Wendell Sailor: NSW showed Queensland too much respect

THERE’S one very good reason Queensland dominated the Blues for the best part of a decade. And it may come as a surprise.

David Klemmer and Corey Parker have words during Game 1 of the 2015 State of Origin series between the NSW Blues and the Queensland Maroons at ANZ Stadium,Homebush .Picture Gregg Porteous

NSW have shown Queensland too much respect.

Yes, you read that right.

We all saw NSW forward David Klemmer go after Queensland’s established stars in State of Origin II in Melbourne. We saw the goalposts move slightly in terms of what NSW forwards are prepared to do to win some R-E-S-P-E-C-T from their Queensland opposition.

Queensland didn’t like it and it’s one of the reasons next Wednesday’s game three at Suncorp Stadium will be one of the most fiery Origin battles of recent years.

There are a few reasons why this one is going to have the heat turned right up.

One, everything is on the line in a series decider.

Two, Queensland’s forwards will feel like they have to make up for the way they allowed Klemmer to repeatedly bend their line. Queensland would be the first to admit they got dominated a bit through the middle.

Three, Josh Papalii is aggressive and capable of bullying the biggest players in the game. He can change a contest off the bench and won’t take a backwards step.

Josh Papalii is back to his cage-rattling best for the Raiders.

Maroons coach Mal Meninga missed an opportunity to play Dylan Napa off the bench right from the start of the series. He could have had the same impact Klemmer has for NSW.

The Bulldogs prop has grown this series to a new level and it’s exactly what Napa will do next year.

But I understand why Mal wants to go with Papalii. Napa has the reputation right now for being the fiery forward from the bench, but let’s not forget Papalii is hardly gun shy.

Remember him bursting onto the scene and bashing Blues captain Paul Gallen both in Origin and at NRL level?

That aggression and experience is part of the reason Mal wanted to go with Papalii. Loyalty is the main reason.

He’s hurt Gal in the past and more than a few NSW players won’t be happy to see him back.

He can be Queensland’s spark in the same way that Klemmer has been coming off the bench for NSW this series.

But Queensland doesn’t need to find its own Klemmer-type player. The series is 1-1. It’s no time for rash decisions or major changes. Papalii is a different type of player, but he can create the same spark.

Mal still won’t budge on selecting a utility on his bench. I’ve said right from the start of this series that he would be better off following Blues coach Laurie Daley’s lead and naming four forwards, but he has his ideas and he’s not about to change them.

Josh Papalii has been given another shot at NSW.

There will be a lot of personal battles between the forwards in game three and you can expect tensions to boil over.

That won’t be helped by the potential arrival of Cronulla No. 9 Michael Ennis.

He’s the man Daley can trust to do a job in the fiercest of circumstances and a player his NSW teammates will be glad to have in the trenches with them.

You know he’s going to be in the thick of it and you know he’s going to make game three uncomfortable for Queensland.

Let’s be honest, though, Queensland will give as good as they get. They always have. They know what Ennis will try to do and they’ll try and push the line as far as they can to make him as uncomfortable as possible within the rules.

Perhaps in the past NSW didn’t do that with superstars like Johnathan Thurston, Cooper Cronk or Cameron Smith. They certainly do now. Just look at Boyd Cordner’s whack on Thurston in Game 2. There is still respect there, but it is matched by NSW’s refusal to let Queensland have it all their own way.

That change has created tension and we can expect that tension to create fireworks next week.