By MICHAEL BYRNES
The Blues have fired a couple of old-school shots in advance of Origin II, attempting to sell the suggestion to match officials that Queensland’s last hope is to wrestle their way back into the series.
As much as I view the wrestle as the greatest blight on our game, it won’t have much impact on the outcome of Origin II. And while the referees let the Storm and Sharks destroy a potentially great game of rugby league a couple of weeks ago, there is no prospect of an Origin game being allowed to degenerate to that level of farce.
Whether the Blues are playing mind games with the referees, the Maroons, or themselves, the reality is that an effective wrestle can’t magically bring the Maroons back into contention, not if they’re being out-muscled as comprehensively as what occurred in Game I. That’s because the referees are programmed so rigidly to set the ruck speed based on their perception of dominance in the contest. Put simply, slowing tactics in the play-the-ball (ie wrestling) is usually only permitted as long as the defending team is deemed to be winning the ruck battle. Otherwise, it is penalised relentlessly.
We saw this exact scenario play out in the 52-6 demolition back in Game III, 2015. The Maroons won the physical battle all over the field, and regardless of the Blues’ efforts to slow the ruck down, they were not permitted to do so, being hammered 12-5 in the penalties in the process. In that game, we were afforded insights into the Blues coaching box via this article by Phil Rothfield in The Daily Telegraph, which captured Daley’s ultimately unsuccessful efforts to wrestle back control of the ruck.
Daley: “It’s just the penalties. What are the penalties Brad. (5-2). What about possession percentage (64% to 36%)”
Daley: “We need to slow them down — we need to cheat — slow them up more. Stick and stay on top of them. They’re too quick.”
Pryjmachuk updates the stats: “We’ve only had 35 per cent of possession. They’ve had 22 per cent of quick play the balls.” Hence the earlier message to slow it down.
Daley: “Tell Klem to settle. Get Ronnie (Palmer) out there. Again they’re way too quick and we’ve got no ball.”
Still when the Blues finally get a penalty Daley says: “Tell Gal to go and tell them it’s a bit late now to be giving us soft penalties.”
What this basically demonstrates is that the team that’s physically dominant gets to control the ruck speed, and gets rewarded by the referees as a result. The flow of penalties invariably goes with the team that’s physically dominant. Daley’s last comment, “it’s a bit late now to be giving us soft penalties” tells the whole story. The referees won’t gift you penalties unless, in their opinion, you’ve earned them by claiming the ascendancy in the territorial grind.
What all this means is that the Blues have less to fear from Queensland winning the wrestle than they do from Queensland’s ability to win the arm wrestle. If the Blues forwards assert themselves to the same extent they did in Game I, they have nothing to fear from the referees or from Queensland’s wrestling tactics. To that end their destiny is in their own hands.
