Matty Johns: The NSW Blues’ brilliant game plan Queensland Maroons couldn’t match

Both teams’ game plans were evident from the first set, and only one was going to be a winning strategy. MATTY JOHNS breaks down where Origin I was won — and lost.

Latrell Mitchell was outstanding for the Blues. Picture: Grant Trouville/NRL Photos

The way both teams started their respective first sets in Wednesday night’s State of Origin opener typified the entire contest.

In the opening set of the game, which NSW received, they were so clever.

Queensland were looking for heavy contact to set the standard and dominate the Blues’ forwards. Instead, NSW used speed and subtlety to nullify their efforts.

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The Blues’ outside men used speed and late footwork for the entire set to make Queensland’s big men miss. Like a boxer throwing a punch, nothing drains the tank like a miss.

Queensland’s second half opening set could not have been more contrasting. Whereas NSW used smarts and speed, Queensland powered one-out, looking for contact and NSW obliged.

The Blues burst out of the gates with speed and footwork in Game I. Picture: Adam Head

All night, NSW used skill and ball movement to tear Queensland to pieces.

NSW have never had a more lethal centre pairing as Latrell Mitchell and Tom Trbojevic, and it was the Penrith six and seven, Jarome Luai and Nathan Cleary, who continually gave Mitchell and Trbojevic, early, no-fuss ball, which allowed the Blues to play around Queensland early, and led to the Maroons’ middle being pried open for NSW to run riot through the centre of the field in the second half.

The style which Luai and Cleary brought to this Blues team was the Penrith style, a style which played to this team’s strengths perfectly.

A basic principle which all halves were taught at Newcastle in the Jurassic age was shot/shot.

What that means is when you push the ball to one edge of the field and penetrate the defence, under no circumstances do you reset the middle. Instead, you get the ball to the opposite side of the field as quickly as possible.

Half to half to centre, simple and no fuss.

In this over-structured age, you see very little of it, but Cleary and Luai execute it beautifully.

The style proved unstoppable because of the sheer talent of the two centres.

The sequence which led to the first try showed it perfectly.

Jarome Luai and Nathan Cleary were outstanding for the Blues. Picture: Getty Images

Luai took the ball on the left side, fed Mitchell early, and with power and speed Mitchell penetrated the Maroons’ edge. Immediately, from the play-the-ball, Luai found Cleary with a long, looping pass, who in turn fired the ball to the opposite side, where NSW drew a desperate penalty from Queensland and scored on the following set.

From there, the halves shot/shot brand of football gave Queensland no end of pain.

Suddenly the Maroons started to open up their defence, being pulled apart by the width of the Blues’ attack. From there, NSW rolled through Queensland’s middle relentlessly.

I thought Isaah Yeo was an unheralded hero. His clever passing and intelligence with the football in the middle field frustrated Queensland’s big men, who wanted physicality, but were denied it with smarts and skill.

Brian To’o, WOW!!

To’o is the game’s best yardage player, and he was clearly the best metre-eater on Wednesday night. On early tackles, To’o got NSW’s sets immediately rolling forward, which allowed Jake Trbojevic and Yeo to use the football rather than running into a brick wall.

While NSW supporters screamed blue murder over the shift to Townsville, their team secretly smiled. The MCG, with its slippery conditions, wouldn’t have allowed the Blues to play from edge to edge like they did.

Townsville’s hard, fast, dry surface was a Godsend for Freddy’s men.

On paper, NSW looked to have the greater talent and the conditions were a solid contributor to the team realising that talent. It allowed them to easily turn theory into practice.

Latrell Mitchell was at his barnstorming best against the Maroons. Picture: Grant Trouville/NRL Photos

They had a plan to get the ball to Trbojevic and Mitchell with clean, early passes which every centre loves. Cleary and Luai fed them in the first 60 minutes and in the final 20, dummied those early passes and cut through themselves.

With the fast rucks, James Tedesco and Damien Cook were great and, like the centres, terrorised the edges, like they did the middle.

For Queensland, in a team which just couldn’t get rolling, I thought Harry Grant was their best. Given he had played little football of late, it was a really good effort.

NSW played with a desperation that just wasn’t there in the last series. That desperation was best highlighted by a late defensive scramble to keep Dane Gagai inches from the try line.

MATTY’S ORIGIN I RATINGS

3: Latrell Mitchell

2: Tom Trbojevic

1: Jarome Luai