Qld fans can rejoice after fearing another Origin wipe-out

Monumental victory proves again never to underestimate mighty Maroons

BOMBER'S BLAST

Anthony Breeze

QUEENSLANDERS are celebrating this morning after the Maroons took the upper hand in game one of the State of Origin series.

It was a monumental upset at the Adelaide Oval.

Queensland went into this game as huge underdogs and at halftime it looked like it was running to the script that everyone thought it would.

The second half was a different story with the Maroon spirit coming to the fore and the mostly team of youngsters stepping up as notch.

Former Ipswich Jet Kurt Capewell played out of position in the centres and was superb in the

second stanza. He set up the opening try to AJ Brimson which got the Maroons on the board and started the 17 minute, three try blitz.

While Blues fans will be thinking how they lost the unlosable, Maroons fans who cast doubts on their own side's ability to win have now awoken and are on-board for the ride to an unlikely series victory.

Origin is a three-game series and Queensland lead 1-0 so counting chickens may just put some egg on your face if the Blues play to their ability in the remaining two encounters.

It will be the battle of the fittest who will win this series and we will get the answer either next Wednesday or the following one.

$75,000 Tigers jersey shows fan loyalty

THE Richmond Tigers may have won back-to-back AFL premierships but they also have the most supporters and a very loyal band of sponsors.

This was none more evident then the auction of the grand final jerseys.

Ever players jersey went for over $4000 with several going for much more and one for a record amount.

Star forwards Jack Riewoldt ($17,125) and Tom Lynch ($10,025) were star jerseys that were sought after with grand final hero Jayden Short also bringing in a healthy $15,425.

The jersey of Tigers captain Trent Cotchin sold for a fantastic $27,425. But it was Tigers superstar Dustin Martin's jersey that stole the show by selling for a phenomenal $75,025.

Quick thoughts

POSITIVES: 1. What a Melbourme Cup and what a win by Twilight Payment. To lead from the start to finish in the great race takes a great horse.

2. Opening the batting can be a hard gig against a fired up opposition and new ball but it didn't stop Will Pucovski and Marcus Harris from blasting 486 runs and breaking the previous mark of 464.

3. The Ipswich Indoor Sports Centre showed they are a power in indoor netball by winning the Ladies A/B/C and Over 40s. That is back-to-back successes for all four of these teams.

4. The Ipswich Rangers were crowned Sydney Cup Club Champions after a great effort by all three senior teams. The club had one premiership, one runners-up finish and one semi-finalist. That is a great season in anyone's book.

NEGATIVES: 1. Earlier this week we saw the passing of one of our greatest swim coaches in Don Talbot. He was instrumental in taking Australia to the top of the swimming world.

2. The Wallabies let all their good work go from the first two Bledisloe's by putting in a terrible performance to hand the trophy back to the All Blacks. They have one more game to recapture some form and pride.

3. It's sad to see how far a champion AFL player has fallen but Ben Cousins has really let himself down again with another major incident. Cousins has needed help for a while so lets hope he finally gets the right advice.

Sporting birthdays

1. 1861 - James Naismith - Canadian-American who invented the game of basketball.

2. 1956 - Graeme Wood - Australian left-handed opening batsman who played 59 Tests and 83 One Day Internationals.

3. 1987 - Ana Ivanovic - Serbian tennis star who won the French Open in 2008.

On this day

1. 1956 - The Netherlands and Spain withdraw from Olympics in protest against Soviet Union actions in the Hungarian Revolution.

2. 1993 - Evander Holyfield beats Riddick Bowe in 12 for the heavyweight boxing title.

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