State of Origin 3: Why dead rubber was a good one to lose for Billy Slater’s Maroons

Normally in State of Origin it’s the loser of the last game who suffers from a blurred vision of its future but it’s different this time, writes ROBERT CRADDOCK.

This was a good game to lose for Daly Cherry-Evans and the Maroons. Picture: NRL Photos

If you are a Queensland fan this might not have been a bad game to lose.

Normally in State of Origin it’s the loser of the last game who suffers from a blurred vision of its future but, because Queensland had already won the series, the fallout from this match is upside down.

Winning has complicated everything for NSW and the path forward is unclear.

A 3-0 loss would most likely have seen a full renovation for the Blues.

Coach Brad Fittler would have gone. Skipper James Tedesco might never have played again. The Cody Walker experiment might have been a one-off.

But, to their credit, Tedesco and Walker had wonderful games and are likely to be back next year.

A good thing for the Blues? Who knows.

This was a good game to lose for Daly Cherry-Evans and the Maroons. Picture: NRL Photos

Commentators were waxing on that creative master Walker may have three or four years left at the top level but Queensland will regroup and surely never defend as poorly against him again.

Down the track Queensland may feel relieved they soaked up Walker’s best punch in a dead rubber.

But Fittler is the interesting one.

Normally the last game in Origin is the decider and the winning coach is the happiest man in Australia because he has 10 months before he is accountable for anything again.

But it’s upside down this time because losing coach Billy Slater has the safest job in sport – if he wants to keep it – having the series already tucked away.

This loss doesn’t change much at all for Queensland. Slater has a group of about 20 players – some new, some old – who he has great faith in and will stick with until they lose a series.

NSW, by contrast, are in a real pickle over Fittler and this result complicates things.

Delightfully different and with a nonchalant charm all of his own, Fittler, in his opening years, relaxed the Blues in the same way Darren Lehmann relaxed Australia when he came in as coach.

But there is a tangible feeling that some wayward selections this series left Queensland a tighter unit and the Blues were very poor in the opening two matches.

Daly Cherry-Evans and the Maroons celebrate with the shield. Picture: Getty

Had he lost the last game it would have been open season on Fittler and his different ways but, suddenly, the Blues had a cohesion they had missed all series.

It’s up to the Blues bosses to decide whether Fittler has cracked the code and stumbled on to the formula which can spark a new blue wave. Or did he just get lucky against a Queensland side who were below their best?

The Queensland performance was very un-Queensland. Their scrambling defence out wide was poor. They lacked communication and connection which is rare for a Maroons team.

Complicating matters for the Blues is that there is no obvious replacement for Fittler.

Canberra’s Ricky Stuart and the Storm’s Craig Bellamy have been mentioned but the game has moved past getting a club coach to do it. The job is too big. The call of energy and focus too much.

There is a theory that Slater won this series through all the phone calls and interest he showed in players before the series started and between times when the spotlight wasn’t on them.

It’s too hard for a club coach to do that because it’s not appropriate for him to be ringing players from rival clubs. The plot is thickening. More drama lies ahead. In State of Origin, that’s the one certainty.

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Originally published as State of Origin 3: Why dead rubber was a good one to lose for Billy Slater’s Maroons