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State of Origin Game 2, NSW vs Queensland

NSW delivered one of the bravest performances ever seen in State of Origin in an instant classic that left commentators stunnded.

Tyson OttoTyson Otto
@tottodtsport
9 min read
June 24, 2018 - 11:50PM
A new blue moon has risen.
A new blue moon has risen.

State of Origin Game 2 live

NSW has won the 2018 State of Origin series after taking a 2-0 lead with a famous victory at ANZ Stadium.

NSW has smashed Queensland’s dynasty of dominance to roar to their second series victory since 2005 in a famous result at ANZ Stadium.

The Blues held on to win 18-14 in one of the bravest defensive efforts ever seen from men in blue.

The Maroons will now only have pride to play for in Game 3, with the Blues sealing the series 2-0 in Sydney.

NRL guru Phil Gould described the rollercoaster second game of the series one of the best Origin encounters he has ever seen.

“Origin has been entertaining for 38 years,” Gould told Channel 9.

“I’ve seen many, many great moments and many great players. Some wonderful games. It is unfair to say it is the best I have ever seen. It is as good as any Origin I have ever seen.

“Queensland were outstanding. Queensland came here tonight to level the series and they threw everything in their armoury at the Blues which is still a very young side and under adversity the Blues had to fight back.

“The fact that they beat a courageous Queensland side will only add to the merit of this victory. The players as joyous as they are now and as celebratory as they are now. They won’t truly appreciate it for another 20 years when they look back on it and understand this is

the best time of your life. And they have just done something incredible.”

10pm

Brave Blues win famous Origin series

NSW produced one of the bravest efforts in recent memory to deny Queensland a series-changing try in a dramatic final 10 minutes where they were cut down to 10 men.

The Blues had to defend for their lives at the death after centre James Roberts was sensationally sent to the sin bin for a professional foul.

They also lost captain Boyd Cordner to an ugly concussion hit with eight minutes to play.

Despite the Maroons’ overwhelming possession and field-position advantage, the Blues never looked like conceding and they held on for an unforgettable 18-14 victory.

Former Blues coach Phil Gould said: “It’s an incredible performance by the Blues.

“Eleven debuts in the first game and only one game each and they are still here. They have toughed it out in defence. Queensland have thrown everything at them.”

It was a memorable victory for a team that seems destined to be remembered as Brad Fittler’s Baby Blues.

They did it without their captain too.

Cordner was forced form the field for a concussion test in the 74th minute.

He took a nasty blow to the head as he tried to go low in a tackle on Dylan Napa.

He tried to argue with a NSW trainer, but was eventually convinced to come from the field.

It would have broken plenty of rugby league stars — but not this new Blues team — especially just minutes after Roberts’ sin-binning.

Party time.
Party time.

Roberts left NSW in a “world of pain” — according to Phil Gould — when he committed a grievous professional foul to drag down Gavin Cooper off the ball.

Roberts tackled Coper as they chased down a grubber from Ben Hunt in the 69th minute.

Tom Trbojevic was able to clean up the kick, but the referees stopped play after Cooper’s cries.

The video referee ruled Roberts’ silly tackle was enough to warrant a sin-bin and he was sent from the field and not allowed to return until the 79th minute.

It left the Blues with just 12 men on the field for the most crucial period of the game.

The Maroons very nearly capitalised on their numerical advantage when Valentine Holmes made a break down the left wing only for Nathan Cleary to make a potential match-winning, diving tackle to force Holmes into throwing a wild pass that went to James Tedesco.

The Maroons showed incredible fight of their own, but were left counting the cost of poor execution inside NSW’s red zone.

Maroons halfback Ben Hunt was heavily criticised for his struggles to find the right play when camped on the Blues line.

He kicked dead on a number of occasions, including a kick on the third tackle straight after Roberts had been sent to the bin.

“When they went down to 12 men, the Blues, they just didn’t capitalise on it,” Maroons legend Johnathan Thurston told Channel 9.

