State of Origin II: Blues blitz sets up Suncorp decider after MCG demolition

Righto, that’s all we’ve got. And if you want more, well you’re just too hard to please... or a Queenslander. For NSW, they march on. And in incredibly convincing fashion, so much so they were on track to re-write history when they were up 34-0 at halftime.

The Maroons added some respectability to the scoreline but make no mistake, the Blues were better in every single individual match-up.

Latrell Mitchell, Mitch Moses, Angus Crichton, Dylan Edwards and Payne Haas were all immense. Onto Suncorp Stadium and the decider we go in 20 days’ time. Should be a hum dinger. Until then.

Billy Slater was confident enough six minutes into the match to enjoy a scheduled chat with his mates in the commentary box.

Mitchell Moses had just merged Liam Martin through some sleepy Queensland traffic and the Blues were six points up.

Man of the match Mitchell Moses had the game of this life.Credit: NRL Photos

His team were “not into the cycle” of the match yet, Slater said.

Soon they were. The cycle involved a lot of standing by their goalposts watching Zac Lomax potting another conversion. By half-time, they had repeated the cycle six times. They were done. Done like a Moreton Bay bug with a pineapple fritter on top. And a chocolate-dipped banana for dessert.

If Queensland can learn one thing from this game, it is how the Blues play when they are allowed to do as they please.

In the middle, Payne Haas and Cameron Murray were running amok, if amok means dead straight with Maroons defenders stuck to them like clods of mud. On each side of the field, NSW had an admirable Crichton.

Angus on the left was having the match of his life, while Stephen on the right was all smart choices, including the drag-tackle that put Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow into the in-goal area and temporarily out of the contest. Unlike game one, it was a smart and legitimate way to extinguish a threat.

READ MALCOLM KNOX’S FULL COLUMN HERE.

It’s not often you see Reece Walsh short-circuiting in a big game, but as Latrell Mitchell soared over for the Blues’ fourth try, a worried look washed over the young star’s face.

Reece Walsh looked stunned against the Blues on Wednesday night. Credit: Getty Images

NSW had barely touched the 21-year-old Maroons fullback, but it appeared that the knock-out blow from Joseph Suaalii in game one had rocked Walsh more than he’d let on, and the lingering effects were present in every part of his game.

He was reluctant to be part of the attacking line, slow to cover in defence and his kicking was sloppy. No more was it obvious than when Zac Lomax put a foot into touch from a Walsh kick-off, to give NSW a fresh set of six from halfway.

As the game’s most marketable man flashed onto the big screen at the MCG just before half-time, his eyes were wide, hands in his hair – it was a deer-in-the-headlights look that mirrored that of Billy Slater up in the coaches box.

READ THE FULL STORY FROM BILLIE EDER HERE.

Where to begin with Mitchell Moses? The pre-series answer to Nathan Cleary who was himself robbed of the chance in game one but has returned from injury as the almighty setter up of sets and forcer of errors.

Whose gorgeous pass set up Liam Martin’s mind-muscle Houdini change-direction-and-squeeze-through manoeuvre for the opening try, and whose even more gorgeous kick set up that Lomax speccy to such perfection.

Mitchell Moses’ passing and kicking masterclass was decisive for NSW.Credit: NRL Photos

By the time the full-time whistle sounded and he had set up Dylan Edwards for another, he boasted “a bigger Origin legacy than Nathan Cleary”.

He had won NSW the game within 20 minutes, and iced it by the hour mark. In all, he had four try assists, squaring the series heading into the July 17 decider in Brisbane, where NSW have not won a decider since 2005.

READ EMMA KEMP’S FULL  MATCH REPORT HERE.

New South Wales have recovered from 1-0 down to win an Origin series just three times - winning games two and three in 1994, 2005 and 2019. Queensland has won all but one of the last 10 game three clashes when the series has been alive.