- Video
-
Club Roar
Captured a great grassroots sporting moment? We want to see it!Content Collections
The Roar Community
- Join
- Login
Opinion
New South Wales only had one week to process their upset loss against Queensland in Game 1.
As expected, the Blues made changes in order to extend this series. Most notably, Cody Walker replaced Luke Keary at five-eighth to partner Nathan Cleary. With Boyd Cordner and Cameron Murray out, Fittler has also opted for a bench full of forwards with no utility player having Nathan Brown, Dale Finucane and Isaah Yeo joining the starting 17.
Meanwhile, Queensland bring in Valentine Holmes replacing an injured AJ Brimson with Dunamis Lui and Moeaki Fotuaika coming in for Coen Hess and Christian Welch.
Which changes will reap the most rewards?
For the Blues, they definitely don’t lack talent, but they were thoroughly outplayed in Game 1 and their mindset did not seem right. New South Wales have to start the game on the front foot and must not let up as Queensland always play to the final whistle.
Coming back to Sydney, the Blues are favourites to win the game. But this just piles on pressure for the Blues and how they respond under adversity will be really telling.
It’s interesting to note that Fittler remains confident in his backline making no changes even though Jack Wighton was unable to match-up with Dane Gagai. If Cody Walker can utilise his running game while linking up with James Tedesco, Clint Gutherson and Josh Addo-Carr, the Blues could certainly cause lots of trouble on the inexperienced edge of Kurt Capewell and Phillip Sami similar to Game 1.
It should be encouraging that the Blues have filled their bench with forwards. The key to the game for Fittler should be to get his forwards to run it straight and hard. They need to simplify their play and be more direct. The Blues made five metres less than the Maroons in terms of average set distance as they tried to run decoys and go sideways too often.
The forwards need to lead the team to opportunistic positions and allow Nathan Cleary to generate repeat sets.
While there will be plenty of discussions of how New South Wales can improve, Queensland are in the luxury position of being able to play carefree. Once again, the expectation is that New South Wales should come out on top but if the Maroons can frustrate the Blues and keep it close, it becomes a mental battle at the end.
Nathan Cleary will need to bounce back after being outplayed in Game 1. When the Blues needed him to calm things down and lead the team he was nowhere to be found.
The constant in this series for over a decade seems to be the consistency in Queensland’s performances. The Blues need to come out with more urgency by matching and even exceeding the intensity and energy of the Maroons. Recent times have shown that an average performance isn’t enough to beat Queensland.
(Photo by Mark Kolbe/Getty Images)
During 2018 and 2019, it was some of the best football New South Wales had produced to win the series. Expect a high-quality game in Game 2 from both sides especially with the Blues returning to ANZ Stadium.
If Wayne Bennett’s men can weather an early storm by keeping it close in the first 20 minutes, they can try to slow the game down after and make it a grind for the Blues to earn.
The major change of placing Cody Walker as the five-eighth is certainly a high-risk, high-reward decision. He didn’t play particularly well in 2019 but it’s evident that if he is given time, he can terrorise opposing defences.
One could say that bringing in Zac Lomax or Stephen Crichton while Jack Wighton moved to five-eighth was another viable option.
Overall, the talent and skills of the Blues squad aren’t lacking. Where this game will be lost and won is with the effort plays that go unnoticed. If Queensland continue to outwork New South Wales, they will have fully deserved and earned the 2020 State of Origin trophy.
But the Blues will need to dig in and get the Maroons on the back foot. By going heavy with the forward pack, it will hopefully allow the talented backline to flourish with space and time to wreak havoc.
This game will go one of two ways. Either the Blues can defeat the Maroons comfortably or the Maroons will beat the Blues in a close affair. No matter what happens, this should be an amazing game.
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.