NSW coach Laurie Daley has requested last night’s two Origin referees Gerard Sutton and Ben Cummins be replaced for Origin 2 at Suncorp on June 22.
That staggering news was reported on Channel Nine by the new host Yvonne Sampson during the post-match segment.
For starters, that’s very unlike Daley. Daley is a renowned stickler for doing the right thing by the game.
More from State of Origin 1:
» Five talking points
» The big issues examined
» The Liebke Ratings
» State of Origin Game 1 full time: Queensland hold on to win
» All the action in our live blog
If Daley wanted a change for whatever reason, and last night the refs weren’t the reason why NSW lost 6-4, Daley would take it behind closed doors to NRL boss Todd Greenberg.
Having said that, Origin 1 was one helluva arm wrestle for 80 minutes with only ten points scored. All came in the first half. There were only three kicks at goal, with Johnathan Thurston’s sole penalty success the difference between the two sides.
Played at a cracking pace, players interviewed at game’s end could hardly speak they were so knackered.
The defence on both sides was like Fort Knox, with four moments vital to the outcome.
The NSW try was thanks to James Maloney holding his pass to allow Boyd Cordner to steam onto the ball to touch down.
Thurston was responsible for the Queensland try by holding his pass to draw the NSW defenders before sending Darius Boyd on his way. Boyd unloaded to Justin O’Neill for Dane Gagai to dive over in the corner without a hand on him.
It’s staggering how often Queensland score within five minutes of half time, whether before or after the break.
The other two vital moments were in the second half.
Greg Inglis made a bust, and looked outside to send rookie winger Corey Oates on his way to a try 40m away, but Oates was at least five metres short of support. This forced Inglis to die with the ball.
What Oates did was unforgivable.
Not long afterwards, NSW centre Josh Morris dived for the line, and was awarded the try by Sutton who called for confirmation from the bunker.
As it turned out Morris was centimetres short with Aidan Guerra’s knee and Inglis’ hand preventing the critical four-pointer.
And that was the story of the game, with tremendous defence the highlight.
Queensland backrower Matt Gillett was awarded man of the match by Channel Nine, but fullback Darius Boyd was my selection.
He was rock solid all night even though he was constantly under pressure from either Adam Reynolds or Maloney’s bombs or grubber kicks, or big forwards aiming right at him.
My next choice was Queensland skipper Cameron Smith, the coolest customer on the paddock.
Despite 80 minutes of pressure in the engine room, he led his team to a gutsy victory while celebrating his record-breaking 37th Origin appearance.
My best in Blue was James Maloney who was the go-to man for NSW trying to set up more tries.
But his supports were far too conservative so it’s a pity he didn’t link more often with David Klemmer and Andrew Fifita who were always dangerous with ball in hand.
And rookie fullback Matt Moylan is there to stay, he really is an exciting prospect.
The stats prove there was nothing in this game.
NSW made 333 tackles, Queensland 338.
Both sides missed 15 tackles which was minor in the context of the game.
The penalty count was at 4-all, with NSW having 51 per cent of the possession.
The 80,251 who braved the elements at ANZ Stadium were treated to a dog-eat-dog contest that Queensland deserved to win and with Origin 2 at their fortress Suncorp, the Maroons must be favoured to win yet another series.
And they will no doubt call on their 235 Origin-capped squad of last night, compared to the NSW tally of only 111.
That’s a bag full of Queensland experience.
To counter that, NSW must bring back Michael Ennis for Robbie Farah and Beau Scott for Boyd Cordner if they are going to have any chance of squaring the series with the decider back at ANZ.
Both Ennis and Scott should have been a duty last night, but June 22 will be better late than never.
Raugeee
Guest
1/2 a metre forward - not that it matters
Dan
Guest
Having just watched the highlights I cannot believe that the Cordner try was allowed or that Klemmer wasn't penalised for raising the knees. QLD might have got lucky but NSW got away with 2 massive calls right there and both pretty obvious.
db
Guest
Because NSW are unworthy.
Marvel
Guest
The refs will have to favour NSW next time to get a decider otherwise the RL will look amateurish.....Why hasn't Daley been fined for his comments????.