“Ben Hunt on the next set of six kicked it dead on play three or four. Will Chambers kicked it dead on the last play. They didn’t get to a spot to attack the edge, that was missing.

“That is a learning lesson and learning curve for the halves to make sure that they take those

opportunities. Full credit to the Blues, they defended well. But while they had 12 men Queensland just didn’t throw enough at them.”

The Maroons did enough to set-up a thrilling finish when Felise Kaufusi set-up a try for Will Chambers in the 63rd minute.

In the end the telling blow was delivered by Latrell Mitchell early in the second half when he trampled over the top of Chambers on the Maroons’ try line.

That try took the Blues to 18-10 — and it proved a bridge too far for the Maroons to recover from.

9.20pm

Hunt makes 37-year Origin history with major blunder

Ben Hunt became just the second player to commit a penalty try professional foul in State of Origin.

The Dragons playmaker’s shoulder hit on Blues captain Boyd Cordner as he chased a grubber from James Maloney earned the wrath of the video referee in the 30th minute — with the NRL bunker ruling Hunt’s cheap hit off the ball was worthy of a penalty try.

It was the first time a penalty try had been awarded in State of Origin since 1981.

According to Fox Sports, Mal Meninga was the last player to receive a six-pointer from a penalty try in the second ever State of Origin game 37 years ago.

Hunt’s error attracted a penalty try from the video referee as the Blues scored twice in six minutes.

Their second try was the big talking point when Hunt had to perform a professional foul to stop Cordner jumping onto a grubber from James Maloney that bounced into the in-goal.

The set-play was chased down by Cordner only for the Blues captain to be taken out with a shoulder charge by Hunt.

Channel 9 guru Phil Gould screamed: “This should be a penalty try. It should be a sin-bin and a penalty try”.

The on-field referees sent the decision to the video ref with a ruling of “no try” but the video official ruled none of the Queensland defenders could have stopped Cordner getting to the ball and awarded the Blues a penalty try.

Maloney’s conversion put the Blues ahead 12-10 at half time.

8.45pm

Hunt brain snap undoes mercurial Slater heroics

Billy Slater showed he remains one of the best players in rugby league with a freakish first 15 minutes in Origin II.

Slater set-up both of the Maroons’ first two tries as they shot out to a 10-0 lead in the 20th minute.

His good work was all brought undone by a Blues fightback which saw Ben Hunt produce a complete brain snap when he took Boyd Cordner out off the ball and was hit with a penalty try that allowed NSW to take a 12-10 lead into half time.

The Blues first got on the board when James Maloney picked out Josh Addo-Carr unmarked on the wing with a darting, double cut-out ball.

Addo-Carr had to step back inside two Maroons defenders before planting the Steeden over the line.

It cut Queensland’s lead to 10-6 after 26 minutes.

Valentine Holmes delivered the first points for Origin II when Slater and Greg Inglis combined to create a gaping hole for the Maroons winger to streak through.

Slater and Inglis targeted the Blues’ left edge, catching James Roberts and Tom Trbojevic out of position, despite defending a three-on-three raid.

Maroons legend Paul Vautin said Trbojevic’s decision to rush in created the hole for Holmes.

“That shouldn’t have been scored,” Vautin told Nine.

“They were three on three out here. Tom came off his wing, left Holmes unmarked. He is running into fresh air.”

Holmes was unable to convert his own try and left Queensland leading 4-0 after 14 minutes.

Slater struck again just a few minutes later when he ran onto a nice block-play pass from Ben Hunt and again orchestrated a gaping hole on the wing despite the Blues defending a three-on-three.

Slater’s pass to Will Chambers created a two-on-one and Chambers was able to put Dane Gagai into open space down the touchline.

Gagai was able to sprint along a knife edge and brush off a weak, diving tackle from Josh Addo-Carr before sprinting the final 20m untouched.

