As it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be, all eyes were inevitably drawn to the NSW No.7.
To Mitchell Moses’ credit, he looked the most threatening man in sky blue for at least the opening 40 minutes of Wednesday night’s State of Origin clash at Suncorp Stadium, and kicked soundly after the break, too.
Called up to replace a hamstrung Nathan Cleary, Moses tried his hand more often than the man with a mortgage on the sky-blue scrum-base role.
He went to the line. He chipped audaciously. He flitted from one side of the ruck to the other. Which is more than most expect of a halfback long dogged by criticism that he only does these things when his team are on top.
Problem is, Moses did plenty and nothing at the same time, a one-man microcosm of a Blues attack that had ample opportunity to jag more than one try to keep their faint hopes of an upset alive.
How else do you explain a team that was outscored six tries to one in a 32-6 defeat, yet enjoyed an astounding 41-14 advantage when it came to tackles inside the opposition’s 20-metre zone?
Mitchell Moses couldn’t get the Blues going as Queensland prevailed.Credit: Getty
More than once Moses went to the line only to not have a teammate in support with him. More than once, more often than not actually, NSW shuffled the ball with abandon, Queensland defending in the same fashion.
Side-to-side has always made a defender’s task simpler.
Damien Cook playing in the centres instead of sniping around the ruck; Tom Trbojevic sitting on the sideline instead of roaming wherever he likes; and a muted showing from James Tedesco. It all meant the Maroons knew what was coming and where. They gobbled up the Blues accordingly.
“I can’t really see what they’re targeting,” Phil Gould, the most successful coach in history, said at half-time.
“They’re passing the ball around a lot, but they are not actually putting the Queensland defence under any pressure.
“If anything, they’re playing into Queensland’s hands. Any time [NSW] come at them, they move the ball wide again and Queensland recover.”
Fluffing lines with the ball is one thing. Not chasing when Moses kicked long and high is another entirely.
Just two minutes after half-time Moses kicked long and Liam Martin chased.
With no other teammate alongside the Blues’ best player from Origin I, Reece Walsh found space and a lengthy kick-return. Valentine Holmes had his second try by the end of the set.
When NSW had their tails up, briefly, in the half, Walsh was met by the wall you’d expect at this level, and monstered beneath another Moses bomb by Cam Murray.
It was an all too rare moment of dominance for NSW, ironically, the simplest of effort areas paying off when all other attempts amounted to naught.
