, the pundits always shout from the roof tops after a win in which “mobile Blues pack runs ragged the aging Queenslanders” – and yet here we are, six series on the trot, as NSW continues to reinvent the square wheel.
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