New South Wales v Queensland
Sudden death football for the Blues; a chance to make more history for the Maroons. If it feels like we’ve been here before… well, we have. Déjà vu for New South Wales, with our collective breath being held as we hope beyond hope for a miracle. Unfortunately in the harsh reality that is Origin Football, there are no miracles.
Wednesday night at Homebush will see 80,000 odd Blues fans fuelled up and ready to hate. It’s just what we do now. Origin used to be a Wednesday night party, a mid-week session, a chance to catch up with mates on a school night. Now, it’s a journey through the darkest parts of your soul and a test of resilience and patience to see how long before you throw the remote control through the TV. It’s been a tough 7 years and this match will prove no different.
Game 2 will revolve around the ruck, the wrestle, and the right boot of Todd Carney… actually it’s his left boot but I had the whole “three Rs” thing going on, so please forgive. A probable wet track and a dour struggle will be the order of things and field position will be gold. No team can defend against this kind of talent for long periods of time and controlling the ball will be key for these players, individually.
Collectively, for New South Wales, the bigger challenge will be to keep up with Greg Bird. By far and away the Blues best in game 1, Bird dominated the middle of the field and was left stranded on a few occasions by some less than supportive team mates. Brett Stewart in particular will need to lift his support play a few notches if the home side are to post enough points to outscore the most potent attack in Origin history.
If New South Wales continue their ill-disciplined play and disrespect for the ball, as they have for so many years, then Queensland will pick up where they left off and simply allow the Blues to beat themselves. If Mitchell Pearce, Robbie Farah and the rest of the cockroach spine play as good as we know they can, perhaps miracles can happen.
My tip: NSW 12-8.
Man of the Match: Greg Bird
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