Damn, the game holds up really well on replay.
Great ebb and flow to it.
Queensland started the better side. Their structures were brilliant to watch and I think the Blues were looking mighty nervous until Cooper Cronk went off.
From there, the momentum shifted. Suddenly, Queensland started looking pedestrian while the Blues were beginning to make plenty of headway through the ruck and asking more questions of the Maroons defence. Through the weight of possession they score 10 points while Queensland look entirely lost at sea and playing some very desperate football, that offload from Myles in particular was clear representation.
Queensland looked entirely shot coming out from half-time but to their credit seemingly found another gear. To only score one try while in that gear was a credit to the Blue's defence but also on the fortunte of the night. Couple of passages where the key play seemingly went awry and as a result, the Blues were able to live to fight another day.
Despite a tense finish, the Blues hold on and record one of their finest victories in Origin history.
Referee - Favored Queensland but the way NSW are carrying on you'd swear they didn't receive any calls all night when they received a few 50/50s and a blatantly wrong call that gifted them a 4 point lead which had a huge effect on the game. It's a tough game and I'd rather Hayne than freakin' Klein any day of the week. If he returns next game, so help me god...
Player Ratings
Queensland
Billy Slater - Saved his best performance of the year for Queensland. Sensational game from Billy and kept trying till the bitter end. Can't fault him for going himself at the death, if anybody was going to score for Queensland, it was going to be him.
Brent Tate - Was just about the only player moving us forward at one stage.
Justin Hodges - Really thought he injected himself well into the game and came up with some nice plays during our resurgence.
Greg Inglis - Outside of supporting McQueen, thought he had an average first half but had a much better second. His value is in his presence, both Boyd tries came down to his decoy.
Darius Boyd - Nice move on Morris for the first try, thought he defended well for the most part and came up with a couple of smart kick returns.
Johnathan Thurston - Wasn't terrible but definitely off and one Origin game he'd rather forget.
Cooper Cronk - Injured in the opening 10 minutes, can't rate.
Mat Scott - Thought he played well in the minutes he was afforded. Just needs to up his involvement but he made some strong runs through the middle and created space out wide.
Cam Smith - Pretty ordinary game. Tried his best but when Queensland were on top he couldn't get us on the front foot because of his ankle.
Nate Myles - Good work-rate but came up with a bunch of dumb plays which really hurt Queensland.
Chris McQueen - Was pretty quiet outside of that linebreak to start the game.
Matt Gillett - Received a lot of gametime but was very ordinary I thought on the right edge. I don't think he bombed a try - I think NSW had him covered but was fortunate not to be penalised a second error and a lot of his runs were easily handled. Couple of spurts where he looked fired up in the second half, but needed more.
Corey Parker - Started quite poorly and really offered the Maroons little go-forward but got better as the game wore on. Capable of more.
Daly Cherry-Evans - Couple of good kicks aside, DCE looked a little out of his depth and made a couple of bad choices with the ball. Willing to accept it was a matter of bad preperation.
Ben Te'o - Really raised the tempo when he came on. Some very good runs through the middle that almost justified the lack of props. Did throw a silly offload which really hurt us and his overall score.
Aidan Guerra - A promising debut let down by a greedy lunge at the line when GI had space.
Josh Papalii - Couple of strong carries but we struggled during the period he was on. I wonder if there was something to that.
NSW
Jarryd Hayne - Man of the Match performance from Hayne. Set up the first try singling out JT and scored a determined try himself. Crazy thing is, I think he's capable of more.
Brett Morris - Scored the opening try for the Blues but his performance was pretty much subdued outside of a simple tackle on Boyd.
Josh Morris - Thought he actually got the better of GI in the first half but fell off a bit in the second half and put through a dumb kick which just about lost the game for the Blues.
Michael Jennings - Quiet outside picking up one loose ball.
Daniel Tupou - Nervous debut
Josh Reynolds - Thought he played well. Was always on the front foot and provided Hayne with really linked well with Hayne.
Trent Hodkinson - Nervous and a few of his kicks seemed off.
Aaron Woods - Good game from Woodsy I thought. Asserted himself and while he walked a fine line, was rewarded after a timid start last year
Robbie Farah - One of the best on ground. Really guided the Blues nicely and came up with a couple of important kicks, runs and offloads which gave the Blues the momentum in the first half
James Tamou - Decent contribution
Beau Scott - Did a job but not overly well.
Ryan Hoffman - Ditto.
Paul Gallen - Strong game from Gal. Some strong carries and good offloads which helped swing the momentum the Blues way.
Anthony Watmough - Toiled but didn't make much of an impact other than milk a penalty.
Trent Merrin - Earned a couple of handy quick play the balls but was otherwise pretty easily handled.
Luke Lewis - Barely saw him.
Tony Williams - Ditto.
