Wow, what a series win by the mighty Maroons.
On paper, that team wouldn’t bother most teams, let alone a star-studded NSW side. But with determination, belief and a little motivation from former Blues skipper Paul Gallen, the Queenslanders pulled off one of the best victories in State of Origin history on Wednesday, downing the NSW Blues 20-14.
Here are my ten talking points from the decider.
1. Is this Queensland’s greatest series win?
Geez, it is hard not to agree. This series feels like the 1995 wonders of Fatty Vautin: unheralded players who just achieved the impossible. That’s what this match felt like. On paper, this Queensland side should have lost 3-0. This team just had belief and grit and a lot of determination, and just had a huge chip on their shoulder to prove the doubters wrong. Well, they definitely did that.
(Photo by Bradley Kanaris/Getty Images)
2. Freddy’s rookie mistake
The talent of this NSW crop reminds me a lot of the dominant Queensland era of 2006-2017. They have so much talent, they don’t know who to select and where to select them. Here is where their biggest issue was.
Wayne Bennett on the other side of the spectrum did not make the same mistake he made in Game 2, and made sure he played all his players in their right positions. Valentine Holmes went to the wing, Corey Allan was in at fullback, Kurt Capewell was back in the second row, Edrick Lee is a specialist winger on the wing, and everyone played where they are used to.
Brad Fittler, who became in love with his Game 2 performance, did not budge, and still kept with players out of position and out of form. Clint Gutherson provided absolutely nothing at centre, and more so at fullback when moved there.
Jack Wighton, the Dally M medallist, was silent all series. The unfortunate event of James Tedesco going down forced Isaah Yeo to play in the centres, but why not put him in his given position of second row, and play a guy who began in the centres – Angus Crichton – in the open centre position? Out-of-position players won’t last in a three-game series.
3. Four forwards on the bench but no utility?
Yes, again, this was another mistake from Fittler. Falling in love with his side’s Game 2 performance, why would you not bring in a utility player, who was the most in-form of all the players not in the run-on side and the Clive Churchill medallist?
Ryan Papenhuyzen was fit and ready to roll. A lot of people said, “Well, who do we drop?”. It is fairly simple to me. Yeo, Dale Finucane and Joseph Paulo all got decent minutes and Fittler wasted the impact of Nathan Brown, so why not carry a utility if you don’t plan on using all four forwards for their given task?
Brown or Yeo could have made way for Papenhuyzen with ease, and the Tedesco injury wouldn’t have mattered. What could have been?
4. Four Queensland debutants
All four of the Queensland debutants handled the arena fairly well. Corey Allan had a few mistakes in him, but also provided his strong suit, which is the back-sweeping play. He provided the last pass for a great Holmes try, and what could’ve been another Holmes try.
(Photo by Michael Dodge/Getty Images)
Edrick Lee was faultless. His cousin inside him, Brenko Lee, was strong in attack but made a few bad defensive reads. One led to the Daniel Tupou try.
Harry Grant, well, what more can be said? This kid is special. He was one of the three players on the park. He was absolutely magnificent. He created havoc for the NSW defence and even worked well with another hooker (Jake Friend) on the park, and raised his game as well.
5. Out goes Cam Smith, in comes Harry Grant
Just when people thought the Melbourne Storm’s dominance would end with Cameron Smith leaving, the unearthing of Harry Grant continues. He has a calm nature about him, which is very similar to Smith. He plays very simply and does the small things very, very well.
His work rate is first-class. His running from dummy half is very precise, but strong as well. He is the whole package.
You add him with man of the series Cam Munster plus Jahrome Hughes and Clive Churchill medallist Ryan Papenhuyzen for another five-plus years in Melbourne, and the Storm (and Queensland) look to be here for the long run.
6. Nathan Cleary cannot handle pressure
If you’re going to comment “What about Game 2”, that was not pressure. Everything went his way. It was a home game at ANZ Stadium, there was no Munster, it was a hungry NSW side, and there was nothing that didn’t assist him in playing the game of his life.
Barring his 40-20, he did not do much. In the space of over a month, he disappeared in a grand final loss, played a terrible Game 1 and could not back up his Game 2 performance in Game 3.
When Tedesco went down, along with Cody Walker, he should’ve owned the game. But he tried his dummy-and-run option one too many times. Cleary could be in danger for his position next year if Luke Keary is to permanently move to halfback for the Roosters.
