The QLD Autopsy...

[QUEENSLANDER]

Lesson learned is be ready for anything including losing a key play maker. It was obvious that DCE didn't practice in the 7. Now he will and the team will be better. If he is iffy or if Smith is iffy, Hunt is a viable option for the fact that he is a form 7 and can play 9. If Smith is injured well then the Andrew McCoullough era begins.

Friend is the ready made smith replacement. McCullough is no chance

 

[subsbligh]

Assuming DCE is fit, Jake Friend will wear the 14.

Running Friend out there in the 14 as an extra forward rather than in the role Cronk and now DCE have filled in the 14 is a good option.

Assuming Cronk and DCE were out and its Game 2, I think Mal would go for a reshuffle (like Inglis, Smith or Hodges to the halves) rather than blood a rookie half.

If he did want to blood a rookie half.... Ben Hunt's name would have to be thrown around.

I can almost guarantee a show and go line break if he's brought on at the 30 minute mark with tired forwards.

 

[subsbligh]

Game plans mean nothing in Origin.

In the end it came down to defensive grit, a bit of luck and individual brilliance.

Look at Laurie's body language towards the end.

That's not the body language of a man who has crafted a game plan and has absolute confidence in his structures. That's a man clinging to hope that individual brilliance and luck in the dying minutes won't shatter his dreams.

 

[subsbligh]

Boys and girls... chill the hell out. It's one game. NSW pretty much played as well as they possibly can. Hats off to them. We lost Kronk and still were in it to the buzzer. QLD were way off playing their best. Question time... How many times have you seen JT have two poor games in a row? Answer is never.

Next game it will help to have Thaiday on board for the sheer fact that he acts as a good protection for Thurston. Even after all that, if Gillette doesn't spill his lollies they still would of won.

Lesson learned is be ready for anything including losing a key play maker. It was obvious that DCE didn't practice in the 7. Now he will and the team will be better. If he is iffy or if Smith is iffy, Hunt is a viable option for the fact that he is a form 7 and can play 9. If Smith is injured well then the Andrew McCoullough era begins.

Last point which has been stated plenty is Inglis has to get the ball damn near every set. If that means putting Slater in the Wing than so be it. Greg is damaging when Greg wants to be damaging. The big difference in game one was their wild card ( Hayne) was way better and way more damaging then ours with Inglis.

Take a breath, it's going to be a different show in game two and we dominate game three.

If you are thinking to yourself that you haven't seen Inglis for the first 15 minutes, you know Qld/Kangaroos/Souths are in trouble.

I don't know whether its the man himself, or the fact that him being quiet is a symptom that his team has not had good attacking ball. Or there's not been any good opportunities for Inglis to pick from.

 

[john1420]

There's plenty to be said, JT off his game, GI not getting enough quality ball, etc. but I thought the biggest issue was the loss of Cronk

The last 20 min when QLD were trying to build pressure, Cronk's composure and experience were sorely missed

DCE will be an origin star of the future before long no doubt, but he looked a class below last night

 

[Old Mate]

DCE needed to do more clearing kicks, Smith took it upon himself and made a few stinkers while Daly's were pretty good.

 

[Harry Sack]

That's just it though, I am tired of waiting for the game where Inglis gets quality ball, at fullback he is in the game just like Hayne last night. NSW finally stopped picking him out of position and see what happened.

Slater and Inglis could easily do some swapping especially inside 20 to give GI some decent room, so no need to get rid of Slater

On board with this 100%.

 

[Harry Sack]

Boys and girls... chill the hell out. It's one game. NSW pretty much played as well as they possibly can. Hats off to them. We lost Kronk and still were in it to the buzzer. QLD were way off playing their best. Question time... How many times have you seen JT have two poor games in a row? Answer is never.

Next game it will help to have Thaiday on board for the sheer fact that he acts as a good protection for Thurston. Even after all that, if Gillette doesn't spill his lollies they still would of won.

Lesson learned is be ready for anything including losing a key play maker. It was obvious that DCE didn't practice in the 7. Now he will and the team will be better. If he is iffy or if Smith is iffy, Hunt is a viable option for the fact that he is a form 7 and can play 9. If Smith is injured well then the Andrew McCoullough era begins.

Last point which has been stated plenty is Inglis has to get the ball damn near every set. If that means putting Slater in the Wing than so be it. Greg is damaging when Greg wants to be damaging. The big difference in game one was their wild card ( Hayne) was way better and way more damaging then ours with Inglis.

Take a breath, it's going to be a different show in game two and we dominate game three.

I'm seriously on Thurston for MOTM in game 2.

Good post in general btw. Hayne was the biggest difference last night and I have no idea why we gave him so much space.

 

[Sproj]

In the last thirty, we suddenly decided to shut Hayne down and cut off his space and surprise surprise, NSW suddenly had nothing. It's not rocket science to know that shutting down Hayne equals shutting down NSW. We won't make that mistake twice and we win comfortably in Sydney provided our injuries aren't as bad as we suspect.

 

[Alec]

There were two times in a row where we had them pinned in their own end, then Hayne goes into dummy half, jogs for about 10 metres with no one in front of him and boots it into our 20. Twice in a row that happened. He's got a massive boot, don't give him that room, retards.

I blame McQueen, he's just so shitty.

 

[Big Pete]

This didn't look that bad from section 535, holy smokes!

Two weeks is a joke.

 

[jarro65]

No way he can get that downgraded.

If he does, it's a friggin joke !!

 

[Morkel]

Yeah that tackle is probably the worst that's happened for a while. Like since the spear & drive by O'Donnell. He went right over 270 degrees. If he'd got his head caught McKinnon-style then he's wheelchair-bound for sure. 6-8 weeks IMO.

 

[Brett]

The charge has been downgraded because there was no injury to Tate. If Tate goes down a little bit more one way, his career is over, the charge is upgraded and Reynolds probably spends the remainder of the year on the sidelines.This is how much of a farce this whole thing is.

 

[Alec]

Yeah, it's stupid. Jordan McLean got 8 weeks for something that should be a lot safer. It was just complete luck.

 

[jarro65]

Or is it just a case of Origin having a different set of rules altogether ?

 

[CaptainHook]

Yeah, it's stupid. Jordan McLean got 8 weeks for something that should be a lot safer. It was just complete luck.

I understood it perfectly. What the NRL are saying is that it's ok to lift - just don't break someone's neck. It looks bad in the press.

Seriously though, he needs to cop a lengthy suspension. The NRL are either serious about dangerous tackles or they're not. I think it's the latter. Poor leadership, but that's the norm with these monkeys in charge.

 

[CaptainHook]

As others have said, it felt like a weird game. Almost like the sides were playing two different games.

I'd like to praise Guerra. Imagine if Kennedy had the heart of Guerra? He ran hard and tackled hard all night. I can't ask for more.

I also noticed NSW players passing off the ground and continuing to play after being held - happened at least a dozen times. Wtf ref?

Queensland didn't really respect the football. Myles trying to offload after the first tackle from a penalty, being penalised on the fifth tackle a number of times. Makes it hard to win.

They really intensified their defense in the second half but not completing sets and poor kicks undid all that good work. Execution needs to be better.

I'm not sure where Queensland go. I love Tate, Hodges, Slater, etc but we have no speed in the backline. I'm not just talking about speed in open space but just knowing when there is a sniff of an opportunity. It's a split second but that's all you need in Origin - they look a bit off the pace.

Still, Mal deserves the benefit of the doubt. Contrary to a lot of talk in the press, he can and does make changes when they are warranted. It would be a shame though if the streak ends due to injuries. Little facts like that get lost in the record books.