Adam Reynolds has sent a timely message to NSW Blues coach Brad Fittler with a dramatic winning try that delivered Brisbane a late victory over Newcastle.
In truth, it was perhaps an undeserved win for the Broncos, who were second best for long periods to an excellent Knights side, but there was no doubt their quality in the end: the try that clinched the result was one of the best of the year.
Reynolds was the man on the spot to dot the ball down, but it was all the work of five eighth Ezra Mam, who threw a miraculous flick pass to his halves partner for the late score – though, in typical fashion, it had been the 7 who stayed alive on the play.
The Broncos had trailed 20-12 with 11 minutes to play, but turned the result around thanks to Reynolds and Reece Walsh, who slipped a similarly superb pass to Brendan Piakura to get the comeback started.
Walsh was among the best on ground all night, matched only by the man he replaced in the Maroons squad, Kalyn Ponga. The Knights captain was back to his best, as evidenced by a typically scything first half score, with his halfback Jackson Hastings not far behind him.
Knights coach Adam O’Brien will depart Brisbane wondering what happened. He might worry, too, about Tyson Frizell, with the Origin backrower
Kevin Walters might not know either, but with guys like Walsh and Reynolds in the side, he will know that anything is possible.
Let’s jump back to Round 1 of 2022. It was a sunny Saturday afternoon at the SCG and the Knights, rank outsiders, gave the Roosters a bloody nose in front of their own fans.
Then, it was the outside backs that did it: Bradman Best, Dane Gagai and Dom Young were the stars, just as they were today.
Today, those three were at the heart of it again, nullifying the usually superb Broncos backline with superior defensive pressure.
Intent and winning the floor are typically associated with forwards, but with sides like these, who love to fully integrate their back five into their start sets, it’s just as relevant.
Marzhew and Young, in particular, were maximally aggressive and forced contact errors from their opposing numbers, with the back three of Brisbane making two apiece.
It was clear from early on that the Knights had come to play, but their polish didn’t always match their enthusiasm. On several occasions in the first half, their attack in good ball let them down.
But despite conceding a soft, slightly fluky try to the Broncos, Newcastle just stuck at it. Kalyn Ponga did enough in the first half and Hastings took over the second, taking the ball closer to the line and creating numbers on the edges.
It was enthralling stuff to watch at times, and for O’Brien, a timely reminder of the capabilities of his team. But capability is nothing without results, as the coach knows all too well.
The rivalry between Ponga and Walsh is a bit of a moot one at this stage, given that the Broncos fullback is secure in the Maroons jersey given his showing in Game 1 and his Knights equivalent has expressed his desire to sit this year’s series out to rediscover his best form.
On the evidence of today, that hasn’t taken long. Walsh did start the stronger, with a line break on the very first set, but as the first half wore on, the more experienced man came to the fore.
Walsh spilled a kick that might well interest NSW – it was exactly the sort that they attempted to throw at him in the first half of Game 1 – and then coughed up another error.
Ponga was a little more constrained to begin with, but exploded late with two line breaks, one of which he turned into a try for himself.
The sight of Ponga swerving around Walsh certainly crystallised a narrative that had been building throughout the opening stanza.
But it wasn’t over yet. Again, Walsh started the second half strong, breaking the line, creating havoc and, a few plays later, getting Cobbo over at the corner.
His defence, which had been made to look a bit silly by Ponga, was on show too, pulling off an unlikely trysaver on Greg Marzhew. He had less luck later on against Young, but the odds were stacked well against him given the size disparity.
Walsh ended it on top, too, with another smart pass that reduced the gap to two when Brendan Piakura scored.
In the end, it was something of a dead heat – and the big winner is Billy Slater.
The secondary narrative for Origin concerned Adam Reynolds, a candidate for the NSW halfback role following Nathan Cleary’s injury.
Prior to his dramatic late intervention, he had a more subdued game, performing his usual kick-and-control game but not much more than that.
Reynolds did get a try assist, but that came with a major caveat in that Newcastle failed to claim a fairly regulation kick, although the halfback did well to stay alive on the play and put Cobbo in.
It was that skill that Brad Fittler might look most kindly upon at the selection table. Over to you, Mitch.
If there’s a tertiary narrative, it should be about Kotoni Staggs. The centre was dropped after just one game for NSW last year, but is in better form now than he was at the time he was picked, with several jarring hits in defence an ability to break tackles with the ball.
It was to Brisbane’s detriment that they didn’t get more ball to their strike edge players, with Staggs top of that list. Given NSW could be on the lookout for a new centre if Latrell Mitchell fails to pull up, they could do a lot worse.
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