(Photo by Quinn Rooney/Getty Images)
7. Penalty try or no penalty try?
This one left me bemused. I did not know how to make a call as a fan on the couch. Josh Ado-Carr was clearly in front of Cam Munster when he began his run after the kick, and then gets hit by Corey Allan, which costs him about two or three metres, which then allows other Queensland players to cover the gap and stop Addo-Carr from scoring. Here are a few things to think about.
Would he have scored? On pace, he scores ten times out of ten, without failure. He would’ve copped a slight hit even if it were a legal one, which may have slowed him, but possibly not enough to stop him from scoring.
The three Queensland players who were in frame when the play finished, would they have stopped Addo-Carr from scoring? It is hard to tell from the angles we were given.
It is a murky call to make, and I am not sure how the call should’ve gone, but it was a game changer. Allan being sent to the bin was correct at a minimum.
8. Wayne Bennett is the super coach
As cheeky as his smug smile is when he cracks a joke, Bennett deserved to smile and do whatever he wanted after Game 3. His performance to get this squad up to win this series was nothing short of amazing.
The QRL need to throw the house at him and keep him permanently for a long, long time. He and Mal Meninga did wonders for this young side and I can see those two men especially leading this side for a few more series wins in the near future.
9. Where to for NSW?
In a series they should have won, based on the players available and what the pundits said, where to for the NSW Blues? Do they keep Fittler?
I would not. There are so many options and Fittler is not the man they need for that type of talent.
Does Boyd Cordner remain captain? Going off form, Cordner did not deserve to start this year’s Origin series. He does turn into a different animal come Origin, but there is only so much bad form you can take into Origin.
If he does not play, who captains the Blues? Jake Trbojevic comes to mind. He is what you need in a captain, he leads by example, he is level headed and passionate.
Damien Cook does not come to mind, because he will be under pressure by Api Koroisau next season, which could up-end his Origin career.
Do they go back to specialist centres? Yes, yes and yes. Latrell Mitchell, Zac Lomax, Kotoni Staggs and Stephen Crichton should all come into consideration. No more carrying fullbacks or halves into the centres. It just won’t work.
There is a lot to ponder for the Blues before the 2021 series.
10. Cameron Munster is a freak
This man played two full games of Origin this series and funnily enough, they won those two games. In Game 1 he was passive, did his job and didn’t try to overplay his hand.
Game 3? He turned it up to a whole new level. He wanted the ball at every moment. He wanted to put on big hits to rile up his side. He wanted to be that guy to win the Queenslanders the series. Winners want the ball in their hand – and that is what Cameron Munster did.
There is no doubt anymore that he is the best half in rugby league. He outplayed Cleary, Walker and Keary, all in one series. He was a deserved winner of the Wally Lewis medal, and showcased just how good he is.
What a series! I look forward to the mid-season fixture returning in 2021, but I am just grateful they made sure that Origin kicked on in such a weird year. Bring on 2021.
Cat Smith
Guest
I’m afraid to disagree. Munster didn’t deserve player the series. He went missing game 1 and only played well when Grant helped him. Queensland would have lost game 2 if he was there or not. Munster is a very hot and cold player. He disappeared in the strand final and game 1. Queensland won off the back of Jake Friend who just kept grinding. Please Munster is an over rated player
Wild Man From Borneo
Roar Rookie
I've watched that third game 3 times now and one thing sticks out to me and, that was that Qld played like a team and NSW played like 17 individuals. If you carefully watch Cleary, you'll see that with 15 mins to go he threw the ''Dummy" and ran himself 6 times. Why? I reckon he didn't want to be blamed for that loss coming and, he was trying to boost his stats. THAT is the mentality of NSW players and THAT mentality has been nurtured there by the Coach for the past few years. THAT lack of leadership was on show by Fittler after the game by not taking responsibility for the loss and trying to shift the light onto Jai Arrow. That was pure primal tactics. Listen to Fittlers post game comments and you'll learn more about Brad Fittler than any interview where he's carefully 'presenting a persona'. Look at just a bit of his style when success has gone missing. Fittler hung Cody Walker out to dry after last years 1st loss and wiped his hands of him. It almost destroyed the bloke as a footballer. This year he hung Keary out to dry for the 1st loss. Have you heard Fittler take ANY blame for the loss? even once? Fittler made huge errors in my opinion by his dumb selections which I won't bother going into here. Gutherson and Wighton were shown up in game 1 and Fittler's pride stopped him from making the changes necessary. He had 2 good specialist young Centre's who would have done the job but.... NSW problem lies in their leadership and, that leadership problem is OFF the park not on it. Players will give their body and soul to a Coach who will protect them and back them. This is why Bennett is so successful. Fittler's history is all about Brad Fittler and deep down, the players know it. They'll perform at their best for many reasons but, they will be unable to give what it takes when the blowtorch is applied. When it really really counts because, they will always choose self preservation over team success when they know that the team success will be hijacked by those who are undeserved of it anyway. I think that's what really happened to the NSW Blues and it's been happening for a while.
