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They say that Origin is won in the middle of the field. If this one was, it was because Queensland wanted New South Wales to play there.
Billy Slater’s tactics were pretty clear from the start – unsurprising, really, given that their off-ball work was exactly the same as it was last year.
Brad Fittler can only have himself to blame for not seeing it coming, given that Queensland picked the team with a clear indication that this was how they were going to play it. All the middles on the bench to keep the defensive effort going, with speed prioritised out wide. They doubled down on 2022.
Last year, the outside backs were the key element of their defensive work, and remember, the only greater truism than ‘Origin is won in the middle’ is ‘Origin is won by defence’.
The great innovation of year two of Slater’s term was with the ball, where the Maroons were far more expansive and made the absolute most of every scoring opportunity that came their way.
They lost possession by a million miles and the territory by even more. 67% of the game was in their end and Queensland accumulated just 11 tackles inside 20, but came out of it with five tries.
The Maroons’ defence was as good as ever. The headline act, obviously, is their resilience, because everyone loves that at this time of year. Undeniably, the double effort from Murray Taulagi to deny James Tedesco and Tyson Frizell over the line was exceptional work.
But it’s the smarts as well as the heart. Just like last year, both centres were alert to the first sign of a shift and shot the line, removing the options from the halves and angling the play back into the middle.
Val Holmes and Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow were never likely to win many battles if isolated one-on-one, and indeed, the Hammer managed 17 tackles for no misses, shutting down the right edge of NSW along with Taulagi.
Holmes missed six tackles, but every one of them contributed to NSW turning back inside, sending the footy where Queensland wanted it to be. Dane Gagai was worth ten in last year’s Game 1 and was close to best on ground.
Once they were in the centre of the field, it was feeding time. Reuben Cotter was a machine, racking up 37 tackles, with Pat Carrigan and Lindsay Collins not far behind. The combined hookers got 59 between them. It was heroic, Origin legend stuff.
Tevita Pangai Junior of the Blues offloads during game one of the 2023 State of Origin series between the Queensland Maroons and New South Wales Blues at Adelaide Oval on May 31, 2023 in Adelaide, Australia. (Photo by Mark Kolbe/Getty Images)
On the other side of the ball, the attack was designed almost perfectly to rest the men in the middle to let them focus on defending.
Queensland spread early at times and forced the issue, moving the Blues from side to side whenever they had the ball. That resulted in some dropped ball, as it inevitably does, but also gave them all their points. it was a gamble well worth taking.
The Maroons didn’t need a sniff of good ball to go to their edges and looked primed to maximise a perceived speed advantage. The Hammer got around Tom Trbojevic more than once, making him look like a fullback defending in the centres, and Reece Walsh was able to be impactful from the back through his pace.
It was the willingness to move the footy that created the doubt in the defence’s mind that allowed Munster to create the opener for Tabuai-Fidow and paid dividends again Selwyn Cobbo.
Not for the first time, Slater got his tactics spot on and made the Blues play into his hands – and it started from the outside in.
There have to be questions about Fittler’s response to it, because it’s a set-up he has faced before. NSW were able to change the question in Game 2 last year through smart kicking in behind the shooting centres, and they got joy in 2021 through early shifts themselves.
But there was none of that here. One try was well worked, but another was a fluke and a third was from a kick. It’s was a horror night for Fittler.
James Tedesco of the Blues is tackled during game one of the 2023 State of Origin series between the Queensland Maroons and New South Wales Blues at Adelaide Oval on May 31, 2023 in Adelaide, Australia. (Photo by Mark Kolbe/Getty Images)
The tactical lines going in were as complex on the Blues’ side as they were simple for the Maroons. While most could guess fairly accurately how Slater would approach the game, Fittler’s intentions were less clear.
Would Trbojevic stick to one side, or would he roam like it was 2021 all over again? Would picking seven of the 2022 Penrith team work this year, even when it didn’t last year? How would Nicho Hynes even get on the field?
NSW had ample opportunity to use Turbo in a free role in the first half, given they enjoyed 22 sets, the bulk of which were in opposing territory, but it took until minutes before half time for him to pop up on the left.
The Penrith connection seemed to be half-working, in that it produced the first Blues try through clear combination play from Jarome Luai and Liam Martin, but also not, as Isaah Yeo almost never took the ball to the line like he does at the Panthers, preferring instead to drop players on inside crash lines.
The upshot was that a whole heap of good ball went begging. Part of that was superb Queensland tackling, allied to a decent lump of Maroon maleficence, with play the balls slowed right down and referee Ashley Klein only periodically objecting.
James Tedesco of the Blues is tackled during game one of the 2023 State of Origin series between the Queensland Maroons and New South Wales Blues at Adelaide Oval on May 31, 2023 in Adelaide, Australia. (Photo by Mark Kolbe/Getty Images)
But another part was a disconnectedness in attack that left them easy to defend. Stephen Crichton seemed to have forgotten how to pass, making just one in the opening 40 and Turbo managed the same, which was in his one foray to Crichton’s side. Josh Addo-Carr and Brian To’o could have caught a South Australian cold on their wings.
If there was a Trbojevic roaming role, it was on last plays. Nathan Cleary’s kicking from mid-range was designed to allow Turbo and Stephen Crichton to challenge Reece Walsh, and from closer in, they were like a homing missile on a very specific area around either side of the posts.
It was a smart ploy: both Critta and Turbo tower over their opposing numbers, Holmes and Tabuai-Fidow, and there were multiple occasions where NSW won first contact on the ball, but in the end, it was too little too late when it worked for Crichton’s try.
For a side with so much talent to get so much good ball and turn it into so little is a travesty. The Panthers connection was foiled, just like it was last year. Fittler needs to think long and hard about whether or not we see it again in Brisbane.