State of Origin series will begin amid drama

The State of Origin series will begin next week and all eyes will be on whether the officiating crackdown spills over to the game’s showpiece event.

The NSW Blues form a Guard of Honour after the State Funeral for rugby league immortal Robert 'Bob' Fulton at St Marys Cathedral in Sydney. Picture: Getty Images

State of Origin has always been a magnet for headlines but rare is it that a series has ever begun under such a microscope. Send-offs, sin-bins and playing short have dominated the narrative as much as anything in the lead-up to the opening of the series, to be played in the unfamiliar surrounds of Townsville next week.

Remarkably, there has also been a mea culpa from ARL Commission chair Peter V’landys over his lack of consultation with the playing group, in part because Origin players have challenged his authority in public in recent days.

Against that backdrop, Origin will begin at Queensland Country Bank Stadium, before a full house of rabid Queenslanders no less, with NSW coach Brad Fittler challenging his players to keep the blue wall intact even if they are faced with the seemingly inevitable prospect of being reduced to 12 men at some stage during the series.

Fittler has also launched a spirited defence of captain James Tedesco after some punters and pundits claimed he should be replaced by in-form Tom Trbojevic in the N

o.1 jersey for Origin I in Townsville next week.

The Blues broke camp on Friday, having attended the funeral of Immortal Bob Fulton earlier in the day. While they were honouring one of their greatest players, Queensland were dealing with difficulties of their own after centre Dane Gagai missed training with a throat infection.

Gagai has been a mainstay of the Maroons side in recent years and is not thought to be in doubt for the Origin opener. That said, his absence compounded what has already been a problematic build-up for Queensland as they navigate the injury problems that cost them fullback Kalyn Ponga and cast a shadow over Melbourne pair Cameron Munster and Harry Grant.

The Blues have had no injury issues, although Fittler recognises that there is every chance at some point during the series that they could be forced to play a man short given the controversial crackdown around contact with the head.

“They are aware of what is going on at the moment,” Fittler said.

“They understand if you step over the line, you are going to be down to 12. We have defended with 12 I think on four occasions since I was involved.

“It is something they are pretty used to. It is no excuse to let tries in either. Everyone does a lot of their defence under pressure, so they are always defending with less numbers than the attack.

“There are some strategies with defending your line and at marker that you can do. In general, you just have to move quicker.”

Should the Blues be reduced to 12 men, Tedesco is set to play an even more important role as he organises the defensive line. His place in the No.1 jersey was never in doubt, even though Trbojevic is in the form of his life.

“He is the captain — unless we see that there is a need that the team would be better if the tactics change around that, I think the team is better with Teddy back there,” Fittler said. “We had two games last year, he’s still working it out I suppose. It is what he does in the week, how professional he is, how tough he is on the field, his willingness to contribute all the time, he has been doing it longer than anyone at this standard.

“He has won two grand finals — was it ’18 and ’19 — so we are talking about four years of being very influential.

“I don’t know if any other player here can obtain that same level for as long.”

Trbojevic was named in the centres and may yet oppose Gagai, who was a notable absentee as the Maroons trained on the Gold Coast on Friday morning.

It is understood he was also absent from a function later in the day, Queensland officials intent on taking no chances with a player who has always risen to the occasion at Origin.

While there were fresh concerns over Gagai, they eased over five-eighth Cameron Munster as he reiterated his fitness for Origin I.

Munster will head into the game having played little football over the past month due to a foot injury.

“It is obviously going to be tough,” Munster said.
“I am going to do everything I can to play well on Wednesday. Every game of Origin it always hurts. I will get some intensity in my legs in the next few days to make sure I am right.

“I did have scans on it to see if I needed to get surgery. If I did I would have been out for six or eight weeks.”

Munster also acknowledge the players would need to be on their best behaviour given the officiating in recent weeks.

“With all the head highs and everything around the game, the way the refereeing is done, you never know who is going to be sent to the bin,” Munster said.