Bump
2008
On a personal note, I look back at this series as a celebration of the past 100 years of Interstate Rugby League and it was really good to learn about the likes of Gorman & Craig. At times it seems like Queensland Rugby League didn't exist until 1980, so it was great to see a lot of the past players honored and put Origin into perspective.
The 08 series felt like a real cross-roads. While the Maroons had never technically won two series in a row in my life time (although 1999 and 2002 certainly felt like it), it was hardly uncommon in Origin history to see a state win back to back Shields and the Blues were firming with two home games and an injection of new blood that looked promising. Furthermore, they had Bellamy as coach who appeared to be an upgrade on Murray who was one of those 'Forever a Bridesmaid, never the Bride' type of coach.
The build up to the series was that it was anybody's game. NSW had a couple of strange selections (Quinn, Wallace, White, Fitzgibbon, Cross, Hornby, Tupou etc.) but the Maroons had Karmichael Hunt playing at five eigth, old man Marsh on the bench and Carl Webb as a starting prop.
Ultimately, the Blues made it theirs. In a fairly average game of football, NSW dominated Queensland all across the park and sailed to a comfortable 18-10 victory. It seemed like the Blues were back, at least that's what the NSW press would have you believe but Queensland fans knew there was a lot of improvement left in the Maroons and with the right selections they could bounce back.
If nothing else, Mal generally learns from his mistakes and the right changes were made. In-form half, Prince came in for Hunt with Karmichael relieving Slater of enduring the opening exchanges, Harrison came in for Lillyman, with Hodges suspended, Folau was able to shift to his suited right wing with reliable winger Darius Boyd partnering up with GI and in a big boost, Steve Price came in for Carl Webb.
As a result, Queensland got to enjoy one of their biggest ever wins infront of a jubilant Suncorp crowd (which I got to enjoy, best 18th birthday present ever) and confidence was restored heading into the decider. Game II for me featured one of the best centre performances I've ever seen as GI just tore the NSW squad to shreds with a brilliant display of speed, elusiveness and power. Boyd didn't have to do much but he got to share in the spoils of that performance.
The second game really sent the Blues reeling and they ended up losing the likes of Gasnier, Bird and Wallace in the build up. To make matters more apparent, they decided to start with Kurt Gidley at fullback with Stewart off the bench, an obvious copy of the Maroons gameplan with Hunt/Slater. Anyways, when I think back to this game, I think of three moments.
*Folau's two superman esque tries. In a tight contest, these proved to be absolutely vital.
*The broken arm to Scott Prince, it turned an otherwise cruisey win into a real slog.
* JT show and go finding Slater back on the inside.
Actually I lied, I'm going to go with four. Steve Price charging down a Pearce kick in the dying stages was a clear illustration of the changes the Maroons had made from Games 1 and 3. It was that sort of desperation the Maroons were lacking and it was the work of Price & Civo that really gave the Maroons an edge over their Blue counterpart.
So the Maroons had done it, 3 in a row behind enemy lines all without their inspirational skipper Darren Lockyer. As good as the past two series had been for the Maroons, it was this series that told me we were onto something special.