I was watching State of Origin II with a Maroons mate of mine on Wednesday night at my local bowling club (as you do).
I said to him at half time “Why was it that when Sam Thaiday dropped the ball it was racked out and yet when the same thing happened five minutes later and Cameron Smith quite obviously stripped the ball from Storm teammate Ryan Hoffman it was play on?”
“And,” I noted, “a 5-2 penalty count to the Maroons certainly wasn’t hurting their cause to look the more dominant side”.
That’s when he said to me, “And that’s exactly how it should be for the good of the game Boydy, what did you expect?”
“Exactly how it should be!! What the bloody hell do you mean by that?” I replied.
“C’mon mate” he said, “you’ve been living here in Queensland for over ten years now, you must know that if Queensland were to loose here tonight and go down 2-0 in the series there wouldn’t be a single Maroons supporter tuning in to game 3.”
His honesty took me back to a article Warren Ryan wrote several years ago when he said something to the affect that State Of Origin will only be successful if Queensland are competitive. If NSW were to dominate it would quickly loose interest north of the border.
At the time I that Warren was just being Warren but then I saw it first hand here. Before Queensland’s current seven straight winning streak, NSW had won 10 of the previous 16 years with two drawn series.
Given that Queensland were only winning on a one in four series basis, questions were starting to be asked up here about the series’ worth, particularly from Broncos supporters.
They weren’t happy that half their star-studded side were out-of-action for 6-8 weeks in the middle of every season.
Queensland were just winning regularly enough to keep the passion alive. Two more series wins in a row for NSW and I reckon State of Origin would have at best been reduced to a stand alone game each year.
I know I’ll be howled down by all the Queensland haters for writing this but I really think my mate was right. It was certainly in the interest of the State of Origin series, and rugby league in general for the Maroons to get up last Wednesday night.
Having said that can I please now appeal to Daniel Anderson that those two clowns masquerading as referees have done their job for the ‘good of the game’ and can we please now get a couple of decent whistle blowers for game three.
It would be fantastic if we were talking about how good the game itself was and not how many controversial refereeing decisions there were, in the morning after the game.
Dezza
Guest
personally its getting that way in NSW so they gunna need to turn it aorund, I never watch the 3rd game if queensland has alread won the series, no point, and its getting to be that even some clubs where I live dont even play the game if NSW has lost. so "for the good of the game"? i agree, the NRL is making it so QLD wins with bs ref calls in QLD's favour but its killing the series. need to make it fair again
State of Origin
Guest
Thanks for your wonderful post. I really like the information which you ahve shred in your post about the state of origin queensland
Queenslander from 80's footy
Guest
Which part of NSW was James Tamoa from??? The origin has had blurred lines from both sides for many years. Let's not forget Toowoomba-born Peter Sterling. I was there for Inglis first A-Grade game for Norths Devils in Brisbane, one of the best.
Queenslander from 80's footy
Guest
How do you spell lose Proofreader????' Loose' I imagine..........You are loose with your spelling advice, buy a dictionary matey.
Frustrated NSWelshman
Guest
Totally agree brother! After NSW born, raised, schooled, etc. Greg Inglis was allowed to truck out for the Maroons under some obscure rule (that isn't open to NSWelshmen) I decided I'd had enough of it being all about QLD. I maintained a partial interest in the series each year but knew QLD had to be given the rub of the green to maintain interest up there. When that same player was awarded the most controversial try in Origin history a few years ago I tuned out stating I wouldn't watch the series again until it became an even playing field again. I was persuaded to watch Game 2 this season after I was told how well NSW performed in Game 1. I was obviously disappointed to see "Horror Hayne" not only in charge of the game but making the obvious simple errors that earned him his nickname! I'll tune out again for Game 3 and someone please let me know when it's safe to watch this farce again.
up in the north
Guest
That was so very well said eater. Kudos. The game has always been Sydney centric, cant see it changing. I look forward to the time when grand finals and origin games are played at any venue, anywhere. The actual game attendance revenue is small compared to the TV revenue. So it shouldn't matter if you played in Townsville, Wagga or any other butt ..... place. At least you'll lose the home advantage, which takes some heat off the refs. As for the 'Immortal' tag. I think it got cheapened by inducting living people. As a newsouthwelshman I'm offended by Joey being an immortal, as decided by rugby league week. Reminds me of Cold Chisel smashing up the stage at a TV WEEK awards night a while ago. The media control the game, to the detriment of the game.
clipper
Guest
What did she do that was so bad for Soccer or Rugby?
Can't Talk, Eating...
Guest
Yeah, fair enough. I was probably being too emotional and looking a bit too much at the end product and not enough at the lead-up. I just really wish he'd stop coming across as Benny Elias 2.0!