Marvel
Guest
Offside all night - were you there level with defending team across the who range of the field because you couldn't tell from the TV...
Albo
Guest
"....whereas Qld penalties were for high tackle (unlucky), dumping tackle and holding down in tackle." Says it all really ! When QLD were offside all night, holding them down in every play the ball, and yet no penalties blown, apart from those blatant ones you listed that they couldn't deny ! Just the usual State Of Origin fare ! Blow a couple of early penalties, even undeserved ones, then throw your whistle away and let anything go !
Albo
Guest
Yep ! The touchie guessed ! TRY ! The ref guessed ! TRY ! The bunker guessed ( because no real vision available at point of impact) NO TRY !! huh ?
Albo
Guest
Sorry David, I am a huge Beau Scott fan, but his strength is defence. We are already OK in that department ( we held QLD to one try!!), but we are desperate for some running forwards like Cordner ! He was our best forward and most likely to do damage in attack. The rest are the same tough trundlers never likely to cause any damage but to help tire the other mob out. We need two Cordners, or at least one and a Cartwright type in the back row. Same goes for your Ennis call. A tough warrior but not likely to do any better than Farah with his less creativity. Our whole problem is in the lack of creativity around 6, 7 & 9 , the same problem we have had for a decade. We had more than enough opportunities to come up with the required minimum of two tries to win the game, and we couldn't manage it, yet again !! Dropping Cordner & Farah won't improve our lot there ! More game time together for our new spine will make the difference ! The only change I would possibly make is to bring in another running / creative backrower like Cartwright.
William Dalton Davis
Roar Rookie
"I'm not going to blame the refs but the decisions they made really killed us."
William Dalton Davis
Roar Rookie
When Boyd had the ball and got kneed in the back by Fergo? Would you rather the ref let time keep running?
William Dalton Davis
Roar Rookie
Oates made some real strong runs when QLD needed them. I'm not going to criticise anyone willing to make the hard yards because they were late getting to position the very next play. He's only human after all.
db
Guest
He's been doing it the entire time he's been playing in the top grade.
BlueBloods
Guest
Totally agree. A Cartwright or Merrin who have got a offload unlike most of the robotic bashers in the pack. They'd take pressure off the halves too.
Howard
Guest
Why did Qld deserve to win? More biased reporting/commentary.
Dean - Surry Hills
Guest
Loz is just replicating Cam Smith, because Gal is incapable of bending the refs ear. This type of bemoaning generally ensures that a team receives preferential treatment in the next instance.
Upfromdown
Guest
Players make mistakes, refs make mistakes. It is a weak excuse and says to his players it was not your fault nor my fault. So they will get belted the next game, with or without the same refs, and the next excuse will come out. In the end the team is not good enough and hasn't been for a long time. Again proving that SOO is more hype than substance.
Jordan
Guest
Completely agree he is a thug and running with knees up needs to be stamped out 10 weeks on the sideline at the least cant plead ignorance.
steveng
Roar Rookie
The thing is that 'the bunker' had no visual and the 'slow mo' was inconclusive if it was or wasn't a try! They shouldn't of ruled that it wasn't a try! They should have gone with the refs decision, full stop!
steveng
Roar Rookie
That is absolutely ridiculous to suggest this 'NSW revolves around addressing the victim mentality that has taken hold at the end of a decade of dominance by QLD' that is not correct, because its been apart of SOO series and the refereeing for ages, it was started right from the beginning e.g. 1982-88 by none other than Barry Gomersall (RIP) who was that one sided towards Qld that he even admitted it by saying '"How do you account for the fact that in your nine matches Queensland won seven and NSW won only two?", Gomersall was said to have replied "Well, surely anyone's entitled to two bad games' lol There is something terribly wrong when the bias for Qld is continually one sided! I don't know if its intentional or just a means to keeping the SOO series going so that Qld win all the time? Its a baffling phenomenon that to this day there is no explanation and its been apart of these series right from day one!
V.O.R.
Guest
The closeup of the touchies face looking at the replay on the big screen said it all...he had no idea!