Maroons fall short of Origin glory
Mon 26 May 2008
Jacob Grams, Bachelor of Journalism
“Oh my God, what was that?” said Phil Gould during Channel Nine’s commentary of game one of State of Origin 2008.
He said it, and many Queenslanders thought it, during a performance that made Maroons fans turn in disgust.
Thousands of rugby league fans gathered in pubs, clubs and lounge rooms to watch the Blues and Maroons once again battle it out for state supremacy.
Many supporters (and even some Blues fans) expected a win to Queensland, who headed into the contest as $1.70 favourites just before kickoff.
One supporter was extremely confident, placing $700,000 on the Maroons to win.
But it turned out to be an expensive mistake after Queensland’s players arguably put in one of the worst performances at Origin level.
New South Wales came out and defied the tipsters, dominating in attack and defence. Queensland’s performance left plenty of room for improvement with mostly uninspiring defence, stagnant attack, and poor and sometimes unnecessary passing.
NSW debutant Peter Wallace set the tone early as he almost stepped through the Queensland defensive line. An attack just two minutes later led to a try to fellow first-gamer Anthony Quinn in the corner.
The Blues scored their second try of the match in the 18th minute. Wallace chipped the ball perfectly over the head of Queensland winger Brent Tate for Quinn to fly high and slam the ball down.
NSW later jumped to a 14-0 lead with a try to fullback Brett Stewart adjacent to the posts.
While the Blues’ attack flowed freely, Queensland struggled for creativity in attack and could not break the NSW defensive line.
Queensland continuously attempted to spread the ball wide but was met by the Blues’ defence, or turned the ball over early in the tackle count.
However, right on the stroke of half time Queensland got back into the game with a try to Brent Tate in the corner. Jonathan Thurston threaded the ball through the NSW line and Tate managed to get his fingertips to the ball to score.
The try gave Queensland a glimmer of hope heading into the second half, which required a vast improvement on the first. The Maroons have been no strangers to trailing at half time, having come from behind to win on 10 occasions.
The weight of possession shifted to Queensland in the second half, but the team continued with a relatively ineffective attack until the 53rd minute. Maroon fullback Billy Slater prevented a NSW kick going over the sideline and broke through the defence into open space.
The ball passed through many sets of hands, from one side of the field to the other, before Justin Hodges was taken down by the Blues’ scrambling defence just metres from the line. The exciting passage of play even had NSW fans applauding.
A tug-of-war ensued between the two teams, with more attacking football as the players tired.
NSW wrapped the game up in the 68th minute, when another debutant – interchange forward Anthony Laffranchi – scored close to the posts.
But Queensland were not about to give up. Thurston executed a short kick-off, Israel Folau flew high 30 metres out to claim the ball and centre Greg Inglis steamed on to the ball only to be tackled a metre short of the line.
Brent Tate was denied minutes later, but a try-saving tackle forced him to put a foot over the sideline.
Folau was at the centre of the play again soon after, diving outstretched to put the ball down in the corner.
But Queensland had left it too late, and NSW held on to eventually claim the match 18-10, leaving many Maroons fans disappointed after being so confident leading into the contest.
Maroons legend Paul ‘Fatty’ Vautin said it was the worst he had seen a Queensland side play, while former Blues coach Phil Gould claimed the team was never in the hunt.
Overall Queensland’s defence was fairly solid but failed to match up against the NSW forwards. Some fundamental errors also hindered the Maroons’ game, handing the ball over to the opposition.
Among Queensland’s best were veteran Maroons forward Petero Civoniceva, young interchange forward Nate Myles, and makeshift five-eighth Karmichael Hunt, who put on some big hits in defence.
The Maroons can still look forward to a packed house at Suncorp Stadium on June 11 for game two. Over 50,000 parochial Queenslanders will be screaming their lungs out in a bid to ensure the series is all square heading into game three.
It remains to be seen if there will be any changes to the Queensland side after a relatively disappointing performance from the players.
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