State of Origin Match 3 Thread

[Clogiron]

Congratulations QLD, like Futtocks looking at the squads at the start there looked to be a massive difference in class, there was, but it turned out to be in favour of the Qld halfs, Munster whilst on the field controlled the game's, Cleary & Walker were poor in comparison. If a couple of years back you told me Edric Lee would score a try in a origin decider I would have laughed you out of town. What strange times we live in.

[Old Frightful]

47 minutes ago, JohnM said:

Yes indeed. Now for the big one, tomorrow!

Absolutely mate.

Already feeling the bloody nerves!

[Graham]

Another pleasing aspect of the game was the was the performance by Harry Grant.

He not only made his Origin debut,but looked at home.

What a great career he has in prospect.

Glad he's going back to Storm.

The big difference in this game over Origin 2 was Munster's presence for me.

[Irish Saint]

56 minutes ago, Number 16 said:

Not me. There's something about that maroon jersey that bring the best out of those wearing it. 

As an outsider I have to agree with this.

Also I remember Joey John's saying " they dont get it NSW they dont get it"

 

[JohnM]

Refered to the Tedesco incident earlier  but no response. 

[Davo5]

Just finished watching the game and over the 80 mins Qld deserved the win with Munster & Grant outstanding with only Arrow’s cowardly antics on a badly concussed Tedesco being the only sour note.

NSW were woeful for 65 mins with Cody Walker doing another SOO disappearing act and as hard as Cleary tried they didn’t have the ability to adjust to Qld wide rush defence.

How the hell does Sutton keep getting all these Origin gigs,there are far better refs in the NRL.

[Graham]

Given that Blues came back close near the end, despite being generally second best for large parts of the game, how important the loss of Teddy was to them.

 

[graveyard johnny]

it all hinged on munster- if he had missed out due to last weeks head knock nsw would have won- he played and queensland won -simple

[Dunbar]

Just caught up with the game.  My take on it.

First of all, a belting game... game 1 was poor with too many errors and game 2 a blowout and so this was easily the most enjoyable game of the series and comfortably the fastest and most intense... a bit like Origin of old!  

The single biggest difference between NSW and Queensland this year is the coaches.  Bennett has taken what many people believe to be the poorer squad and got two wins out of them.  His second half in game 1 and his prep for the game today and how Queensland played shows the value of a great coach.  Fittler on the other hand is a TV personality and more of a comic one at that... it shows.  I can't help but feel that if the quality of the coaches were reversed we would be seeing a 3-0 NSW win.

I still believe that NSW made a huge mistake (again back to the coach) is playing non specialist centres in the series.  They simply didn't look dangerous enough when they shifted the ball and when their go forward was halted by strong Maroons defense in this game, they ran out of answers.

Munster and Grant were the best on the park and the Marrons forwards really stood up to be counted.

I thought Angus Crighton was very good in a beaten side and played tough all game.  He has been the Blues best this series despite starting game 1 off the bench.  Daniel Saifiti was also good again and ran Crighton close.

[Dunbar]

8 minutes ago, graveyard johnny said:

it all hinged on munster- if he had missed out due to last weeks head knock nsw would have won- he played and queensland won -simple

So NSW losing a player who is regarded as the best in the game the same as QLD lost Munster last week had no effect on the outcome at all?

[Dunbar]

Can't help but wonder what would have happened if Fittler had played Wighton at 6 and told him to do for NSW what he does for the Raiders (i.e. the Dally M player of the year performance) and played the centre of year (Stephen Crichton) in the centre. Maybe even Lomax instead of Gutherson and actually have two centres playing.

This backline just looks so much more dangerous and balanced than anything NSW had this series.

1. Tedesco

2. Addo-Carr

3. Lomax

4. Crighton

5. Tupou

6. Wighton

7. Clearly 

[graveyard johnny]

8 minutes ago, Dunbar said:

So NSW losing a player who is regarded as the best in the game the same as QLD lost Munster last week had no effect on the outcome at all?

i didnt say that - gutherson is a fantastic replacement and dont think its as big an xfactor as muster controlling the game at half back for 80mins compared with their  other selection options 

[Dunbar]

Just now, graveyard johnny said:

i didnt say that - gutherson is a fantastic replacement and dont think its as big an xfactor as muster controlling the game at half back for 80mins compared with their  other selection options 

I agree with you that Munster made Queensland a ,much better team today.  I just don't think the win today can be attributed to just one variable (Munster in or out).

