State of Origin I - QLD vs NSW - Live Discussion

To be honest, a lot of defenders have trouble tackling Tedesco. His footwork and acceleration looks so deceptively insane.
 
Though there were scoring opportunities through out the 1st half, we couldn't capitalize on them and I was bit down when we went into break down by 8 points. But during the break, plodding C-9 has brought in a panel to discuss the game thus far. The cockroaches panel were usual themselves in blowing their bloated trumpets. The sight of Legend Locky & the Great JT boosted my never fade away Queensland confidence that the 2nd half would be great and it it turned out out to be bloody good.

How good were Locky and JT is beyond imagination? I will live in my own world cherishing the brilliant plays they had in Origins and feel proud about. True Lengend's of the game.

We're truly on the cusp of witnessing next generation of Maroons coming through and feel proud about. In hindsight, the job is not done yet as we've lot of improvements in our side. We must rectify them and put a scoreline that scares the shit out of them cockroaches.
 
Anyone worried about Ponga being poached by the All Blacks once his contract is up? He said he wants to play for them too. QLD seems to have some pretty terrible luck with super talented outside backs being poached by Yawnion (Folau, KHunt, Tuqiri).
 
Anyone worried about Ponga being poached by the All Blacks once his contract is up? He said he wants to play for them too. QLD seems to have some pretty terrible luck with super talented outside backs being poached by Yawnion (Folau, KHunt, Tuqiri).

I thought he said he wanted to. As in when he was a kid.

Walker's miss on Munster when he made that break was so shit.

Also, the penalty against McGuire for working the neck was a load of shit.
 
Napa tried all night to get the big hit on but he missed every single one of them.
 
Well that was one amazing game!
 
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The best call of the night was again Fatty giving to a sour faced Gould. Towards the end of the broadcast Fatty goaded him in a mocking voice saying we towelled you up with four half backs in the team. Hunt, Morgan, DCE and Munster they're all halves and they kicked made NSW look very ordinary.
 
Well I finally got to see the full game, so here we go, maybe not too many surprises. Though I will say one thing, those NRL website ratings are not always easy to agree with.

1. Ponga - This kid is already a superstar. As mentioned previously, if he keeps on his current trajectory, he is going to go down as an all-time great, maybe even in the top two or three. I've never understood the idea that he is one knee injury away from being effectively rubbish, he has way too many weapons for that. His long passes are a thing of beauty and he isn't afraid to put his body on the line. He'll be a 30 game origin player if he stays in the NRL - 9
2. Oates - I feel a little sorry for Oates in that he was very good but looked average when compared to the other Qld winger who was just on another level again. Oates did his usual big runs out of his end and yes, that first try was bombed but that second one was amazing and we have to expect it form this amazing player - 7
3. Morgan - I thought he looked like a player who is not a centre playing out of position. He was regularly outplayed by Morris and seemed to miss quite a lot of tackles as well as not always being in the best positions when in attack. It is a shame there are no other legitimate centre options, maybe Opacic can keep up his recent run of form - 5
4. Chambers - He made a meal of a few things, got caught out defensively a few times and did a few silly things. That siad, he was legitimately a threat all night and the question really is whether Mitchell was so poor due to Chambers playing well or Mitchell just being horrible. I thought Chambers was definitely good enough to get another game - 7
5. Gagai - If his game doesn't get a perfect score, no one ever will. Gagai was once again brilliant. I have no idea what it is about origin but he grows five other legs and is a genuine weapon. He returns the ball so well, is quick, strong and elusive. There is no shame to any player in a blue jersey being outplayed by Gagai. 11 tries in 11 origins, that is freakish - 10!
6. Munster - He was phenomenal for the first 60 minutes. He was in everything and he has that real JT-like competitive streak in him where he just wants to compete for everything. He missed a few tackles but I think that is because he was making others he had no right to be making. He got quieter in the last 15 or so but that was because Qld started to shut up shop and NSW were getting a few nice leg ups - 9
7. DCE - Well...hasn't he proven a few of us wrong, me very much included! Some of his long kicks were excellent and kept turning NSW around. I love the fact he refused two penalty shots at goal early on, that is what we all want to see. He defended well too for a guy who hasn't played in a few weeks. He almost stopped Jurbo on the last try as well, that was a fair effort. He still has more to give which is exciting as well - 7
8. Arrow - He is a defensive workhorse and that was the highlight in his first stint. His second stint was on another level. He defended brilliantly as always but he made some very damaging runs as well. I know the Broncs have a fantastic group of one forwards but I still think they would look even better with Arrow in the 13. On top of that, I cannot believe his leg was fully healed, what a gun he is!! - 8
9. Hunt - You know what, I want to give Hunt a 9 because of his defense but I can't because of his first half and early second half attack. Make no mistake though, Hunt was Turpinesque in his defense. Remember, this is a guy who places halfback and he was cutting down guys twice his size, particularly Haas. Yes Hunt threw some Macca-like turf passes but he also mixed up his attack the more the game went and became a real threat. That 40/20 was excellent too! I'll say this, I think if Ben Hunt had of decided to pursue being a full-time hooker, as good as Cook is, he might have succeeded Smith. Kudos too for throwing Cordner's boot away, competitive little maggot. And another thing, Hook had it right before anyone else knew that Hunt is a hooker - 8
10. Papalii - He was possibly the best forward on the park in a game where there were excellent forwards from both teams. No forward was poor in either side to be honest but Papalii was at his best. To be fair, Kaufusi is definitely in this argument as well, as was Klemmer and Murray from NSW. Papalii's first stint was excellent but his second drove that to another level. He was running with power and smashed anything that came near him. He's become a forward leader - 9
11. Kaufusi - He finally did what he has been doing for Melbourne for years. Last year he was a liability but in this game, he was one of the best on ground. He made some very penetrating runs and was a handful with everything he did but to be honest, his defense was even more of a highlight. The amount of last ditch tackles he did and covering defense he completed was Gillette-like. What a wonderful game and that hopefully shows him now that he belongs at this level - 9
12. GIllett - It was really nice to see the Gillett of old pretty much back. He still looks so unco whenever he runs but it doesn't matter, he still provides a threat close to the opposition try line. He is picked for his defense and rightly so, he absolutely shut down Cordner and that is no mean feat. Cordner was off the chain last year without Gillett there and one game back, Cordner is nowhere to be seen. Excellent defensive game from the veteran - 8
13. McGuire - The glue that held the middle together. That penalty for neck pressure against Murray was a joke, was absolutely nothing wrong with it but other than that, McGuire did what McGuire does and just kept niggling away while doing so much of the dirty work a lot of fans may not notice. He is another forward leader - 8

