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The Queensland Maroons defeated the New South Wales Blues 26-6 at Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane last night to square the 2013 State of Origin series at one game apiece.
As has become customary with rugby league’s biggest spectacle, a few of the stories that came out of the game actually had nothing to do with football.
As the Blues lick their wounds, and the Maroons celebrate a return to form, I’ve picked out four topics from the game that have lingered in the mind long after the full-time siren has sounded.
1. Nathan Merritt isn’t up to Origin football
“It was his first game.”
“Suncorp Stadium is a tough place to play for a rookie.”
“He didn’t get any opportunities in attack, and he’s attacking player.”
“Justin Hodges stunk in his Origin debut, and he went on to be a fantastic player.”
Are there any other excuses that Souths fans, or Merritt apologists, want to make for the winger’s performance last night? Facts are facts: the Rabbitohs try-scorer was terrible in his Origin debut.
Though he wouldn’t be the first player to struggle in his first game representing his state, the issue is that the major criticism of Merritt – and the main reason he hasn’t played at this level before – is that his defence is poor.
There was little evidence in last night’s game to suggest such a perception is unfair.
Unfortunately for Nathan, and the Blues, concerns over his selection proved to be vindicated: he was absolutely nowhere in defence, and found out numerous times by Queensland.
He was actually lucky not be punished for a mistake early in the game, coming off his wing for no reason. Whilst he got away with it, Jonathan Thurston misses very little on a football field, and he immediately licked his lips, summed up the situation, and then pounced down Merritt’s side of the field every chance he got.
Hindsight is a wonderful thing, but NSW selectors should be grilled on why they believed a player who is a bad defender at NRL level wouldn’t be liability at a higher level of football.
Merritt deserved the chance to prove whether or not he was Origin player.
Sadly for him, we may now know the answer to that question.
2. The refereeing was disgraceful
Now wait just a minute, my fine Queensland friends. Before you unleash a tirade of abuse on me and called me one-eyed, let me first say that the better team won.
The Queensland Maroons were sensational last night, and thoroughly deserved to win the match.
However, Queensland received many favourable calls in the first twenty minutes, and cynics – or simply Blues fans – would suggest that the referees had decided that they would like to see a decider in Sydney in a few weeks time.
Yet, that’s not really what I want to discuss, for as I have already stated, the better team won. What does deserve mentioning is the handling of the second half punch-up.
Considering the events of game one, the subsequent media coverage, and the proclamations that any player who throws a punch will receive ten minutes in the sin-bin, we knew the referees were going to be pretty strict on any violence.
Though what we couldn’t forecast is how horrendously the officials would overreact.
Brent Tate getting sin-binned might be the worst decision in Origin history. It was honestly disgraceful. The Maroons winger was punched in the face, and was then sent to the sidelines for ten minutes. It was an appalling adjudication from the referees.
To that point, Greg Bird didn’t do much wrong either. Sure, you could send him to the bin for running in, but if you were going to be consistent, you would have needed to march approximately twenty other players as well.
Incidentally, can anyone remember a bigger Origin cheap shot than Trent Merrin’s? Even to this Blue-goggled wearing New South Welshman, that was distasteful. Tate wasn’t looking, and all he did was give Gallen a push, yet Merrin planted one or two on him. That was not a moment the Dragons prop should be proud of.
Though I digress.
I understand the need for rugby league to appear like it is not condoning punches, but for the referees to overact so far the other way during rugby league’s crown jewel, and sin-bin players that did little wrong, was nothing short of a disgrace.
It will be unfortunate that so many people will focus on the decision to send four players to the sin-bin instead of Queensland’s brilliance, but the saving grace is that at least it didn’t have an effect the result of the game.
3. Queensland were back to their clinical best
Much like Mark Twain and Kevin Rudd, reports of the Maroons’ death – and an end to their seven year dominance – were grossly exaggerated.
When it comes to strategy, there are two components that matter: having the right tactics in the first place, and then having the ability to execute them. A large part of the Maroons success over the last seven years has been their propensity to tick both those boxes.
Last night in Brisbane, they were back to their clinical best in this department.
They identified that James Maloney was a key to the Blues attacking prowess in game one, so they ran their forwards at him repeatedly last night. Not only did the NSW five-eighth miss six tackles, but the added workload in defense blunted his attack, with his kicking and running game rendered completely ineffective.
Once the Queensland halves realised that Nathan Merritt wasn’t up to the task defensively, they attacked down his side of the field repeatedly, and reaped the benefits.
Understanding that field position and pressure were going to be vital ingredients to a victory, Cameron Smith opted to put foot to boot early in the tackle count, with his tactical kicking from dummy-half early in the tackle count surprising the Blues and pinning them on their own line on a number of occasions.
Knowing they lacked dynamism in attack in game one, Queensland inserted Corey Parker into the starting line-up, and he responded with early incisive runs, combined with deft offloads, that gave the Maroons an added attacking dimension.
The same was true when Daly Cherry-Evans entered the fray. He altered between second receiver and backrow during his time on the field, and it supplied the Maroons with yet another option in attack.
Lastly, but by no mean exhaustively, the Maroons’ halves kicking game was sensational.
Well coached. Well executed. Well played.
4. NSW were not so clinical
The Blues execution was very poor.
The Maroons put them under a lot of pressure, and the parochial Queensland crowd did exactly the same. Both deserve a lot of credit for the Blues misfortunes; yet anyway you look at it, the fact is that NSW were a shambles in attack.
Even allowing for the game one victory, it’s not disloyal or a sign of panic to ask the following questions:
Why can Mitchell Pearce hit Billy Slater on the chest with seemingly every kick for the last three years, yet he can’t hit his outside backs on the chest with a pass?
How can the Blues outside backs only receive such limited opportunities with the ball?
Can Josh Dugan produce plays for anyone but himself?
Why are NSW so consistently appalling on fifth tackle options when attacking their opponent’s line?
Why was Robbie Farah required to do so much general play kicking from first receiver?
What exactly is Josh Reynolds’ role?
I remain optimistic the Blues can bounce back in Sydney, but I would hope Laurie Daley has the answers to these questions if he seriously hopes to end seven years of New South Wales misery.