State of Origin: Blues outsmarted and outmuscled by methodical Maroons

A lacklustre NSW side were issued a harsh reality check courtesy of an enthusiastic and tempered Maroons outfit, losing 16 points to 10 to surrender a 1-0 Origin series lead last night in Sydney.

Despite winning the yardage battle and forcing more misses, the Blues managed just a pair of four-pointers and came up with several key defensive breakdowns as Queensland’s star-studded spine ran amok for significant stretches. A questionable bench rotation and an uncreative kicking arsenal combined with general errors and lapses in concentration saw a panicky NSW outfit defeated in front of 80,000-plus fans at Homebush.

The Blues held firm for the opening half-hour of the contest; a simple left-side shift saw Jack Wighton beat Dane Gagai one-on-one for the game’s opening try as NSW’s forward pack went toe-to-toe with their Maroon counterparts. The injection of Patty Carrigan and Lindsay Collins saw Queensland wrestle back momentum, whilst spark plug hooker Harry Grant created numerous attacking inroads through NSW’s ruck and opened the game up for his outside men and ball-players.

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Blues head coach Brad Fittler made a pair of late lineup switches, promoting Liam Martin and Reagan Campbell-Gillard into the starting lineup at the expense of Cameron Murray and Junior Paulo. The contrast between both sides’ bench middles was noticeable; Carrigan and Collins combined for 316 run metres from 31 carries and 59 tackles for four misses, compared to Paulo and Ryan Matterson’s combined 15 carries for 110 metres and 44 tackles with four misses. This was the period Queensland wrestled back momentum and pulled away from NSW.

Payne Haas and Isaah Yeo were the two standouts in NSW’s pack; Haas ran for 143 metres from 15 carries and made 41 tackles, whilst Yeo ran for 146 metres from 18 carries and finished with 30 tackles. There was a noticeable drop-off in the Blues’ middle production when the pair was off the field. Fittler’s decision to sit idly by and watch Queensland pour in 16 unanswered points with Yeo on the sideline was strange to say the least. Yeo has played 74-plus minutes in 11 of his 12 games for Penrith this season and went the full 80 in NSW’s Game I victory last series.

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NSW’s back three were unsurprisingly tremendous in a losing effort. James Tedesco, Brian To’o, and Daniel Tupou all ran for over 200 metres and laid the platform all night long. The trio combined for 718 metres from 75 carries to go along with 19 tackle breaks and just a pair of errors. To manage only a pair of tries with that type of production out of your back three is an indictment on NSW’s attack and gameplan.

Wighton too was superb after his selection drew some criticism, finishing with 184 metres from 20 carries, a pair of line breaks and some stout defensive work marked up against Gagai. Dissecting the work of NSW’s right centre position is not as straightforward; debutant Kotoni Staggs lasted just 52 minutes before succumbing to a shoulder issue before fellow debutant Stephen Crichton eagerly involved himself but struggled through some shaky moments both with and without the football.

Queensland did a terrific job of unsettling Nathan Cleary who was under constant pressure with ball in hand and struggled avoiding incessant kick pressure, whilst Jarome Luai had some dangerous touches interspersed between periods of seeming inertia. Damien Cook tackled himself to standstill and found some success scurrying out of dummy-half but too often leapt out without a plan or ability to adapt on the fly leading to some erroneous and unnecessary passes.

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Several Blues’ selection statuses will be placed under the microscope heading into Game II in Perth. There are still question marks surrounding the centre positions; Wighton performed admirably, whilst debutants Staggs and Crichton failed to leave their mark on the game. Incumbent Latrell Mitchell is expected to be available for selection, although, his conditioning may not be up to standard after a two-and-a-half month layoff. Fittler may also look to shake-up his forward pack after a showing in which only three of his eight forwards tallied 100 run metres compared to five of Queensland’s. NSW have been the betting favourites in all six losses of the Fittler era and cannot allow the same complacency that they showed last night to rear its head in what is a must-win second game.

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