MarkD
Guest
Gday Grey-hand, I dont understand how nsw can still under rate the qld packs during the 8 in a row period . Sure we had JT ,Lockyer, Cooper, Slater but they had some outstanding props during thatperiod . Petero, Steve Price ,Matt Scott , as the mainstay bookends with bench support Webb ,Myles and Hannent, laid a pretty good platform for JT and co to do there thing .
Gray-Hand
Roar Rookie
Yeah, pretty rare for anyone to have a good kicking game against Slater.
Tony
Roar Guru
Now there's a player to build a team around
Andy J
Roar Rookie
I thought they were a chance with Papalii and Welch up front, Munster and DCE in the halves and ponga and Brimson, however when we lost Ponga Brimson and just about every centre we had I thought they were gone
matth
Roar Guru
Basically go to the early 1990’s and early 2000’s. Whenever one team is on a streak the opposition are worst ever. It’s just a given, never mind that the opposition might be the best ever. To really dig in you need to not look at series won but look at players who had no impact in the games they played. I’ll give you one as a head start. Dave Taylor.
Andy J
Roar Rookie
Billy covers so much territory and positions himself so well that it looks like a lot of kickers put it straight down his throat. Not many kickers find space with him at the back
Graham
Guest
looks like 22 wins and 24 shields to 15
Big Daddy
Guest
:thumbup:
Dwanye
Roar Rookie
I think the series is now 21 to 15.
Rob
Guest
I think this on paper stuff is ridiculous. What paper are these names written on? NSW back pages is all I can think of. On paper how many Premiership winners are in the Blues? I think the Queensland team might have more and playing in key positions of 9,7,6. Papalli is far superior to the Blue book ends at this stage of their career. Welsh, Kaufusi, Arrow, Su’a and Tino are certainly not inferior to their opposites IMO. Holmes and Gagai can finish with the best. Harry Grant is the most creative young dummy half in the Comp and the fact he was leading the DM after 6 games 8 rounds into the season in a bottom 8 team is very impressive in a rookie season. The only people calling Queensland inferior team where those living in Disney land south of the boarder. Penalty try? I think they have to be very careful and consider the precedence in awarding them. We maybe handing them out like Santa’s lollipops. Allen is a defender with the ball kicked behind him he isn’t required to stand still. Allen is entitled to hold he ground or turn and chase meaning JAC has to go around him to a degree. If Allen step across the line of JAC it can be a very grey area. One could also suggest Cleary’s challenge on Holmes diving from behind him?was equally a professional foul considering he was deemed playing at ball? and yet didn’t get a finger on it as a consequence bring Holmes down. Actually touching the ball is the only defence Cleary had. Bring a player down from behind without the football is no different or maybe even more a cynical foul than stepping into an attacker they has just kicked past you IMO. It was a very even series IMO. It was last series also. Home ground and injuries affect out comes. I think the officiating was poor at times and yes both ways. It’s an incredibly hard job and I hope the coaches and players would get on board and just not push the boundaries in the rubbish. Stop the late stuff, stop the high stuff, stop the dangerous silly fouls. Grabbing a player in the air and pulling him backwards or cleaning him out under the legs is garbage. Getting stuck into a bloke after an error or lying on the ground is just not cool behaviour.
Nat
Roar Rookie
Smith...
