State of Origin 1, the 100th game in rugby league’s biggest battleground, was a cracker. From my perspective, it was a cracker made even better by the New South Wales victory.
And not just any old victory. One of the gutsiest, toughest wins by a NSW team in Origin history.
A win that has, hopefully, killed off the myth that Queensland have some kind of mortgage on ‘Origin spirit’.
I get the irrits when I hear or see that the Blues apparently lack passion, heart or spirit. It’s plainly untrue.
Firstly, for most of the past decade, the gap in talent between the two States has been enormous.
Queensland has owned the ‘spine’ positions in the Australian team, with some players who will be on the Immortals shortlist in future. NSW have struggled manfully, but have simply not had the cattle where it counts.
Yet the Blues have suffered the humiliation of a 3-0 defeat just once, in 2010, at a point where a Queensland Second XIII would have backed themselves against the Blues.
In all other years of Queensland’s winning streak, NSW have been able to drag out at least one win. In five of these eight years, the series has gone to a decider.
Given the gap in class, just forcing this supreme Queensland side to a decider is a display of heart. But Wednesday night was the greatest display possible of NSW spirit.
As the tide turned Queensland’s way, with a rabid Maroons crowd urging their heroes on, the Blues dug deep. They battled injury, a home crowd and the mental demons of eight long winters of discontent.
Brett Morris and his effort to deny his former Dragons’ teammate Darius Boyd a hat-trick epitomised the NSW spirit.
Morris has been part of the last few losing NSW campaigns, and screamed in pain from a dislocated shoulder rather than celebration after he scored the Blues’ first try. But when his state needed him, he found that resolve to save the game.
Others are in doubt for Origin 2, due to the sheer physical toll taken by their lionhearted efforts.
None of this can take away from a determined Queensland fightback. They laid siege to the Blues’ line like their lives depended on it, having had to hold on just as desperately in the first half to avoid a Jarryd Hayne-inspired flogging.
Both sides have many wounds to lick before game two. A battle like that does not end without casualties.
But the real story is the proof that every drop of Queensland spirit can be matched by the Blues.
Reckon you can pick the winning team? Build your own dream team with Draftstars daily fantasy and compete on any match. For great odds on the NRL head on over to PlayUp. Imagine what you could be buying instead. Set a deposit limit.
Wayne Bennett has confirmed he has signed a three-year deal at South Sydney and will return to the club next year to work with…
Graham Annesley made a telling observation about the bunker's ruling of no-try to Gold Coast centre Brian Kelly in the controversial 28-24 loss to…
The end of Round 11 might not seem the obvious place to stop and take stock of the rugby league world, but it is…
He shouldn't go so far as to put a broom through the squad and pick a team full of debutants, but the composition of the sq will make or break Madge in his first series as coach.
It’s Wayne’s world and the Rabbitohs are living in it. Again. The sequel is rarely as good as the original and that was definitely…
No other forward in his time came close to his dominance as a ball distributor, and his all-round influence on a game.
