Queensland made it three series wins in a row after a thrilling match which continued their dominance over New South Wales. In a game which had just about everything you would expect from an State of Origin match, it was Billy Slater’s try that separated the two sides after both sides were deadlocked at ten points apiece for a large proportion of the second half, the final score being 10-16 to the maroons.
New South Wales went into the half time break leading ten points to eight after a Matt Cooper try and two Craig Fitzgibbon penalties set the benchmark for Queensland to chase. But it was the maroons who scored first after five minutes with Israel Folau calmly collecting Anthony Quinn’s dropped ball a metre from his own line after a Thurston kick piled the pressure on the New South Welshman. Matt Cooper stretched out for his try ten minutes later, but then an amazing effort from Folau secured his second. Again, it was a copy of his first try. Thurston’s kick to Quinn was cruelly snatched away from him by Folau in mid-air, who then took a tumble but placed the ball on the ground one-handed in a style Michael Jordon would be pleased with.
Twice the game was halted for fighting, the first scrap igniting after only two minutes when Petro Civoniceva’s shoulder knocked that blues player’s head. Then in the second half, Nate Myles’ spear tackle on Ben Cross set it off again with both sets of players really letting rip into each other. But with tension’s high and the pressure starting to tell, it was Queensland who defended for their lives and left the blues scoreless in the second stanza.
And rightly so too. It was Chanel Nine commentator Paul Vautin who mentioned it, saying NSW had only scored one try in a hundred and sixty minutes of rugby. NSW didn’t up the tempo when they needed to and were left to pay the price. However, it could easily have been a different story had Scott Prince not left the field with a broken left forearm. Until that point when Queensland realised they had lost their leading player, they were dominant despite being down on points. For the remaining twenty minutes, they were flat and didn’t know really what to do in attack. But again, it was their defensive effort that kept them in it. And when Thurston began his final charge of the series, lifting the maroons’ team to a different level, there was only going to be one winner. However, the work was done off the field as well. Mal Meninga realised Anthony Quinn was a weak link in the blues defence and bombarded him with work all night. It was a terrific effort from the side that was deserving of another Origin win.
And all without Darren Lockyer.
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