Those bloody Queenslanders!
Honestly. You could poison them, drive a stake through their heart, put them in a coffin, bury them six foot under, be dancing on their graves … and they’d still be a chance of winning anyway.
For that was precisely the situation in this Origin II match in Perth, and it has bloody well happened again.
In Origin I, as you’ll recall, NSW won at Suncorp 18-6 and were unlucky not to have won by 30 points. On the strength of that, 10 of the 11 Sydney Morning Herald experts, quite rightly predicted a Queensland loss, by as much as 28 points. How could they do anything else, on the facts available? What is more, after the first 10 minutes of this Origin II match, when the old firm of Nathan Cleary, Jarome Luai and Brian To’o again combined to put To’o over in the corner, it was obvious that Queensland was done and dusted. Of course this was going to be another NSW win, and the series secured!
And yet, what did we see?
From that point on, for the rest of the half, it was all Queensland, all the time, to the point they went into half-time leading 26-6, and looked like they were just warming up!
Cameron Munster celebrates scoring a try.Credit: Getty Images
The whole cavalcade was helped by a desperately disappointing NSW side. There was some irony in the fact that because of a sponsorship arrangement, every NSW player had “The Star” printed on their back in large letters when – in truth – none of the Blues stars truly shone in that first half. Cleary, even hampered by a leg injury, had his moments, as did Luai and Liam Martin, but no-one truly emerged to turn the Maroon tide.
The fact that in the second half NSW came back into it in such stunning fashion was great for the spectacle, and their four successive tries actually made you think that the Blues might pull off a miracle and win anyway.
Against any other team, they might have.
But these were angry Queenslanders, stung by what happened in Brissie and supported in Perth by what seemed like a remarkably parochial Queensland crowd. You could practically hear the banjos, every time the Maroons fired.
In the end, Queensland held on to deservedly win 26-24.
(And, honestly? I know I speak for every journalist covering this match, knowing we had to file on deadline. We all had 1000 words ready to go, predicated on Queensland pulling off the miracle win. But right up to the last 30 seconds, it could quite easily have been a NSW in, and all of our analysis would have been out the window. I repeat: if Queenslanders hadn’t been the opposition, it bloody well would have been a miracle NSW win!)
On the upside?
Well, on the upside the truth is that Origin only truly works when the Maroons are on the ascendant at a time when they’re meant to be totally outgunned. And that is where we are now.
With that Queensland win, the series is not just alive, it is crackling with energy and a great Origin III beckons in Sydney.
Who will win? Well, after tonight – with apologies to Gary Lineker – I’ll go with a version of his famous quote: “Origin is a simple series. Twenty-six men chase a ball for 80 minutes and in the end Queensland always wins.” Right now it is at least clear that Queensland’s lacklustre performance in Origin I was an aberration, while their performance in Origin II was the real deal. For “The Star” for Queensland on the night, as ever, was their jersey. They had no right to win Origin II, but did anyway.
They have no right to win Origin III. But given they are Queenslanders and one half of those on field, they are at least a better than even chance of winning that, too.
Those bloody Queenslanders!
