Why Aerosmith and Origin have more in common than you might think

Wanting to get immersive before Wednesday’s State of Origin decider in Brisbane? Then, listen to the chorus of Livin’ On The Edge, the song by American hard rock band Aerosmith. It works in three ways.

First, the atmosphere at Suncorp Stadium for the players is akin to a giant nightclub with its pumping music and mesmerising, vibrant lighting.

Chris Johns, who played in the first decider NSW won in Brisbane in 1994, says, “The best thing I can compare running out onto Lang Park [Suncorp] is to walking into a nightclub. The music reverberates off you. You can feel it on your skin. It’s as if the sound of the massive Queensland crowd is like a beat that bounces off your chest. You don’t just hear it in your ears. It vibrates through you. It’s as if the lights are blinding as well.”

Great athletes embrace the pulsating, hypnotic atmosphere. Lesser ones find it confronting and fail.

Second, the title Livin’ On The Edge picks up on the almost Jesuitical distinction between physical intimidation (“good” agree the Blues and Maroons) and brutal contact (“bad and not us” say both camps). They have been exchanging barbs about it since the Blues’ illegal tackle on fullback Reece Walsh in Sydney, with former Queensland players now lamenting the lack of action by the Maroons forwards to counter perceived bullying tactics in Melbourne.

NSW coach Michael Maguire’s “glass houses” comment raises the possibility Aerosmith’s words “Complication, aggravation; Is getting to you” apply to the Queensland camp.

The Blues were accused of bullying tactics in Origin II at the MCG.Credit: Getty Images

The problem for the NSW team in Brisbane is that the giant crowd can intimidate the referee as much as it can frighten a nervous player. The statistic of NSW winning the penalty count in Brisbane only nine times in 60 games suggests as much. Referees now have the option of a six-again ruling. They pride themselves on low penalty counts because it sends a message to their bosses that they are controlling the players with their verbal warnings on the run.

Referees are also cognisant that Origin is rugby league’s high-rating showpiece and the NRL wants a stoppage-free game. The six-again rule allows the referee to do both. By signalling an extra set of tackles, he is letting the game flow while potentially giving the home crowd what it wants: more possession for the Maroons.

Third, the words Livin’ On The Edge reflects the tactics of the match. NRL coaches now select forwards as either “middle” players or “edge” players, where the latter basically run at the opposition’s smaller halves, creating space for their own halves and centres.

NSW’s edge back-rowers Angus Crichton and Liam Martin terrorised Queensland at the MCG, with Crichton in particular setting up opportunities on the left for Latrell Mitchell who ran past defenders doing a stunning impersonation of an open door.

Queensland have signalled they will also play on the edges by choosing two fullbacks, with Kalyn Ponga selected on the bench ahead of a fourth forward. It means the Maroons can position Ponga and Walsh either side of the ruck, playing laterally. It does pose a small problem for Queensland in that both fullbacks prefer to attack on their left side.

However, Ponga can be expected to play a floating role, similar to the position halfback Cooper Cronk adopted when the Maroons had Johnathan Thurston and Darren Lockyer as starting halves. Nevertheless, Queensland’s decision to have one less forward on the bench creates opportunities for the NSW’s “middles” to make ground up the centre of the field.

Maguire places great importance on quick play-the-balls and will relish the opportunity of steam rolling the Maroons through the ruck. Ponga, selected after only one game back in the NRL after a long lay-off, won’t be as match fit as in 2018 when he came off the bench in his debut Origin match and played in the middle.

Johns lives in Brisbane and spoke to the Blues before the 2022 decider, also played at Suncorp. He warned them an ambush was coming but, after a big win in Perth in the previous match, the NSW players weren’t listening and the Maroons won 22-12.

Now, following the Blues’ triumph in Melbourne, will history repeat itself? “No,” says Johns. “They’ve learnt a tremendous lesson from that experience. Maguire is all over it. He knows it is D-Day. He hasn’t picked players who will be intimidated by the ‘cauldron’, or the ‘graveyard’ as Queenslanders like to call it.

“He’s picked a team which will hold its nerve in Origin’s crazy nightclub.”

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