In the fall-out of Game I, one image stuck with me more than anything else. It was the post match interview with Cameron Smith and despite all of his success I hadn't seen a more forlorn player in quite some time. The loss had hit him at his core and he was determined to get the better of the opposition, come hell or highwater.
Tonight, Smith produced a Man of the Match performance, the 7th of his career and he was in the thick of everything. Smith made short work of Woods, Peats and Fifita around the ruck, combining perfectly with his Storm team-mates and his leadership ultimately guided the Maroons to victory.
Going into the game, I wondered whether or not the Blues knew what they were coming up against. They seemingly convinced themselves that they were the better team in Game II and if they got back to playing like they did in the first half they would be well on their way. The problem was that their success in that first half was on the back of targeting the inexperienced Tim Glasby and scoring on him twice. Tim was never going to make those mistakes again, so the game-plan had to be different. They needed to play off the cuff football, they needed to challenge the Maroons earlier in the tackle count, instead they played right into the Maroons hands and the Queenslanders read it to perfection.
At the risk of sounding like a sycophant, it seemed like the Blues game-plan was to target Michael Morgan in the centres. It wasn't a terrible option, after all Morgan had never defended before and it allowed them to bring Tedesco into the game. The problem with that game-plan is that it was way too telegraphed and the Maroons had the perfect answer every single time. Morgan knew if he'd come off his wing and put pressure on Tedesco, it would stop the play dead in it's tracks and nullify the Blues greatest attacking threat. And that's how it all played out, with Blues lone try coming from a lottery cross-field kick that Holmes happened to miss and Dugan was fortunate enough to catch and stroll over.
It's fair to say Daley was out-coached and out-gunned. I'm not sure why the Maroons went away from it, but they've had a lot of success at running back through the ruck and targeting Woods & Fifita through the middle. For whatever reason, this seemingly went out of the play-book as the Maroons seemed far more interested in playing their up-tempo brand of football where they would single out Maloney & Hayne. They needed to change tact, and Kev got them to target the ruck more with the spine probing around the middle far more often than they did in any other game. It proved successful and a real masterclass from everyone involved.
Otherwise it was the game of contests. Who was more willing to win the collisions? Who was more willing to get to the football? Who was more willing to get themselves in the right position? Who was more willing to come up with the big play and the answer to all of those answers were the Maroons. Outside of a brief window of time after Dugan's try, the Maroons were the far better side.
While there is only one King, the two men who held the Shield up tonight can consider themselves in the same Origin calibre. A remarkable performance and just another amazing chapter in the history of one of the greatest captains to have ever played the sport.