[Tex Evans Thigh]

Great game, really entertaining. I'm one of those who thought Queensland had no chance at the start of the series but I fancied them today at a full Suncorp. Really, if it weren't for poor finishing they should have been out of sight with 20 to go but I'm not complaining that they made it interesting.

It just shows how players can get up for a game if the stakes are high, the crowd behind you and you have a couple of quality players in the side. Where would that Queensland team finish in the NRL? would it crack the top 8? How many players would have made the NSW team? Munster and Papalii maybe. Great effort for them to win and doubly enjoyable after people like Gallen and Gould were saying they were the worst team in 40 years etc.

The real decider was game 1 when I think NSW thought it was going to be easy after going into a 10-0 lead. Both teams then won their home fixtures fairly convincingly.

Munster wasn't the only difference today, as good as he was. The inclusion of Grant made a huge difference to QL as Friend doesn't really offer much out of DH. QL were much more intense than NSW which I think is helped by having a capacity crowd behind them, QL's middle was dominant, Papalii and Welsh excellent with Tino, Arrow and Collins great support play. The bench forwards did a similar job to NSW bench last week. Players who really shouldnt be rep players like Brenko Lee, Edrick Lee, Capewell were excellent and really stood up.

NSW underestimated QL for most of this series. They also fell foul of the old square peg round hole problem of trying to shoehorn your best players into the team and the four loose forward bench policy was always going to be a risk. There is always a chance you are going to pick up an injury in game three and they had no cover. They went through 3 games and didnt have one specialist centre on the field at any point and it cost them ultimately.

Last point. Gus Gould can F-off. He ruined the GF with his relentless bias to the panthers and did the same again here. He makes good points when he tries to be objective but even then they are delivered with such arrogance and aloofness its just off putting. The fawning over Origin "that's an Origin tackle", "he's an Origin player" is BBC Rugby Union-esque. Just call the game ffs. 

[DoubleD]

1 hour ago, Dunbar said:

Just caught up with the game.  My take on it.

First of all, a belting game... game 1 was poor with too many errors and game 2 a blowout and so this was easily the most enjoyable game of the series and comfortably the fastest and most intense... a bit like Origin of old!  

The single biggest difference between NSW and Queensland this year is the coaches.  Bennett has taken what many people believe to be the poorer squad and got two wins out of them.  His second half in game 1 and his prep for the game today and how Queensland played shows the value of a great coach.  Fittler on the other hand is a TV personality and more of a comic one at that... it shows.  I can't help but feel that if the quality of the coaches were reversed we would be seeing a 3-0 NSW win.

I still believe that NSW made a huge mistake (again back to the coach) is playing non specialist centres in the series.  They simply didn't look dangerous enough when they shifted the ball and when their go forward was halted by strong Maroons defense in this game, they ran out of answers.

Munster and Grant were the best on the park and the Marrons forwards really stood up to be counted.

I thought Angus Crighton was very good in a beaten side and played tough all game.  He has been the Blues best this series despite starting game 1 off the bench.  Daniel Saifiti was also good again and ran Crighton close.

I agree with most of this.

Bennett, Munster and Grant won this for Queensland.........brilliant from them. Crighton was the only player who could hold his head up high in NSW camp, I thought they were woeful.

Interesting how many thought it was a great game. It was intense in places and close but I didn't think it was a great game unless you were a Queensland supporter. NSW massively underperformed and that disappointed me. I had no bias in who i wanted to win but they didn't play to their potential.

As a side note, Holmes is proving the unwritten rule that players who leave the sport never come back as good. He didn't even look like he had the pace when Addo Carr waltzed past him in the 2nd half 'no try'. Granted Addo Carr is the fastest person on the planet so perhaps my viewing was skewed

[Futtocks]

4 minutes ago, DoubleD said:

Granted Addo Carr is the fastest person on the planet so perhaps my viewing was skewed

You forgot to mention he's the fastest person on the planet.

[Futtocks]

Radio 4 news just now had a report on Origin 3. It took a few seconds before I could believe what I was hearing.

