By WILFRED ZEE
QUEENSLAND rang in wholesale changes after the devastating defeat in front of their home fans in Origin I this year. However, it was the return of Billy Slater and Johnathan Thurston which had the biggest impact and inspired the Maroons to a hard-fought 18-16 win. Slater had a hand in two tries, including the match-winner,
while Thurston slotted the conversion in the sideline to give Queensland the lead in the final minutes. The Maroons managed to hang on to steal the win and send the series to Suncorp Stadium for yet another decider.
Valentine Holmes did not have the happiest of first touches, being knocked onto his back in a crunching tackle from Aaron Woods during the first Queensland set of six resulting in a knock-on. Fortunately, the Maroons defended stoutly and were able to force the Blues into a meek end to their attacking set.
Queensland quickly turned defence into attack in the next set, with a loose penalty being conceded by James Maloney. However, defence was the highlight of the opening exchanges though, as the Blues handled the attack comfortably and pushed Will Chambers into touch.
A second penalty conceded by Maloney in the eighth minute would prove costly, as the Maroons struck first blood, courtesy of a slick backline play finished by a flying Holmes who more than made amends for his early mistake with a diving finish. Thurston made no mistake with the sideline conversion, hooking it through the sticks from his preferred side of the field, to leave the Maroons up 6-0 in the 10th minute.
A Dylan Napa penalty in the 12th minute gave the Blues their real first attacking opportunity as they started their set inside the Queensland 20 metre zone. A subsequent penalty gave the Blues back-to-back attacking sets inside the red zone and the Queensland defence were unable to hold them out and Jarryd Hayne finished off the Blues’ backline movement with ease. Maloney added the extras with an equally difficult conversion, tying the game at 6-6 with 15 minutes gone.
A second error from Holmes working the ball out of his own end placed Queensland under pressure, with the Blues forcing a drop-out and applying the pressure. It didn’t pay any immediate dividends but saw the first interchanges of the game. Debutant Tim Glasby was given a rough welcome to the Origin arena, with Maloney running at him immediately. Maloney made up for his earlier penalties by deceiving Glasby and breaking the line before finding a flying Brett Morris on the left flank. Morris was required to defy a valiant attempted tackle from Dane Gagai to score. The conversion attempt was waved away, leaving the Blues leading 10-6 in the 25th minute.
Jake Trbojevic was injected into the game and had immediate impact with a great first carry. He backed up though and again took advantage of a nervous Glasby with a soft inside pass to Tedesco who streamed through the line before he found Mitchell Pearce backing up in support, scoring beside the posts. Maloney made no mistake with the easy conversion to leave the Blues up 16-6 at the 28-minute mark.
JT was targeted repeatedly by Tyson Frizell and it started to take a toll on his suspect shoulder. An uncharacteristic mistake from Thurston saw him hoist a bomb which went out on the full, allowing the Blues an easy passage into the Maroons’ end of the field. It took a strong defensive effort from the Blues to snuff out that attacking set.
Queensland forced a final drop-out in the shadows of halftime, giving them one last chance to attack. This may well have been the turning point in the game, with Trbojevic making a try-saving tackle on Cooper Cronk, before Dugan managed to keep out Michael Morgan on the subsequent play and hold him up over the line. The first half ended at 16-6 with the Blues well and truly with the upper hand.
The pace at the start of the second half was frantic, with the Blues having the better of the early exchanges in the half. It was a back and forth for the first 12 minutes of the half when a rather innocuous missed tackle from Wade Graham on Josh McGuire lead to a break down the field before the ball found Chambers who left Hayne in his wake, before a classy offload to Gagai allowed him to dive over the line. Thurston slotted the conversion to bring the margin back to four points, 16-12, at the 54 minute mark.
Tedesco was taken off the field in the 62nd minute for a HIA, with the Blues reshuffling Dugan to fullback and Jack Bird to right centre. Dugan was extremely busy for the next eight minutes, making a number of critical defensive plays and some huge runs out of trouble. Tedesco passed his HIA but would be forced to wait until the 76th minute before being allowed back on.
Chambers was taken off for a HIA in the 70 minute mark as a result of an accidental head clash. Morgan shifted out to right centre as cover. Matt Gillett had a great opportunity on the right side in the 72nd minute but his final pass was wayward and bounced into touch.
The Blues struggled to get out of their own end for most of this period, and a strip in a two-man tackle by Graham on Napa gave the Maroons yet another set in the attacking 20 metre zone. With that much possession, the Maroons wouldn’t say no to the repeated invitations and an incredible backline movement was finished off by Gagai in the corner, setting up a high pressure situation.
Thurston was faced with a conversion at 16-16 that was not dissimilar in position to his 2015 grand final conversion attempt after the fulltime siren. This time, the kick never looked like missing once the hook kicked in, and the Maroons took the lead for the first time in the second half.
A short kick-off in the 77th minute was recovered by the Blues, giving them good field position and an opportunity to take the lead again. They were unable to capitalise though, and from their final set a minute later the Blues threw the ball around. The last frantic play was knocked on by Maloney and recovered by Josh Papalii to end the game 18-16 in favour of Queensland.