Earlier, Gagai was denied a try in the 8th minute in a moment of video referee controversy.

Gagai finished off a sweet Queensland move from a 10m scrum, but replays showed his right foot was dragged into touch by Josh Addo-Carr at the same time as he planted the ball over the try line.

Channel 9’s Peter Sterling said he believed the try should still have been awarded to Queensland because the on-field decision was “try”.

“It’s massive decision to make, isn’t it,” Paul Vautin told Channel 9.

7.30pm

Walters confirms big Napa gamble

Queensland confirmed injured prop Dylan Napa will play against the Blues in Game 2 while nursing an injured ankle.

The Maroons have rolled the dice with Napa looming as the key player in their forward pack.

The Maroons’ other big changes from their loss in the series opener is the return of Billy Slater and the debut of Kalyn Ponga on the bench, replacing Michael Morgan and Anthony Milford.

Maroons assistant Josh Hannay said on Sunday Napa was still not 100 per cent fit but he would nurse his injured ankle through a match Queensland must win to keep the series alive.

“It is hard to place a percentage on the injury but he has done everything asked of him this week — he is ready to go,” he said.

Hannay disagreed that the NSW forwards outmuscled Queensland in game one in Melbourne but believed Napa would help the Maroons pack respond to the series-opening loss.

“I don’t think they (NSW pack) were as dominant as what has been said in the media,” Hannay said.

Walters told Channel 9 just before kick-off his Queensland team has been “hurting” since their loss to the Blues in the series opener in Melbourne.

The Blues’ only change was the selection of Mat Prior to replace Reagan Campbell-Gillard in the front row.

6.30pm

Blues get police clearance, create anarchy at ANZ Stadium

James Tedesco and the Blues walk to the ground.
James Tedesco and the Blues walk to the ground.

Blues coach Brad Fittler’s bold plan for NSW players to break with tradition and walk from their Sydney Olympic Park hotel to ANZ Stadium across the road created extraordinary scenes at Sydney Olympic Park.

Just as the Blues walked to the MCG for the series opener in Melbourne, Fittler on Saturday made the call for his team to replicate the same move on Sunday night.

The plan saw NSW stars walk from the Pullman Hotel across the road to the Olympic Stadium just over two hours before kick-off.

However, The Daily Telegraph reported on Sunday Fittler was only allowed to introduce his plan after the team’s security advisers and NSW Police give it the all clear.

The walk is only 200m for the Blues players, but they have always been forced to take a bus to the stadium to avoid any headaches before the start of previous Origin encounters at ANZ Stadium.

According to the report, the Blues practiced the walk on Saturday ahead of their final training session on ANZ Stadium.

They walked to the eastern side of the ground and then caught golf buggies underneath the stadium through a tunnel system to the Blues’ change rooms on the western side of the stadium.

They were spotted walking through an incredible sea of blue outside ANZ Stadium with the NRL announcing on Sunday afternoon Game 2 is officially a sellout and a crowd of up to 83,000 is expected.

5.30pm

Johns tips Slater masterclass

NSW assistant coach Andrew Johns has sigled out returning fullback Billy Slater as the man most likely to cause the Blues headaches in Game 2.

Johns told The Sunday Footy Show Slater’s experience in the Origin arena marks him as the dangerman for NSW.

He also believes Storm playmaker Cameron Munster has the potential to break the game open with individual brilliance for the Maroons.

“I think it’s split between him, (Munster) and Billy Slater coming back from that hamstring injury,” Johns said.

“I think he’ll organise the side better and put more question marks in particular to the NSW left-side defence of (James) Maloney and Latrell Mitchell.

“I also think Cameron Munster, every time I see him play, he’s so dangerous. He knows when to run, knows when to pass and when he decides to run he’s just so strong.”

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Original URL: https://www.news.com.au/sport/nrl/live-state-of-origin-game-2-nsw-vs-queensland/news-story/c46e4fc42bb66dfdab957c35eda4d7ac