-
# Queensland by seven and lightyears
Like I said, a devastating win to Queensland.
Queensland’s first half was…almost frustratingly average. They threatened every time they got in the NSW twenty metres but they needed NSW to make a mistake to get there, they just didn’t seem to have any attack at long range. NSW, on the other hand, took advantage of Queensland’s lethargy and misfortune by playing some good tight football.
They go into the sheds at halftime at 18-6, NSW well in control.
Maybe there was an interdimensional tear underneath Suncorp Stadium. I tried to look but my television doesn’t quite have resolution for me to verify if the two teams had suddenly grown goatees.
Queensland came out and suddenly – almost – everything that hadn’t quite worked out in the first half just materialised from the ethereal plane in the second. It was just magic.
NSW were hopeless in the second half, particularly in the halves again. Mullen is a good player but he is still raw and for long periods of time…well, where was he? He should have been getting assistance from Anasta, but he showed up about as often as Mullen. Anasta had a really good first half and seemed to finally understand that he needed to actually do things, but then he faded into obscurity in the second half, doing Mullen a terrible disservice. The problem for NSW, of course, is who replaces him? I don’t think there is any eligible pivots who are capable of dropping into an Origin side and giving Mullins the kind of back up he needs.
So Queensland wins 25-18, completely dominating the second half and keeping NSW scoreless. There was a remarkable statistic that went without comment by the Channel Nine commentary team, AFAIK. In the 72nd minute, after QLD had been down an interchange player for some time, they had score 19 unanswered points, and yet had used three fewer replacements. They were still in single figures, eight I think; an astonishing, practically unheard of situation. NSW had been full of talk of wearing out the older Queensland forwards, and yet Queensland had a mile of replacements up it’s sleeves in the last moments on the chance that NSW turned around their entire half.
There will be replacements for QLD, Nate Myles will be suspended for four weeks minimum for a stupid lifting tackle. There need to be replacements for NSW but I am not sure if it has to extend out of the halves. The forwards were ordinary in the second half, but they had their game plan messed up by White’s constantly bleeding nose. Haynes should be kept despite doing a Justin Hodges, coincidentally at the feet of Hodges himself.
The number one replacement though needs to be the referee who had what can only be called a bad game. By my count the Badly Wrong calls were 2-all.
- Nathan Hindmarsh didn’t ground the ball and may even have received the ball off a forward pass
- Steve Price did not receive the ball off a forward pass
- Late in the first half there was a clear 40-20 kick by NSW, but the feed was given to QLD
- Thurston dropped the ball while tackled in the Queensland half and it wasn’t noticed by the touch judge, only a dozen metres away.
Anything less than a scoreless draw is bad, anything more than 1-0 is unacceptable. A layer of sludge on the cake was a very high penalty count.
On a more personal note, D has finally broken her Origin curse. She and tWM are normally out at dancing on Origin night; they come home late in the second half and without fail have always put the mocker on – if QLD are winning, they immediately fall apart and lose. Tonight, they kept it together; mocker broken.
-
# Meh
you need to turn on html so I can post the NSW eureka flag.
-
# re: Queensland by seven and lightyears
“Queensland came out and suddenly – almost – everything that hadn’t quite worked out in the first half just materialised from the ethereal plane in the second. It was just magic.”
Your feverant prayers were heard and you are welcome… although it did take some fairly serious work to make happen… I almost thought Qld had money on themelves to lose…
-
# re: Queensland by seven and lightyears
Thank-you.
Although, if you think this makes up for the whole puberty thing, you are gravely mistaken.
-
Meta
Feeds
Links
powered by del.icio.us
115 days since 21/06/2008