State of Origin: Best and worst game 2 clashes
WITH the Blues 1-0 up in the series we reflect on the great Game II moments from Steve Mortimer’s defining win to Andrew Johns and Trent Hodkinson’s magic. There’re also a few we don’t want to remember.
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WITH the Blues 1-0 up in the series we reflect on the great Game II moments for New South Wales from Steve Mortimer’s defining win to Andrew Johns and Trent Hodkinson’s magic. There’re also a few we don’t want to remember.
BEST
Game II, 2005
Joey’s comeback. After a golden point defeat to Queensland in Game I, New South Wales were forced into a halfback shuffle after Brett Kimmorley was dropped and Trent Barrett succumbed to injury. Enter Andrew Johns, with only one club match under his belt after breaking his jaw earlier in the season. In his first Origin match since 2003, Johns played one of the finest matches of his incredible career, orchestrating play with a control and skill that drew comparisons to Wally Lewis. The 32-22 win levelled the series for the Blues and their win in the decider was the last series victory for the state for many years.
Game II, 2014
After eight years of Queensland domination, it felt like the Blues needed a miracle to break the cycle. A miraculous 12-8 win at Suncorp Stadium, the Blues first non-dead rubber win north of the border since 2005, paved the way for the Blues to have a shot at ending the dynasty. Trent Hodkinson, the unlikeliest Origin hero of all, wrote his name into history forever when he dived over for the only try of the match in the 70th minute and his goal made the score 6-4. It was far from pretty, but as the Blues danced in front of a riotous crowd nobody seemed to care. As Jarryd Hayne said, it’d been a long time.
Game II, 1994
Only two New South Wales teams have come back from a 1-0 deficit to win the series and for the longest time the 1994 Blues were the only ones who could boast such an achievement. After the Mark Coyne miracle stole a 16-12 for Queensland in Game I in Sydney, the Blues could have easily packed it in but instead they turned it up, grinding out a 14-0 victory at the MCG in front of a world record crowd of 87,161. A win at Lang Park in the decider secured the third series win in a row for Phil Gould’s side.
Game II, 1985
New South Wales have won series since 1985 and they’ll win them again in the future, but never again can they win for the first time. Under the emotional leadership of Steve Mortimer, the Blues ran out 18-2 winners in the series opener and made history with a 21-14 triumph at the SCG in Game II. Brett Kenny’s try in the final minute secured the victory and Mortimer kissed the turf as the Blues celebrated their first ever series win.
Game II, 1990
As demoralising as The Streak was for the good people of New South Wales, the 1987-89 period was just as tough. Queensland not only won three series straight, they won eight straight games after cleansweeps in 1988 and 1989, a winning run that remains unmatched. The Blues managed to snag an 8-0 victory in Game I of 1990 before Origin ventured to Melbourne for the first time for the second match. At Olympic Park the Blues earned a 12-6 victory on the back of a class performance from Ricky Stuart, who won man of the match. It paved the way for the Blues to win three series in the next four years and set up their domination of the 1990s.
WORST
Game II, 2017
The last gasp of the Queensland dynasty turned out to be more of a bang than a whimper. After a crushing victory in Game I, New South Wales returned to Sydney as heavy favourites and with a 16-6 halftime lead victory seemed all but assured. The Maroons rose from the dead like never before, with Dane Gagai scoring two tries, the second of which levelled the scores in the 77th minute. With one arm flapping in the breeze following a serious shoulder injury, Johnathan Thurston’s final act of his glorious Origin career was a sideline conversion that broke New South Wales hearts one more time and stole the game — and the series, really — for Queensland. The broken Blues were dominated in the decider.
Game II, 2013
Nathan Merritt was a wonderful and deeply important player for South Sydney during their wilderness years after they returned to the competition. His Origin debut in 2013 was overdue, and after the Blues won the series opener in Sydney he had a chance to be part of the team that ended The Streak. Instead his debut turned into a nightmare, with Queensland targeting him mercilessly en route to a 26-6 victory. Merritt never played Origin again, and his club career with Souths ended soon thereafter. What was supposed to be the capstone on his fine career turned into a headline he can never escape. He was dropped and the Maroons won Game III for their eighth series win in a row.
Game II, 2006
Perhaps the worst thing about The Streak was that the Blues could have killed it before it was ever born, like Arnie tried to do to John Connor in Terminator. Brett Finch gave New South Wales a 17-16 victory in Origin I and the Blues travelled to Queensland with a fourth straight series win on the line, a run that could have ended the Origin careers of players like Steve Price, Petero Civoniceva and even Darren Lockyer — a series of events that seems unthinkable today. With future legends playing for their very Origin lives, Queensland roared to life, equalling their biggest ever win in a 36-6 belting. It levelled the series and like Terminator, the sequel was better than the original — Lockyer stole Game III with a late intercept try to win the series and kick off The Streak.
Game II, 2010
Pinpointing the true apex of The Streak is a difficult task but you can argue Game II, 2010 was it. For all their dominance, 2010 was the only year Queensland managed to sweep the Blues completely and their 34-6 domination of New South Wales at Suncorp Stadium made the gulf between the two teams feel like it would never be breached. Were it not for a Brett White try in the 79th minute it would have been Queensland’s biggest ever victory to that point. The Maroons completed the sweep in Game III and the Blues public were right to wonder if they’d ever win again.
Game II, 1995
There is an alternate reality where the Blues won in 1995 and set up their own streak. From 1992 to 1997, this was the only series Queensland won and it remains the greatest series win in that state’s history. With Super League players off limits, rookie coach Paul Vautin was forced to turn to the most rag tag bunch of battlers ever to pull on Maroon jerseys. Bound by nothing but a can-do attitude and endless calls of “QUEENSLANDER”, the Maroons got up 2-0 in Game I in Sydney and repeated the dose in Game II at the MCG. A wild brawl was sparked in the opening minutes but Queensland refused to be intimidated and when Brett Dallas went the length in the final seconds to secure a 20-12 victory the Blues nightmare was confirmed as a Maroon dream.