By MICHAEL BYRNES
ORIGIN went to script, as least as far as this author was concerned. Plenty of good judges also saw it coming and for most of the game the outcome seemed inevitable.
The Blues have spent a decade wondering how different things might have been if Johnathan Thurston was wearing sky blue. On Wednesday night, the shoe was on the other foot – would the result have been different had Andrew Fifita been on the other team? This writer says yes.
For the Maroons, there is no Andrew Fifita waiting in the wings. There are options available to tinker with the side for Origin II but the equation will ultimately be the same as it was for Origin I – the Maroons need to play out of their skins and hope the Blues are off their A-game in order to produce a favourable result. The Blues put together a near faultless first 60 minutes, and there was nothing in their last 20 to suggest it was a fluke.
The Blues had plenty of stars – Tedesco, Hayne and Cordner among their best, yet all three were reasonably well held in the first half. That’s where Fifita came in. When the game was still in the balance, it was Fifita and Fifita alone who made the difference. The Blues ultimately cut loose on the back of the Maroons inability to bring him to ground. He was the standout player on the field by a very wide margin. He was also the reason the Sharks won the grand final in 2016. It all makes you wonder what the Bulldogs think about their botched attempt to sign him in 2014!
Queensland were outpointed in almost every facet of the game, yet as Paul Vautin mentioned in the coverage, the
Maroons hadn’t played that badly. Maybe their coach would dispute that assessment, but it seemed reasonable at the time. In fact, the game followed the Round 11 Cronulla-North Queensland script to a T. In that game, the Cowboys conceded a huge metres gained advantage to the Sharks in the first half but somehow avoided repeat sets, minimised errors, and took their opportunities to lead 14-0 at the break. Minus the scoreline, the Maroons performance in the first half was a carbon copy of the Cowboys. Straight after halftime, the dam wall broke. The Cowboys were behind by the 60th minute. The Maroons were in lockstep – Origin 1 was all but dusted by the same stage.
Options for the Maroons for Origin II? Nate Myles and Justin O’Neill might struggle to hold their places. Milford looked every inch an Origin player but the Maroons have to address their size disadvantage. They could consider starting an extra back rower at five-eighth, bringing Milford on after 15 minutes, and dropping Morgan off the bench. Clearly that approach would not be without risk. Billy Slater’s presence would not have changed the result, but will the selectors really concede the series without giving him a shot? That would seem prodigiously unfair.
With the Maroons in the unfamiliar position of having to revisit the drawing board after game one, the Blues can rest easy. Barring a miracle, a Blues series victory looks as inevitable as the result of Origin I looked on paper.