Yyyy
Guest
Interesting, previously it was said that QLD had players that should have/not play for QLD due to birth thing, etc....and now we have another theory ....this makes me wonder what will happen after next year and onward if QLD continue their winning dominance.???????????????
The Spectator
Roar Guru
the commentators said so! Oh no... not u too!!
Griffo
Guest
I'm a bit surprised you say that CT,E. I'm a Queensland supporter and in my mind NSW wouldn't have gotten close last year if it wasn't for Farah. His kicks lead to Stewart and Morris' tries. He was easily your best player all series and he's playing hooker, half back and 5/8 all at once this series. He needs a bit of support.
so true
Guest
Never a truer word has been spoken.. but I fear the logic will outwit most of the recipients.
blackcaviar&broncos
Guest
Remove Brett Morris and put a new winger.. Remove Pearce and put new playmaker, 5/8 or 1/2.. These clowns are always shoe in yet they dont perform. NSW need Brett Mullins not Mathew Johns players...
Can't Talk, Eating...
Guest
Laurie Daley was a good move. Next step should be getting rid of Gallen as captain tho. This bloke deadset has the reverse Midas touch. Plus, he makes us all look like petulant grubs who lose the plot when things don't go our way, and who consistently blames everyone else but himself for losing.
Can't Talk, Eating...
Guest
I really wish Farah would just shut up. I blame him for us being dusted at the death in Game 3 last year. If he wasn't whingeing to the refs, we wouldn't lost the ball out of bounds and lost all hope of a return field goal. Honestly, I can't forgive that. What's scary is that I'm pretty sure he is the back-up captain to Gallen. Two models of leadership right there. What's worse is that, as I see it, Jarrod bloody Hayne is the only other real choice - apart from Lewie, but he's one of the oldest in the line-up. Wish he was 22, not 32 or however old he is.
Can't Talk, Eating...
Guest
Dunno if this re-inforces or refutes Boydy's article, but, I think it's important we look at a few numbers here: - NSW has 75% of the NRL to choose from, but hasn't even won 50% of the games. - At least 66% of the Rugbly League media coverage in Australia comes from NSW-based sources. - Up until very recently, the overwhelming majority of commentators on Channel 9 - which has no competition on free to air TV - were from NSW. Hate to say it, but I think that's actually quite unflattering for us. And how can you argue with that - it's all plain as day. Whether or not this means 1) that QLD has to do things twice as well just to break even or 2) that NSW knows all the above and makes special allowances for QLD to win or something, well, I dunno. I do wonder at the Andrew Johns so-called 'Immortal' decision - not only were the merits of this debateable, but it also came at a time when NSW - in spite of the numbers quoted above : 1) had lost a number of Origin series in a row 2) were struggling to get their players in the Australian team, (and for whom the last two captains were from Queensland) 3) were only able to begin selling-out their stadiums again with the help of Chamnnel 9 and the Telegraph, and 4) when it didn't look like any Sydney team would make the NRL grand finals. So I think quite a case can be made that the Johns decision was made "for the good of the game". The cynic in me also thinks that the Gallen no send off and the Merrin incident might also have been a result of this sort of reasoning... Anyway, when you dominate the coverage, you dominate the narrative - meaning that your voice in the inevitable cross-border "cheating" accusations, the referee complaints and the all-pervading "whinge" barbs that are thrown at each other, has much more of an audience, and therefore, much more influence. Origin has never been a fair fight, unfortunately for us. And,despite this, we keep ending up on the wrong side of history. How good are we going, really.
Tony
Guest
Well said, V.O.R.
Tony
Guest
oikee, you are a gem. Keep fighting the good fight.
Proofreader
Guest
Learn how to spell ' LOSE' or your writing loses its value.
Queenslander from 80's footy
Guest
I went to every State of Origin game throughout the 80's, 90's and early 00's. I only stopped going because business got tight, kids got older and tickets got very hard to buy. Win, lose or draw I always saw Queensland supporters passionate! I have been to Sydney three times in the "Andrew Johns and Brad Fittler" days and had rubbish thrown at me on each occasion due to my Queensland jersey. We even lost each game I went to in Sydney but the NSW scumbag supporters still carried on like trash. I have never seen a NSW supporter punched or thrown rubbish on because of a jersey....usually a fight will happen when a blue-wearing sook gets cranky about referees and other excuses. In Queensland we don't use excuses of referees or cry about the dirty tactics, we just play footy and accept the loss as going down to a better team (On the night). Leave origin as it is....34 passionate elite footballers smashing each other about until one concedes and the crowd goes off. Both teams have done well in the past few years. NSW should remember the 90's when we struggled to win.