[DavidM]

I enjoyed that , it was the best game . Maybe the crowd played a part ? Queensland were dominant and should have had it wrapped up easily , they bombed lots of chances . The Blues hung on and and rode their luck but they were rowing uphill for much of that . Harry Grant , what a star . I wonder what Smith was thinking ? Bit odd Friend went back  into dummy half when Grant was absolutely ripping them up , he’s owning that 9 jersey from now on for quite some time . Munster took that game by the scruff and those two were two prongs of a very potent middle threat . Adversely Cory Allen had a total Weston . Very disappointing by the Blues , again less than the sum of their parts and pretty blunt offensively . I didn’t see Wighton until late in the game , and they need to start picking specialists in positions . Tedesco was a big blow , and the knock on affect defensively out wide , but Queensland were worthy winners . Bennett did a job on Fittler too ..And BigTino still can’t play the ball . 

[George Watt]

13 hours ago, Futtocks said:

Hands up who, like me, reckoned (before Game 1) the Maroons didn't stand a chance this year?

I predicted a win to NSW 2-1 believing it would be be all over in Sydney 2-0 and a win to QLD in Brisbane at Suncorp. I was there last night to see what QLD usually do in deciders in Brisbane. As a QLD supporter living in NSW I was so pleased to watch a side that was purportedly the worst in 40 years triumph and put egg on pundit's and  journalist's faces here who thought  they could predict SOO outcomes with such certainty.

The atmosphere at the ground was electric and although I have been in bigger crowds there, the belief before and during the game was that QLD would prevail. Moving on, NSW and their admirers will lick their wounds and prepare for the 2021 series whenever that is.

[Tex Evans Thigh]

1 hour ago, George Watt said:

I predicted a win to NSW 2-1 believing it would be be all over in Sydney 2-0 and a win to QLD in Brisbane at Suncorp. I was there last night to see what QLD usually do in deciders in Brisbane. As a QLD supporter living in NSW I was so pleased to watch a side that was purportedly the worst in 40 years triumph and put egg on pundit's and  journalist's faces here who thought  they could predict SOO outcomes with such certainty.

The atmosphere at the ground was electric and although I have been in bigger crowds there, the belief before and during the game was that QLD would prevail. Moving on, NSW and their admirers will lick their wounds and prepare for the 2021 series whenever that is.

It was 3000 under capacity. 

[Graham]

[George Watt]

15 hours ago, DavidM said:

I enjoyed that , it was the best game . Maybe the crowd played a part ? Queensland were dominant and should have had it wrapped up easily , they bombed lots of chances . The Blues hung on and and rode their luck but they were rowing uphill for much of that . Harry Grant , what a star . I wonder what Smith was thinking ? Bit odd Friend went back  into dummy half when Grant was absolutely ripping them up , he’s owning that 9 jersey from now on for quite some time . Munster took that game by the scruff and those two were two prongs of a very potent middle threat . Adversely Cory Allen had a total Weston . Very disappointing by the Blues , again less than the sum of their parts and pretty blunt offensively . I didn’t see Wighton until late in the game , and they need to start picking specialists in positions . Tedesco was a big blow , and the knock on affect defensively out wide , but Queensland were worthy winners . Bennett did a job on Fittler too ..And BigTino still can’t play the ball . 

You have summed the game up well. I believe the QLD coaching staff which included Meninga, Henry (and Alfie) had too many counters to the plans of Fittler, Buderus and Alexander. Also selecting 4 forwards on the NSW bench turned out badly once a key back was injured.

Regarding the PTB I recall a set by QLD early on when in 5 tackles none of players including Tino attempted to play the ball with the foot.

[Graham]

We last saw Cody Walker on a medical leaving the field after being knocked out by friendly fire. According to reports his memory of the game is vague, but otherwise he is okay according to his wife. Reports say he was seen after the game mixing with some of the players.

[DavidM]

Freddie says in hindsight Papenhuyzen would have been handy on the bench . Tedesco or no Tedesco , he should have been there as a weapon up the middle . The Blues bench had grunt but no X factor 

[Dunbar]

On 18/11/2020 at 17:27, Tex Evans Thigh said:

Last point. Gus Gould can F-off. He ruined the GF with his relentless bias to the panthers and did the same again here. He makes good points when he tries to be objective but even then they are delivered with such arrogance and aloofness its just off putting. The fawning over Origin "that's an Origin tackle", "he's an Origin player" is BBC Rugby Union-esque. Just call the game ffs.

Made me laugh when Tedesco was injured (not his injury!)

Gould was being all thoughtful on who could move to full back should Tedesco not be able to carry on.  He mused that Jack Wighton had experience at full back or even Cody Walker could do a job if required.

Then Joey Johns pipes up and says that they will put Gutherson there... you know the Dally M fullback of the year!