Bunney
Roar Rookie
Absolutely Matt. It never felt like '95... In 1995 I didn't even know half of the Qld players, and they had zero stars. 2001 Bennett had a couple of established stars in Lockyer and Tallis, and picked a bunch of debutants to support. I said pre-series it felt like 2001...but at 10-0 down in game 1 my optimism left me!! Thankfully, my lack of faith didn't disturb the Maroons
Gray-Hand
Roar Rookie
Qld definitely don’t do it as much, but they do select players to play a different position than they are playing at club level - eg Boyd on the wing and Inglis at centre. Both of them were experienced in those positions of course. I think Thurston also played at 7 when he had already moved to 6 at the cowboys.
elvis
Roar Rookie
A good centre doesn't need holes. That's why there are so few good ones.
Albo
Roar Rookie
Cleary didn't have 2 bad matches. The NSW team had two bad matches, with most of the blame spread about , starting with Fittler's team selections and finishing with many individual player performances that were well below expectations. I thought Crichton had a good series , doing his hit ups & tackling , but he also never made a break or passed the ball to his outside backs where subsequently Wighton did nothing in attack . Whose fault was that ? QLD forwards dominated games 1 & 3 giving little chance for the NSW halves to shine. When NSW forwards dominated Game 2 the NSW halves shone brightly . It has been the same at SOO level since 1980 . Forwards always have to lay the platform not the halfback !
Dwanye
Roar Rookie
I don’t remember qld players carrying nsw to victory in 70’s and I can’t say anything about 60’s. From my memory it was more because of the rules being you represent the state for the comp you play in, many qld player not getting selected thus having to sit out the game. Qld almost playing with nsw making them tie one arm behind there back. Qld had a wealth, maybe not the top in a position but a strong one that couldn’t get a game. I do remember media thinking it a joke and qld will cop it and it pumping them up (crazy,lol). They changed the selection rules to ‘the state a player made his senior debut in, not the state that he currently played in’. I remember media being p.s.ed off about that. Lol. It was also a ‘golden period’ like the recent qld dynasty, a stack of freaks coming through from one area at same time. But from day one the nsw media give good, bad or ugly qld players the ammo to rev up. Lol
graham
Guest
I actually don't think this was a big upset. A lot of blues were saying maybe 2 qlders make the blues side, I was privately wondering how many blues i'd select for Queensland if we had the option. It certainly would be well under half the team because there is no way I'm dropping Papali, Collins, grant/hunt at 14, DCE, Munster, gagai, holmes, kaufusi, S'ua, Arrow for any of the blues opposite numbers even before the series. Two of the forwards are new but had fantastic club form looking at their stats and watching live but the rest had already shown they can consistently beat their opposite number more often than not at origin. That is before we even get to welch and tino. It is all good saying a team is a bunch of world beaters at club level, but that's irrelevant if they cant step up. Soccer is full of world beaters in lower leagues who cant cut it in the premier league. Conversely our best player - cahill - was only above average in the lower leagues, above average in the epl and above average at the highest international level. Cricket is similar with first class heroes who cant step up and average players like labuschagne that rise to a new level when they step up. Some players step up, some don't. Queensland have now won close to twice as many series as NSW and yet the average number of blues in the Australian team over that epoch is probably around two thirds. People say it is the heart in QLD, I have no doubt they have bucketloads of heart. But NSW showed bucketloads of heart the last few years in try saving tackles and defending their lines like their lives depended on it. I think a large part of the story are that Queensland are just under rated even by its own fans and under selected for Australia. We are lucky it is not more of an international sport or the blues bias would hurt us On another topic, looking at Bennetts other times he won the trophy, in 1998, 2001 and 2002 all had a heavy loss in one of the early games of the series. I wonder if he gets his team to hold back a bit for the decider
Gray-Hand
Roar Rookie
A few, off the top of my head: Game 2 2007 Game 3 2008 Game 1 2010 and Game 3 2010 Game 2 2017 That’s just without rewatching every game for the past 14 years. There would certainly be more. Put it this way - how many games since 2006 did Lockyer, Thurston and Cronk not perform really, really well? Probably none. There would be maybe a tiny handful of games where the blues halves might have outplayed the Qld halves during that period. And Queensland also had Inglis and Slater for nearly all of that period. So it is probably fair to say that during their period of ascendancy, Queensland consistently had a superior backline to that of NSW. Given that clear halves and backline superiority, it stands to reason that any match where the scores were even close to a NSW victory, it was probably because the forwards had gained the ascendancy. My general impression during that era was that the NSW forwards would often be on top at halftime, but the superior Queensland long range kicking game would often mean that the NSW forwards would tire out more in the second half, often leading to the Qld pack achieving ascendancy by the end of the match.