Magnificent Maroons thrive on guts and glory and the rest is history

QUEENSLAND was far too good. As was the case in game one of this year's Origin series, the final score also flattered the NSW team in game two.

They didn't beat NSW with great plays or brilliant tactics. In fact, for the last 60 minutes of the contest they played very little attacking football. The Maroons won this game with good old fashioned heart, courage and never-say-die attitude.

Queensland were down on troops and many of the boys out on the field were walking wounded. However, like the teams and generations of Queensland players before them, this 2009 side stood shoulder-to-shoulder to stare down the pain and fatigue to march onto glory. The legend of this great Queensland spirit has just written itself another chapter.

NSW were awful. It's no good sugar-coating the bitter pill. The first 40 minutes of this match was the worst opening to a big game by a NSW side in 10 years.

They fumbled their way to comical errors. Their defensive line possessed none of the steel required. There appeared to be little cohesion in their attack with no definable pattern of play or attacking tactics to be recognised.

Even the simple task of advancing the ball from dummy half looked ponderous and confusing. In game one, the Blues made great inroads around the play-the-ball in the second half when Craig Wing came onto the field. I saw no attempt at a repeat of these plays. The decision to replace the injured Wing with a rookie outside back defied belief.

I love Josh Morris as a player and think he is destined for a long career in rep football, but this was not his game to be introduced.

With little yardage being gained by the forwards and dummy-half running having the night off, the Blues' back line was continually forced sideways towards the sidelines by the swarming Queensland defence. They went down short blind sides when they were outnumbered by the defenders. They gifted Queensland field position with numerous unforced turnovers and handed them two soft tries with almost uncaring efforts in defence.

To be honest, I found few redeeming features in the Blues' performance. Only the football gods and the video referees kept them in it, yet despite the good fortune to still be in the game at the back end, the NSW team offered little. They could've won - they had enough chances - but never really looked likely.

Anyway, if they won it would've been a travesty of justice.

Queensland deserved this success. They started the match with all good intention of throwing the ball around and trying to run up a big number on their opponents. Johnathan Thurston and Darren Lockyer were hungry for work and fired up their outside backs with plenty of quality service.

Their tries may have looked soft but they were always threatening to score anyway. It wasn't until the injuries started to mount that Queensland resorted to a more secure and conservative brand of survival football. They have been in this position many times before. They work hard, wear down the clock, close down the football and defend like their lives depend on it.

As is usual in Origin football, they protected their lead to within the shadows of the winning post, and then produced a final try in the last two minutes to seal the victory and their special place in history.

Any win in an Origin match is a tremendous achievement. To think this Queensland team has now done four victory laps in succession with the Origin shield is amazing.

Questions will now be asked of the NSW selection process and the team's preparation. In getting ready for these two crucial clashes, the Blues have trained in Victoria and on the Central Coast.

The make-up and final selections of these teams have raised more questions than they've answered.

The big question that needs to be answered, however, is where to now for the Blues? How do they get out of this mess and rein in this Queensland dynasty?