With 73 minutes of the second State of Origin match gone, New South Wales had finally moved ahead of Queensland after Trent Hodkinson crossed for the first try of the match.
After Hodkinson stepped up and converted his own try, the Maroons kicked off, and the official ruling was that it went dead on the full, after Aaron Woods looked to catch it, and then left it at the last second to go out on the full. But did it touch him?
The rule to consider is that it doesn’t matter if Woods played at the ball or not – if it touched him, the ball was last touched by NSW, and the ball would have been Queensland’s through a drop-out, with seven minutes on the clock.
Instead, the ball was ruled to have been kicked out on the full by the Maroons, giving the Blues possession back in Queensland’s half, setting themselves up for a victory and a series win.
Was this the moment that decided the series? Would Queensland have scored if they had possession in the closing stages?
Woods himself had the final say, telling Channel Nine: “They kicked it dead, and the rest is history.”
What did you think?
Seriously we need better refs. It was clear that the ball hit Aaron Woods. Can't believe the game was decided by a mistake. #stateoforigin
— Andrew Huynh (@AndrewHuynh24) June 18, 2014
Aaron Woods and the "Jersey of God" moment #Origin
— Sir Wal G (@Gisikus) June 18, 2014
Take a look and decide for yourself:
@TheRoarSports If a ball hits you in the woods but nobody sees it, did it actually happen?
— Dave Jenkins (@djok86) June 18, 2014
When he says "The rest is history" he means, "Of course I touched it and yes I am a cheat" Aaron woods #origin
— Bruce (@bga069) June 18, 2014
(Image via Channel Nine)