Maroons must be willing to give everything to win Origin III
Forget what happened in Game Two. It’s gone. What matters now is about the one percenters done well all the time and that comes down to mental strength, writes MAL MENINGA.
Opinion
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Game Two doesn’t matter anymore.
State of Origin is about the here and now. It will all come down to what’s between the ears and who is willing to go the extra mile mentally to win the series.
After the Blues blew the Maroons away in Perth, Queensland haven’t been given much hope of a victory in the decider in Sydney on Wednesday.
But Origin is a game of inches, special efforts and moments and the Maroons are certainly capable of rising from the ashes.
Coach Kevin Walters has made some bold selection decisions, dropping props Dylan Napa and Jarrod Wallace, while giving Corey Norman his debut at five-eighth and shifting Cameron Munster to fullback for the injured Kalyn Ponga. In my opinion, he has made the right call to give the squad balance and ease of preparation.
I rate Corey, he is a quality player. He has obviously had his ups and downs on and off the field but the one thing about Corey is he can play the game. He is a big body, with a left-foot kick, a great organiser and smart player who defends well. His selection at pivot is a great ploy.
Having Cameron at fullback will allow him to express himself better. He believes his best position is in the No.1 jumper. It will make him twice as dangerous as he can be on both sides of the field.
But the shake up to the Maroons’ spine won’t mean a thing unless the forward pack stands up for Queensland.
Game Two once again proved that when your forwards are going backwards, your halves can’t have much of an impact.
This should never be under estimated. All the flair and the flashiness always comes off the back of a dominant forward display.
The Queensland forwards got belted in the middle in Game Two.
They struggled right throughout the game. If you look at Queensland’s completion rate, it was around 76 per cent and at Origin level that is nowhere near good enough.
You need to be completing up around 80 per cent. NSW achieved 83 per cent in the wet conditions. Queensland’s missed tackles were nearly double that of NSW.
The Maroons were beaten comprehensively across all aspects of the game and if completions are any indication of that, they were beaten by a good seven per cent. Origin is about the one percenters done well all the time.
So where do they find those extra percentages? It is all in their attitude.
The build up for both teams won’t focus on the physical preparation or the technical and tactical stuff.
What’s important is the mental aptitude and application to the game. How emotionally are the teams engaged in the do-or-die decider?
Freddy Fittler will be firing his players up by telling them ‘Queensland are coming after you because they were embarrassed last game’.
Kevvie will be stoking the fire for revenge by telling his troops ‘You guys let the State of Queensland down last game and must make amends’.
Forget what you think you know about who is going to win Game Three.
When the final siren sounds on Wednesday night, the team left holding the trophy will be the one that realised that Game One or Two didn’t matter.
As always, that team that played the best wanted it more than the other.
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