They say you can’t buy a Premiership (unless you’re the Roosters or Storm) and it was proven when the Queensland Government spent $8.3M for the local North Queensland supporters to witness a record loss.
Game 1 was lost in the ruck. The Blues forwards dominated which enabled the backs to cause havoc. Latrell Mitchell had his best game for the Blues and Tom Trbojevic played as a roaming fullback, scoring a hat-trick and man of the match honours. The halves of Cleary and Luai dominated Munster and acrobat DCE.
And as good as the backline was, Josh Addo-Carr didn’t see much ball. Expect this to change in Game 2.
The Maroons have bolstered their forward pack with the return of Josh Papalii and added veterans Andrew McCullough and Ben Hunt as well as the exciting Reece Walsh.
Expect the Maroons to try to ambush the Blues from the outset in front of a packed out Suncorp Stadium. They would have already wiped away the memories of Game 1.
And NSW supporters have been here before.
The Blues have only won twice in Suncorp over the past decade so this will be a very different game.
If the Blues win, Queensland are looking down the barrel of a 3-0 Blueswash.
If the Maroons win, then it’s off to the decider, this time, down in Sydney.
NSW by 14.
