Matty Johns on a State of Origin game like no other
For 40 minutes it looked like NSW would hold sway. Then Queensland erupted, fuelled by the atmosphere of Suncorp Stadium, and they never looked back, writes MATTY JOHNS.
I’ve rarely seen a game like it. The style of football of the two halves were so different.
It was spectacular.
There’s nothing better than State of Origin football at Suncorp Stadium.
The very nature of the hostile atmosphere feeds the players’ performance, but also the dry surface ensures a fast game, where the Steeden hits the hands clean, the ball moves around. It’s football at its best.
But I’ve hardly seen a contest turn so radically.
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FIRST HALF
The fastest tempo I’ve ever seen.
Such was the speed of the contest that by the 20-minute mark the middle field was like a thoroughfare, where the fast, skilful men seemed to do as they liked.
Origin, so often a grind, was more like a game of basketball, where whoever had possession seemed likely to score.
The advantage went to whoever had the ball in their hands.
In the frenetic madness, New South Wales looked the more compressed, the more likely to convert opportunities.
Queensland, like a team of talented individuals, unable to find that composure when opportunity presented. They blew three clear chances, but going into the break with the Blues leading 8-0, the very nature of the contest felt like NSW would go on with it.
INTO HALF-TIME
As the halftime siren sounded, such was the level of fatigue of the middle forwards, the game was turning into rapid-fire touch football.
For the Blues, Damien Cook and James Tedesco were shredding the Maroons’ centre field. Everything pointed towards one of the most open and freewheeling second halves in Origin history.
But Queensland changed the contest.
SECOND HALF
Queensland’s defensive intensity completely changed the nature of the game.
If you were investing in attacking football, then your stocks plummeted in the second 40.
The Maroons ambushed NSW mid-contest, deciding they would win this contest through defensive energy.
That defensive energy never allowed NSW to get traction in the second half. They continually pressured the Blues with superior field position and rattled their cage.
BLUES’ LEFT SIDE
The greatest threat was expected to be to the Blues’ right-side defence via Cameron Munster and Kalyn Ponga’s preferred side, but the Maroons tore the Blues’ left to pieces at will.
Latrell Mitchell is one of the game’s most influential players, but he wasn’t himself. He looked down on defensive energy and focus, and lacked his usual attacking swagger.
MAN OF THE MATCH
Dane Gagai did it again, another Origin man-of-the-match performance from the wing.
Gagai has the most crucial thing you need at this level, a high emotional threshold. He gets himself up for the fight. I remember being in the Newcastle Knights sheds before his last game for the club.
The Knights had nothing to play for in the match, but Gagai was in tears and produced a typically brilliant performance. He’s a champion.
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