Origin II: Axe set to fall on Fittler after Slater’s Maroons commit Blue murder to win series as three players get sent off

Brad Fittler is set to get the boot as NSW coach while Billy Slater could be the next Maroons legend to get a statue outside Suncorp Stadium after propelling Queensland to a second State of Origin series win from as many attempts with a game to spare.

The Maroons outclassed a depleted, disjointed and ultimately dismantled Blues side 32-6 in Brisbane on Wednesday night to keep the Origin shield north of the border and all but ensure Fittler will not have his contract renewed after the series finale at Accor Stadium on July 12.

NSW went into the clash with injured stars Nathan Cleary, Latrell Mitchell and Api Koroisau with Tom Trbojevic joining them on the sidelines three minutes after kick-off when he suffered a pectoral injury. 

Just like in Adelaide when they lost 26-18 in game one, the Blues dominated possession and field position for long stretches but could not translate that onto the scoreboard.

Blues coach Brad Fittler. (Photo by Cameron Spencer/Getty Images)

The match finished in farcical fashion with a melee in the final minute ending up with Reece Walsh and Jarome Luai being sent off for headbutting each other and Josh Addo-Carr getting marched for what was technically a 22-second sin bin for throwing a punch.

Walsh was the happiest player you’ve ever seen sent off, smiling, pointing to the badge on his jersey and waving to the crowd after doing likewise to Luai and Addo-Carr.

But nothing could change the fact that the night belonged to Queensland and after taking a punt on Slater last year when he’d held no senior coaching positions, they’ve now won four of the five matches to make the lopsided 2021 series loss a distant memory.

Slater could not contain his emotions in the confines of the coach’s box, banging on the glass to display similar in-game passion that his long-time Melbourne mentor Craig Bellamy is famous for unleashing.

Fittler future clouded

Fittler had no answers for the Maroons, before, during and after the contest.

“At the end of the game when I looked at the scoreboard, I thought wow, you know. It’s a sign we’re playing against a good team because I didn’t think we were that far out of the game and we got beaten by four or five tries,” he said.

“Outside the moments when they scored the tries I thought we competed and we fought hard. I was happy with the rest of it, just couldn’t save the tries and weren’t good enough to convert our opportunities.”

Unusual quotes indeed – basically he was proud of the way his players performed, except when they were letting in tries and not doing that themselves.

When asked about his own future, he replied: “We’ve still got another game to go so I’ll worry about that then. We will see what happens with Troddo (NSWRL chief executive David Trodden) and the board, we’ll check it out then.”

The Blues rolled the dice by not having an outside back on their bench and when Trbojevic clutched at his pec after a tackle in the third minute, Damien Cook was thrust into left centre with Cowboys hooker Reece Robson tasked with the job of playing the full 80 on debut.

Reuben Cotter. (Photo by Chris Hyde/Getty Images)

Fittler was fuming at a question in the post-match media conference about not having enough versatility on his bench, claiming “it’s impossible to be able to cover every single position”.

He also said he didn’t want to talk about interchanges, which left confused fans still wondering why Test star Cameron Murray was benched for the first 47 minutes of the game and wasn’t thrown into the fray until after debutant Stefano Utoikamanu had been given a run ahead of him in the middle-forward rotation.

Cook had a few dicey moments in a position he’s never played at the top level but the Blues didn’t just lack cohesion on his edge – they also struggled when they sent the ball right and the combined kicking game of Mitchell Moses and Jarome Luai was a substandard substitute for Cleary’s usual service.

Slater proud as punch

“Proud is an understatement,” the victorious coach said. “They just keep raising the bar. We’ve seen some great Queensland victories, some great Queensland performances but the adversity had come from the opposition. They applied the pressure in that first half and we were defending our try line. They’d make line breaks and we’d come up with some big plays.”

Slater said there were “no excuses in this team” and he praised them for being resilient when the chips are down.

He said the stats like field position have been against the Maroons for a long time “but they just keep rising above it”.

Maroons skipper Daly Cherry-Evans said Slater had been integral to their turnaround after their disastrous series two years ago.

“We’re bloody proud of our coach and we’re definitely following his lead,” he said.

Maroons motor through the Blues

On the back of a seven-tackle set after a poor Luai kick, Queensland targeted that edge in the ninth minute when Xavier Coates pressured Josh Addo-Carr into a fumble from a Daly Cherry-Evans bomb and Valentine Holmes touched down for a 4-0 lead. 

Luai’s next kick was a dud one as well as Blues fans cursed the absence of Nathan Cleary due to his torn hamstring.

The Blues held the ascendancy for a long stretch during the middle of the first half but apart from Mitchell Moses going close to scoring with a chip and chase, they didn’t look like breaking the Maroon brickwall in front of them. 

Even when NSW had open space in front of them they couldn’t cross the line with Cherry-Evans dragging down Stephen Crichton when the Blues centre streaked away from a botched Queensland attacking kick.

Queensland made it 10-0 a couple of minutes later when Cherry-Evans made a break of his own before they spread the ball wide for winger Murray Taulagi to score after a line-ball lead-up pass from David Fifita. 

With the Blues again on the attack a few minutes before half-time, Maroons prop Lindsay Collins monstered Luai in a bell-ringing tackle to force the ball free and ensure the home side kept their double-digit lead to the break.

It took less than three minutes for the Maroons to extend their lead when Holmes scooped up a pass on the half-volley to dive over in the corner on the back of a Reece Walsh break. 

The match was as good as over in the 52nd minute when Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow collected a Taulagi in-field kick after Cameron Munster exploited a short-side overlap for a 20-0 buffer.

NSW were lucky to retain possession despite a failed captain’s challenge when the bunker ruled Luai had been tackled high by Walsh. 

“There’s been 30 tackles like that tonight, please. It’s State of Origin. That’s embarrassing,” Cameron Smith said on Nine commentary. 

Not the golfer, the Cameron Smith who is also the Maroons assistant coach without even a hint of self-awareness despite the fact Luai got up with a bleeding lip after the hit. 

Cook accelerated through a gap after some scrappy lead-up work to finally put NSW on the scoreboard midway through the second half and give them a glimmer of hope with the deficit down to 14.

“If you’re gonna go down, you go down swinging,” said Blues legend Andrew Johns on Nine commentary, more out of hope, as the southerners tried in vain to continue bridging the gap.

Jarome Luai looks to pass. (Photo by Bradley Kanaris/Getty Images)

Any realistic hope was lost in the 65th minute when Walsh’s speed created just enough room for Coates to plant the ball down acrobatically in the corner to make it 26-6.

With the Queenslander chant reverberating around the Cauldron, the nightmare out wide for Cook continued when he spilled a Munster bomb after Addo-Carr accidentally undercut his legs with Jeremiah Nanai cleaning up the crumbs.

The Maroons are rarely favourites when they play in Sydney but they should be at short adds to become just the eighth team in Origin history to complete a series clean sweep.