State of Origin, the Story. Part 3
What more could you want?
What more could you want from a game of rugby league? A few sports are played by 'modern day gladiators', rugby league is definitely one of them. In the 100th State of Origin we witnessed one of the most influential individual performances in history as well as an absolute slug fest. It all epitomised Origin football, from the referees to the consistent elbows on faces to the brutal late hits and to the ability to play footy under such pressure. I've experienced the feelings, the emotions of a game like that, but never have I witnessed such a battle.
The opening period of the game, Queensland showed why they had won 8 straight. Everything they did was golden - they were the ones providing the niggle in the tackles, they were executing their plays and they looked much more likely than their opponents. When Darius Boyd crossed in the corner for his first try, there was a sense of what might come - Greg Inglis was used as a decoy drawing defenders in field, giving Boyd just enough space to put a shimmy shimmy ya on the Morris who would etch himself in to history. The movement started with Brent Tate sweeping across field, it looked like QLD had many tricks up their sleeves.
Cooper Cronk's night was then over. A broken arm, no return. Panic stations were packed with people, I wasn't scared nor confident. This was Daly Cherry-Evans' moment. I remember thinking as Cronk patted him on the backside as DCE entered the arena, that this could be the coming out party for DCE. What soon followed, was a constant state of disorganisation, confusion and inefficiency from QLD.
When Jarryd Hayne received the ball on the right hand side, lined up Jonathan Thurston and brushed him off, we all took note. New South Wales hadn't looked likely. They were loosing nearly every battle, until Hayne got his mits on the ball. With that much speed, size, strength and power it's hard for anyone to stop Hayne, let alone a little halfback. He skipped to the outside and then showcased his power. NSW's first two tries had Hayne's DNA imprinted in them and while Paul Gallen may have been the gladiatorial leader, Hayne took it upon himself to change the course of the game.
Jonathan Thurston didn't miss a tackle on Hayne in the second half. That's Origin.
Jarryd Hayne's time came when NSW were in the trenches. That period around the 60 minute mark where NSW were coming off their line time and again with QLD somehow finding enough energy to charge off their line and swamp the ball carrier, it resembled war. While Hayne didn't score or lead to any points being scored with his break through the middle, it released the pressure valve. It showed NSW there was hope, their hard work and guts would pay off. It did pay off despite 50,000 Queenslanders willing their troops on.
The battle between Paul Gallen and Corey Parker in the middle of the field was amazing. Two tough nuts going at it in the centre of Suncorp Stadium. Neither would take a backwards step if you paid them and they are equally as skillful as they are tough. Last night was about toughness though and these two men did their states extremely proud. While much of the attention will centre on Hayne and other players, the battle between these two was great viewing.
Where was Greg Inglis I hear a few of you asking. Well he ran a decoy for the first try, threw the final pass for Boyd's second but every time he got the ball, Beau Scott was somewhere nearby. Every time Inglis got the ball, he didn't have space in front of him, when he received the ball, he was greeted with a blue jersey - more often than not it was Beau Scott. The likes of Scott, Gallen and Anthony Watmough won NSW the game. They executed their roles perfectly and kept showing up.
In Origins past, the referees have been confusing. In every game you're going to have shit calls, I'm not talking about that. I'm talking about the Origin rules. There were no fights, no punches thrown, there doesn't have to be. From the opening whistle players were allowed to slow the play the ball down, they were allowed to elbow and kindly lean on the player on the ground with a hand to the face, they were allowed to give the kicker a fair whack as he kicked the ball and the few highish tackles that there were, were ok. I don't need fights or punches to feel like 'THIS IS ORIGIN', what we saw last night was more Originy than any of the past 20 games. There are definitely different rules for Origin and finally this was embraced.
NSW are just as battered and bruised as QLD are. Game 2 will present different squads and while it will be mighty hard for QLD to win in Sydney as Batchy's Blues will be out in force, they have plenty of growth to do. Not much went right for QLD, when they executed their plays perfectly, the scored. But they weren't good enough to do so often enough. Seeing Nate Myles put a bomb up, Thurston coughing up the ball, Thurston missing two conversions which would have made the scores level, just seeing a state of confusion with who was going to hit the ball up and who was going to do this or that, it was a worry.
The mark of QLD will be how they ensure that this performance doesn't repeat itself. The mark of NSW will be to build from this performance. We all witnessed rugby league at it's finest, well the spirit and virtues at least. Bring on game 2.