There is an enormous amount of deja vu entering into the second State of Origin encounter of 2018.
In 2017, New South Wales comprehensively defeated Queensland in Game 1 28-4, and in response the Maroons comprehensively changed their roster and salvaged the series. However, in typical fashion, the media coverage south of the Tweed in the lead up to Game 2 had proclaimed the dynasty had already arrived before the mission was complete.
In the end, this somewhat filtered into the mentality of the NSW State of Origin team, and the joke was on them again.
The Blues didn’t win by such a margin in Game 1 this year, and accordingly the Maroons have only made two adjustments to the line-up for Game Two. However, while the Blues camp and their local media are trying to not fall into the same trap as last year by keeping a lid on things, one example they have struggled to contain their enthusiasm in regard to Nathan Cleary’s potential.
There is an apparent desperation within NSW circles to have a marketable messiah to dominate the sporting and business landscape of Sydney. Coach Brad Fittler has expressed regularly his desire to see the Blues to have a stronger connection to the big end of town as well as heartland rugby league communities across the state who have both been disenfranchised with Origin since 2005 to different degrees and for different reasons.
As such it seemed the pre and post-match scripts of Game 1 were already written for Cleary, irrespective of how he played. The bigger stories were Damien Cook’s performance, on debut in what was arguably one of the great hooker performances ever produced in a Blue jersey; his combination with James Tedesco who ruthlessly seized on a slow and soft middle Queensland defence; Maloney dominating the battle of the halves on the game’s biggest stage; and the Blues defence stood up well to an albeit blunt Maroons attack, even though expectations were the fastest ever NSW backline would be turnstiles in defence.
No question Cleary is a great player with a tremendous amount of potential, but the media attention on him over the past month is completely disproportionate to his contributions in Game One. He hasn’t yet played 50 first grade matches, nor gone beyond week two of the NRL finals and was nurtured into his first Origin game, he is only 20 after all.
A number of NSW halfbacks could have performed as well as Cleary in Game One, especially given the opposition was also in a rebuilding phase for the first time in over a decade. There is a history of NSW jumping to conclusions in predicting the next Andrew Johns over the past decade with the likes of Mitchell Pearce, Adam Reynolds and Luke Brooks.
Consequently, it might be best for NSW and Cleary that not much attention is drawn to the current Blues halfback until some other more substantial milestones are complete. Ultimately such pressure and hype appears to have been somewhat counterproductive for players reaching their potential in NSW.
(Photo by Robert Prezioso/Getty Images)
To demonstrate how close the two teams are this year, Game 1 was effectively decided on six plays that could have gone either way, but on this occasion all went the way of the Blues, including:
1. 20th minute, NSW 2-0
Will Chambers dropping a pass with daylight in front of him on the NSW 30m line. Instead of leading a strong attacking foray to take the lead, the Maroons struggle to recover and Cook quickly pounced on some slow and ragged defenders in the middle to set Tedesco up for a try.
2. 39th minute, NSW 8-6
The initial call of NSW forcing the ball dead in-goal was strangely overruled without sufficient evidence on both camera angles. A line drop out could have given the Maroons the opportunity to go into the lead at the halftime break.
3. 47th minute, Queensland 12-8
Dane Gagai was ruled to have lost the ball on his own 20m line when Angus Crichton had hands all over the ball and could have easily been penalised. During the ensuing set, Maloney through a short ball forward pass that was let go, before Latrell Mitchell went into score the Blues second try.
4. 50th minute, 12-all
Tom Trbojevic try had a minor bobble that was millimetres from touching Cameron Munster.
5. 60th minute, NSW 18-12
After making a break down the left-hand side of the field, the Maroons spin the ball across to the right-hand side on the third tackle, however, Chambers elects to kick the ball and surrender possession.
6. 69th minute, NSW 18-12
On the back of another Tedesco bust, Maloney throws another pass that was borderline 3-4m forward to Josh Addo-Carr that gave the Blues the final lead.
In the end, Queensland were not able to handle the above scenarios well enough, missing far too many tackles for winning an Origin match. This leaky and slow defence in the middle of the park, combined with the blunt attack from the halves combination on debut and the errors from Chambers during crucial moments are the three key aspects for Queensland to rectify if they are to win Game 2.
Queensland’s changes for Game 2 aren’t just roster based adjustments of the injured fullback Billy Slater returning to replace the injured Michael Morgan and the other through the in-form back Kalyn Ponga replacing utility Anthony Milford on the bench.
(AAP Image/Dave Hunt)
Loyalty and redemption having been embraced by Queensland when it comes to improving the slow and leaky frontline defence and minimising the errors from Chambers. You would expect these mistakes will not be made again given there are ready made replacements banging on the door to put on a Maroons jersey in the form of Tim Glasby, Joe Ofahengaue and Corey Oates.
The incumbents’ careers are on the line and NSW shouldn’t expect to be gifted as many opportunities to score in Game 2.
Halfback Ben Hunt has a had a full week of training to better combine with his backline and five-eighth Cameron Muster. In Game 1, it was their first ever professional game together in the halves and only had two sessions together during camp due to Hunt’s niggling injuries in the lead-up.
The result was a disjointed attack with Hunt not playing to his strengths of running the ball.
From all accounts during his interview with Triple M last Sunday, coach Kevin Walters is feeling optimistic in this front for tonight’s game.
While NSW are firm favourites to win Game 2 and the series, the series is delicately poised with Queensland’s Game 1 sinners primed to redeem themselves. In doing so they will take control of the series before returning to Brisbane to give Billy Slater the grandest of Origin farewells in what will be another serious case of Origin deja vu.
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