Mitchell Pearce, James Maloney fail to step up and put Origin II away as NSW fall to Queensland
WHAT happens when NSW’s forwards don’t dominate? Do the Blues have the playmaking chops to grind out a win? On evidence, one has to think they don’t right now.
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THE Blues greatest strength masks their greatest uncertainty.
On Wednesday night, the Blues forwards were excellent.
They weren’t as strong as Game I, but they did their job. They created the space, they cut up the middle, they rumbled over the advantage line again and again and again.
Andrew Fifita was mortal, but strong. Aaron Woods held up his end. Josh Jackson started well – perhaps not well enough to win man of the match - but well enough – and the twin bench tyros of Jake Trbojevic and David Klemmer were both excellent. Excellent enough to have perhaps pinched best on ground honors.
This forward pack is the Blues best weapon. Worryingly, there’s a chance this is their only weapon.
The Brisbane blitzkrieg in Game I and the first-half dominance in Game II show the Blues are extremely adept at scoring points through the middle of the ruck or when their forward pack is well on top.
The two Mitchell Pearce tries this series have shown this plan at its most deadly.
After the power of the forwards opens up the gaps, send the speed men at them.
It’s a job for which James Tedesco is tailor-made.
But what happens when the forwards don’t dominate? What happens when that ascendancy is not there? Do the Blues have the playmaking chops to grind out a win?
On evidence, one has to think they do not right now.
Halves are afforded a disproportionate amount of credit when a team wins and an equal amount of blame when they lose. It’s just part of the position.
Mitchell Pearce is an easy punching bag for Blues fans, but going off club form he has the best credentials of any NSW halfback.
In the first half of Game II, Pearce played to his strengths and the Blues did well. He kept the play tight, he fed his outside men, and he backed up through the middle to score. He did his job and that was fine.
In Game I, that was enough – even though he missed the last 20 minutes with injury, the game was as good as won by the time that happened.
In the second half on Wednesday night, the match was there to be won. Nobody is expecting Mitchell Pearce to play like Johnathan Thurston or Cooper Cronk – that’s not a fair expectation or a fair comparison.
But part of Pearce’s job, part of any halfback’s job, is to close out a tight game. To navigate a dicey situation when mistakes mean death and lead his team to victory.
Pearce didn’t do that.
His kicking was wayward, offering Queensland more than one seven-tackle set.
It is difficult to see the value of his midfield bombs, which are purported to be part of the game plan. In the last five minutes, he threw a crazy offload to Jarryd Hayne.
Perhaps Hayne should have caught it, but Pearce definitely didn’t need to throw it. Hayne dropped it, two sets later Queensland scored, and that was it.
Any playmaking enterprise is not a solo effort – James Maloney also drifted away from what was an impressive first half.
Maloney split the Queenslanders open for the Brett Morris try and was involved in the Jarryd Hayne try – the latter coming from a fine piece of combined playmaking that saw the whole spine get involved.
But, like Pearce, Maloney wasn’t able to ice the game.
After the Thurston conversion that gave the Maroons the lead, NSW regathered a short kick off. They had one set. One set for glory. Score here, and you live in Origin lore for as long as it is played.
The ball swung back and forth, but no opening was found. Maloney launched a kick, but it was not contested.
The halves were given the chance to do what the legendary Queenslanders had done so many times. They had their shot, at their house, and they couldn’t do it.
Andrew Johns is one of Pearce’s biggest fans, and a mentor.
Post-match, Johns ripped the Blues inability to target Johnathan Thurston in the second half.
Who’s responsibility would that be if not Pearce and Maloney’s?
As above, no playmaker loses a game on their own. But much was made of this team belonging to Pearce and Maloney.
Nathan Peats is here to get them the ball and lead the line speed. James Tedesco is here to hit holes around the ruck and finish chances the halves create. They have both excelled at that thus far.
Pearce and Maloney have the forwards, and they have the backs, they have a team that is built to operate to their strengths. This team is, in part, built around them.
This was the time. This was the moment.
If the two are in a similar position at Suncorp Stadium in Game III and manage to pull it out of the fire, all this will be forgotten.
But that is a truly enormous task. And it’s a task they would never have to confront if they’d been able to make it happen on Wednesday night.
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