A bit of (legal) biff, tries and a shock result: 90,000 fans treated to an Origin stunner at the MCG

There was biff, the pantomime kind that didn’t see anyone knocked out, tries and a shock result as State of Origin drew more than 90,000 fans to the MCG on Wednesday night.

A crowd of 90,084 flocked in for the first Origin match at the ground since 2018.

The Blues came in desperate to keep the series alive and achieved that goal before half-time with a stunning six tries to none before claiming a 38-18 win and setting up a deciding game three in Queensland on July 17.

While the knockout hit on Reece Walsh marred the first origin, this time the Blues came out fired up and focused plenty of legal hits on Walsh and his fellow Maroons backline.

Angus Crichton’s driving tackle on Walsh drew an audible groan from the crowd in the first half, he drew more of a roar when he drilled Valentine Holmes in the second half - both were legal hits and both saw the tackled player keep playing.

In the second half, the usually measured Daly Cherry-Evans lost his cool at Blues centre Stephen Crichton, no relation to Angus, who when pushed in the face by the Maroons skipper, flew back comically like a stuntman in a kung fu movie.

Blues fans at the MCG.Credit: Getty Images

The replays drew some boos - fans from all footy codes can’t stand staging.

A second coming together of the teams moments later saw NSW’s Liam Martin and Queensland’s Patrick Corrigan sent for 10-minute spells in the sin bin as referee Ashley Klein cracked down on the silliness.

The stands began filling up as soon as the gates opened and the jersey colours were a sea of blue and maroon, one fan had a Carlton Blues jacket on, it wasn’t clear if he was trying to be funny or just representing his Blues rather than the NSW ones.

Funny enough, the Blues played with a similar unrestrained momentum that Patrick Cripps, Charlie Curnow and Harry McKay have shown for Carlton during parts of this season in their 34-0 first half.

The bang of fireworks and the smoke that always hangs around the MCG were the highlight of the pregame and, thankfully, it was a clear enough evening that the smoke was gone by kickoff.

The Blues were roundly booed during the pregame and when they ran onto the pitch. Perhaps it was the final bit of motivation they needed as they turned on one of the most dominant halves of football you could watch in any code with six tries in 27 minutes.

Mitchell Moses wouldn’t be a player well known to the AFL fans, but he would have made a good impression with his passing and leadership while Latrell Mitchell would be a name known to most and he roared on his Origin return setting up Brian To’o for his first try and diving over himself for their fifth try.

Mitchell also scored a try in the 2018 MCG game showing he, like his Blues, does well under the bright lights of the people’s ground.

Latrell Mitchell bags a try for the Blues.Credit: Getty Images

A shoulder injury forced Maroons flyer Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow from the ground in the first half, which looked to have robbed the fans of a chance to watch arguably the most dynamic back in the game right now.

But “The Hammer” came back onto the field and even found his way to a try in the second half.

Maroons coach Billy Slater looked forlorn at half-time as he stared down the historic thumping in his adopted home town.

The Maroons saved a little face in the second half while it won’t be a night he remembers too fondly, those Blues fans and neutrals got plenty of action for their ticket price.

Origin is set to return to the MCG in 2026, maybe then the Maroons will be able to score a win at this stadium.

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