14. Mbye - He was not really required to do much but he tried in his tiny cameo. He made a couple of nice tackles and made one noticeable run which was nice. Not really needed for game two as an impact bench hooker would probably be more useful, ala Granville, Turpin even or Mahoney. Hard to rate really - 4
15. Joffa - What a fine debut! He wasn't quite as good as a Papalii or a Kaufusi but I tell you what, he wasn't that far behind before going off with a knee injury. He really helped put pressure on NSW when he got out there and got through a mountain of work both sides of the ball. He had some fine runs and with his motor, will be very useful or the maroons moving forward. Hopefully his leg injury isn't too serious - 7
16. Napa - A few people have been bagging him out and I am not really sure why. He is a grub but in origin, he's a maroon grub and so that makes him ok. Some have said that he didn't pull off any of his attempted big hits, I completely disagree. Yes he missed a few but he absolutely nailed some others. NSW was indeed scared of running at him and sometimes were even guilty of pushing a pass or two so they wouldn't be smashed. He is another in the Gagai and Myles mould in that you know regardless of how they go at club level, they are going to be weapons in origin - 7
17. Fifita - Yep, for every accolade Haas gets, Fifita should be getting them too. Thanks to Haas, he is probably flying under the radar somewhat but this kid is every bit as promising as Haas. He runs so fast for a big guy and pulled out some fantastic offloads as well. He made some nice decisions in defense as well. Another 30 game origin player in the making - 8

Final notes - I actually thought Gould's commentary was less biased than usual, I thought he was actually pretty good and I think this may be because he didn't open his mouth as much as usual. Yes, his comments on the Gillett non-penalty try were completely contrary to the Cordner joke a year before but that comes with the blue-coloured glasses.

Andrew Johns also admitted that as a biased NSWelshman, that Napa no-try should have been given. Good on him but I disagree, I would have been upset if it went against my team.

The maroons were EASILY the better of the sides and some of that would come down to home ground advantage but they still have a lot of improvement in them too as they were by no means perfect.

It really was a very high quality game, one of the best origins I've seen.

Final note - Kevvie is weird.
 
Fox League clutching at straws.


Dead set kidding. It was the metre (NOT)off side call that changed the match, they just weren't good enough to hold on to the lead they shouldn't have had.
 
Didn't get a chance to comment during the game last night. But wow, what a game. One of the most enjoyable games I've watched in recent memory. Ofahengaue & Fifita were exceptional, super proud of them. Ponga & Munster are also unreal. Gagai is probably my favourite Origin player of the last 5 years, I just love how hard he plays in that arena, absolute legend.
 
Not all of them.

They started running away from him after he came on.
Exactly, he fucking terrified them and made them turn back in, time and again making them easy pickings. We NEED his aggression and mongrel just to match Klemmer who was great although that knee lifting has got to be stopped cold.
 
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On guys like Arrow and Papalii, their 2nd stints were a lot better, but that was when Klemmer had come off. Their first stints were ordinary, especially Arrow. I'd like to see them try to lift their game from the start to match the impact of Klemmer.
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5. Gagai - If his game doesn't get a perfect score, no one ever will. Gagai was once again brilliant. I have no idea what it is about origin but he grows five other legs and is a genuine weapon. He returns the ball so well, is quick, strong and elusive. There is no shame to any player in a blue jersey being outplayed by Gagai. 11 tries in 11 origins, that is freakish - 10!

Gagai's record is impressive, but it's such a shame Holmes had to leave. His record so far is even more freakish -

8 tries from 5 matches for QLD.
17 tries from 13 games for Australia.

He would have finished his career as top try scorer for sure IMO.
 
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