State of Origin I: The Liebke Ratings

Queensland won the first State of Origin game 11-10 with a unique blend of fear, surprise and ruthless efficiency.

Here are the Liebke Ratings for the match (and here are The Roar’s official ratings for the Blues and the Maroons.

Full State of Origin 1 wrap:
>> ORIGIN 1 MATCH REPORT
>> FULL ORIGIN RESULTS
>> Live blog and highlights
>> Cameron Smith given man of the match
>> The Roar’s official New South Wales player ratings
>> The Roar’s official Queensland player ratings

Pre-Game Hype
Grade: A

One of the strongest elements of State of Origin is always the pre-game hype, as the upcoming match is prepared to be woven into the rich tapestry of Origin folklore. Or, given the nature of rugby league, less ‘woven’ and more ‘bashed brutally’.

Past Origin greats (or POGs, as they prefer to be called) like David ‘Cement’ Gillespie emerge on random news broadcasts to offer their thoughts, such as they are, and remind us of a era when such nicknames were considered viable.

But as frenzied as the week leading up to the game is, the hype blasts into overdrive once the Channel Nine broadcast begins. And this first game was no exception.

While they didn’t go with my preferred option of showing an 18-month-old Queensland toddler, scarred by the torment of never seeing his state win an Origin series, they did pad out the broadcast in other thrilling ways.

This included dressing room eavesdropping, Shannon Noll caterwauling, speculation on whether NSW had selected enough players with surnames of the form T__OU and, of course, Ray ‘Rabbits’ Warren’s unparody-able word sketches as he introduces the players.

In a way, it’s a shame they have to ruin all the fun by playing the actual game.

In another way, y’know, enough already.

First Half Tries
Grade: B-

Queensland started the match strongly, despite there being no time to play their national anthem before kick-off. While Billy Slater was denied an early try when the video referee ruled him to have been ‘too obnoxious’ about it, Queensland still opened the scoring, courtesy of Cooper Cronk, my favourite player who sounds like a car engine part.

New South Wales struck back, however, when Josh Morris won the race for a Josh Dugan kick, in arguably one of the best Josh-centric tries in Origin history. So good was the try that Morris didn’t even dislocate his shoulder in scoring it, once again showing up his twin, Brett.

Unluckily for NSW, however, the camera that Morris was given to celebrate into was positioned in the corner, rather than under the posts, and the conversion was therefore missed.

Shortly after, Beau Scott justified his selection as an unparalleled attacking weapon and scored the try that would send NSW into halftime with a 10-6 lead.

Still, nobody should have been surprised. The Blues were always going to bounce back hard after the Mick Malthouse sacking. (A little State of Origin joke there for the addled Victorians who’ve accidentally clicked here. You’re welcome, guys.)

Immortality
Grade: D

“During the halftime break, Kenny Sutcliffe and a sawn-off shotgun will test just how immortal Wally Lewis and Andrew Johns really are.”

I could have sworn I’d heard Phil ‘Josh’ Gould say that at one point leading into halftime. But perhaps that was just wishful thinking on my part. Instead, Nine went for a break in rugby league halftime tradition by advertising a disaster (the movie San Andreas) rather than just enacting one (a performance by Billy Idol).

Heck, they didn’t even have a player come out after halftime reminding himself what state he plays for by shouting it at the top of his lungs.

All a bit avant-garde, really.

Greg Inglis
Grade: D

In the second half, we were reminded that Greg Inglis was playing in this game, as he started doing things. Like dropping the ball. And passing the ball over the sideline. And being tackled one-handed by a fallen Morris.

A few more games like this, and Queensland might finally give him back.

Despite Double Agent Inglis, however, Queensland were well on top. They’d cunningly tricked NSW into playing a completely different sport. And, while the Blues were playing a spirited game of LineDropOutBall, it didn’t seem to be a game with much of a future.

Inevitably, Queensland levelled the scores via a Will Chambers try, and then easily out-coolheaded the NSW side, with Cronk kicking the winning field goal.

Probability Theory
Grade:F

After the match ended, Peter Sterling once again reminded us of the vitally important statistic that the team that wins the first game goes on to win the series 75 per cent of the time.

While this seems like a powerful advertisement for the value of series momentum, it actually turns out that winning the first game is no more important to winning the series than winning any random game, since basic probability theory reveals that you would get the exact same 75 per cent proportion in a series that was decided solely by tossing coins.

Given this information, Channel Nine are now rumoured to be strongly considering switching to coin-tossing the result going forward to allow more time for their pre-game hype.

Bad news for the returning Paul Gallen, who may have to find some other excuse to punch Nate Myles in the head. Luckily, I’m sure there are plenty.