Blog

It’s Origin time. State v State. Mate v Mate. Although at this time of year there is no mateship.

The Blues (cheer the good guys) are once again favourites in game 1 despite it being played in front of a hostile Queensland crowd. I guess performing that miracle in last year’s decider has taken the gloss off the home State’s advantage.

Ah, Queensland. Beautiful one day, handing over the shield the next.

Even looking at the team lists on the official NRL website, the Blues are resplendent in their sky-blue jerseys looking bright with smiles and all their teeth intact.

While the Maroons look like a police line-up all wearing their club jerseys. Possibly because nobody south of the border has any clue who they are and where they come from (besides maybe DCE, Munster and Harry Grant).

The forward packs of both teams look evenly matched until you notice NSW have selected four forwards on the bench with Queensland opting to include Tom Dearden to cover the backline. And with reason too. The Blues back five, on paper, are streets ahead of the Maroons and this is where the game will be decided.

Most Under Pressure

For the Blues, it’s the return of NSW coach Laurie Daley who despite breaking the Maroon dynasty in his first series ended up losing the next four.

The Blues also have a history of picking players out of position just to find a spot for them (e.g. Dally M winner Nicho Hynes) and this continues today. Had Tommy Turbo been fitter, the Blues would have had three fullbacks in their backline.

The same with retaining Mitchell Moses to partner Nathan Clearly. The obvious choice was to keep former Panther and last year’s encumbered Blues five-eighth Jerome Luai. Make no mistake, if the Maroons win game 1, Mitch Moses will unfairly become the new Mitch Pearce of NSW.

For the Maroons, they must win. Losing the home Origin means, at best, the decider will be at Accor Stadium in front of 80,000 Blues supporters. The key for the Maroons is they need to dominate in the forwards and leave the rest to DCE and Munster to run the edge forwards and backline.

Winning Origin I sets your State up for the series. It’s always difficult to pick because the game is made up with so many moments.

My pick? The Blues will win Origin 1 by 14 points and the series 3-0.

Go the Blues!

Rob

The Creator