Blues Rally to Take Origin Series

The game kicked off with a surprise change in the NSW lineup, Brisbane’s Preston Campbell starting in five eighth with Wellington’s Trent Barret finding himself on the bench.

The game got underway courtesy of Clinton Schifcofske’s boot and NSW signalled their intentions early, gaining almost eighty metres on their first set of six. A deft grubber kick from Preston Campbell threatened to crack open the QLD line early, but Timana Tahu couldn’t handle the speed of the kick- and knocked it on in goal.

Queensland’s set in response was hardly inspiring, Matthew Bowen showing his inexperience when he tried to race down the right sideline. Matthew Gidley, the game’s in form centre, had little trouble in bundling his former team-mate into touch to regain possession for the Blues. The first substitution happened at this point, Timana Tahu leaving the field with an injured ankle. This forced a reshuffle of the team, with Campbell taking Tahu’s position on the wing, and Barret playing five eighth.

NSW’s tenacity in defence continued to aggravate the Queenslanders, as a very fired up Ben Kennedy hefted Darren Lockyer into touch. The pressure in defence began to show, as the Queenslanders continually made stupid errors, the most blatant being Mat Rogers’ unpressured forward pass when the line was open.

Despite the dominance of NSW’s defence, it was the Queenslanders who got an unlikely first chance. A botched play by the NSW backs turned it over to Queensland metres out from their own line. The Queenslanders settled things down and played out a no-frills set, which ended with Darren Lockyer going in under the posts. NSW captain Andrew Johns objected, and the video referee found that Gorden Tallis had taken him out. The try was called back, and NSW went straight back on the attack courtesy of the penalty.

A flurry of interchanges, including the debuts of Rhys Wesser and Blaze Wilson, lifted Maroon spirits- with the Queenslanders settling down and beginning to get their share of possession and defensive dominance. In particular Wilson, who has been quiet since departing Brisbane at the end of the 2002/2003 season, showed patches of the dominant form that saw him as rookie of the year a few seasons ago.

Queensland were again denied a try in the 25th minute, with the video referee ruling that Wesser had pursued Schifcofske’s bomb from an offside position. Queensland coach Jelly Adams was fuming, and the scoreline still read nil all after almost thirty minutes of football.

The first points finally came in the 29th minute, when Andrew Johns slotted over a simple penalty for offside to put the Blues ahead 2-0. In the 34th minute the Blues finally cracked the Queensland line, with Mark Gasnier on the end of a spectacular long pass from Preston Campbell. The ball cut out five Blues’ stars, and found Gasnier unmarked to put him into the corner. Andrew Johns calmly slotted over the conversion, and the Blues lead 8-0 leading into the halftime break.

The final portions of the first half ended in a fitting style, with NSW again entrenched on Queensland’s line. Ben Kennedy looked a certainty to score on the stroke of halftime, but a desperation tackle from Billy Slater jarred the ball loose achingly close to the line.

HALFTIME: Queensland 0 trail NSW 8

The second half got underway with a surprise short kick by Preston Campbell. The grubbing drive found Timana Tahu, who skirted the sideline and passed in field to find Mark Gasnier. The Parramatta signing crossed for his second, but the touch judge called it back for a forward pass. Replays showed Tahu’s pass looked legitimate, but the damage had been done.

The Blues didn’t relinquish their stranglehold on the game though, continuing to dominate in possession of the football. Credit must be given to the Queensland backs, particularly Schifcofske, who was asked to make desperation tackles to save Queensland from a humiliating margin.

A 47th minute intercept by Mat Rogers looked to have finally got Queensland on the board, when the Manly winger streaked downfield with only Matthew Burke in pursuit. But the Wallaby fullback upstaged his teammate at rep level, jarring the ball loose over the line to rob Queensland of a certain try.

The game became a literal war of attrition, both sides camped in the middle of the field and struggling to gain any ascendancy. For NSW it was Ben Kennedy and Preston Campbell doing the damage, only to be forced back by Queensland’s best, Schifcofske and Lockyer.

The clock wound down, with neither side able to find the points that would either shut the game down, or bring it back to life. A riot was threatened when video referee, Justin Hoy, again denied Queensland a vital try in the 70th minute. Darren Lockyer and Billy Slater combined flawlessly on a length of the field effort, Lockyer making a break before kicking ahead for a flying Slater. Slater had the ball stolen in a two on one tackle just short of the line, and the crowd bayed for a penalty try. It didn’t come.

And in the 72nd minute, the deathblow to Queensland’s hopes of an upset series came. Gold Coast’s Matt Gidley scooted the touchline, showing uncharacteristic strength to palm off his opposite number. He then chipped ahead, and the bounce favoured Trent Barret, who scored beneath the posts. Johns again had little trouble with the conversion, celebrating as the match and series was sealed.

The fulltime siren came after a final eight minutes, which saw Queensland visibly drop in intensity. NSW, to their credit, fought out the final minutes as if they trailed by two. The fulltime siren sounded, and the crowd booed referee Bill Harrigan from the field, whilst drunken fans threw rubbish at the booth of the video referee.

FULLTIME
Queensland: 0

Lost to
NSW 14
Trent Barret
Mark Gasnier
Johns 3/3

MAN OF THE MATCH: Preston Campbell
Ben Kennedy…..2
Timana Tahu…..1

WOW I LIKE THE REPORT, HOW DO U COME UP WITH IT? JUST CURIOUS BECAUSE IM NEW AND STILL A LIL UNSURE ON HOW THIS ALL WORKS LOL

I wrote it myself based on the report the sim makes. The sim's report is far more in depth, but not really worth reading.

Chris

What a great series the best yet i reckon.

I feel a little hard done by for these reasons in Game 2 i had two trys disallowed and if they were accepted i would have won the game and in Game 3 i had 3 trys disallowed and it was the same story of the refs being biast to the NSW team. I think there should be a full investigation into this but on a high note Queensland finally showed that they can match it with NSW and we showed some of our young talent with Tookey,Elken,Slater,Bowen and Wesser all playing well but it was the case of our super powers in Lockyer and Schifcofske being so dominate which gave us a chance of winning our first series.

With us going down 2-1 it isnt a bad thing its more of a positive and we will come back even stronger next series and hopefully iam still coach.