There is no such thing as a dead rubber when it comes to Origin.
“Play them all up there!” I said after the Origin II series win. And well, that’s what they are doing.
The NSW Blues are just 80 minutes away from creating history with their first clean-sweep since 2000. To make this even sweeter, they will have played all three Origins in Queensland.
This match will be a statement for one of these two teams.
How they line-up…
NSW Blues
Have lost key halves Nathan Cleary and Jerome Luai to injury. Jack Whitton will finally get to start in his Dally M position of five-eighth and Mitch Moses will steer the ship as halfback.
It remains to be seen what impact the loss of the two Penrith halves have to the team. In particular, their linking with club forward Isaah Yeo who has been doubling as another halfback in the middle of the field.
Prop Daniel Saifiti is out injured with Dale Finucane returning to the line-up.
Queensland Maroons
No such thing as the legendary Maroons’ pick and stick when they are losing.
Queensland have a new look spine with the return of Kayln Ponga at fullback and Ben Hunt at hooker. Val Holmes has moved to the wing. Kurt Capewell moves back to the forwards opening up the debut of Hamiso ‘The Hammer’ Tabuai-Fidow in the centres.
Maroons have also lost forwards David Fifita and Jai Arrow to suspension.
The Maroons have easily their best back-line of the entire series available for Game 3 and, on paper, this should be a lot closer match than the two blowouts. But I have grave concerns on their ability to compete.
In Game 1, Queensland was never in the ball game.
In Game 2, they were competitive for the first 15 minutes but could not keep up the pace. That was evident when acrobat, DCE, kicked for touch to give the Maroons a breather. It was only 20 minutes into the match.
No amount of Maroon pride will make a difference if the Blues continue to control the ruck and speed of the game. They will not want to be associated with this history making record and will need to strike early and lead from the front to be a chance.
Expect another Maroons ambush to start the match. Expect another Blues victory.
Too many weapons. NSW by 13+
Note: The Creator bleeds Blue at this time of year. His views are not shared by Footy Tipper’s Queensland correspondent.
