Is the series over? Hell, no! There’s still one more match to play, and the tradition of hating the team from the other side of the border remains in force regardless of the overall status of the series. We’ve cast fresh eyes over Origin II and found a few tasty tit-bits that might define the final match on Wednesday night.
1. New South Wales can actually win.
As you’ve heard, it’s been so long since The Blues won more than one game that no one has been able to ‘tweet’ the words New South Wales wins the series! They managed to do it – after eight years and 70 different players putting on the fabled blue jersey for a shot at the title.
2. The longing is over.
Remember when Mulder kissed Scully, or when Lois and Clark finally got it on? Most of the these television events signalled the beginning of the end for their respective shows, as viewers walked away from programs lacking the longing and desire that had previously captivated their protagonists.
Now, with New South Wales strutting around the field with the trophy tucked under its arm, where is the romance? The answer is simple: there is no greater appeal than crushing Queensland into the dirt on home soil for a 3-0 series clean-sweep, followed by keeping their hands off the prize for at least the next decade.
3. Jonathon Thurston can be really annoying.
Most days, JT is the only bloke in Australia who has a grin bigger than Daniel Riccardo. During Origin II however, he took on the role of the ‘smiling assassin’ – and duly belted the Blues in defence with some of the more unsavoury tactics seen on an Origin paddock.
There was plenty of attention paid to the heads of New South Wales players, forearms routinely finding their targets in tackle after tackle – and finally culminating in an incident involving a headbutt between Thurston and Josh Reynolds.
One has to wonder what would have transpired out of all of this had some biff been allowed – all we can speculate is that Thurston’s smile might have been lacking several teeth.
4. The 10-metre rule needs to be enforced.
Sure, lots of things are fun to do when people are less than 10 metres apart. Playing rugby league is not one of them.
Origin II was a far lesser spectacle than the first edition due largely to the lack of space between the attacking and defensive lines. While Origin I was a tough wrestle where the defence was forced to work hard in an effort to shut down the ball carrier, the previous match was just an ugly grind that hardly promoted the highest level of the game.
Let ‘em run, refs! We need lots of tarmac for the Hayne Plane to fly!
5. We didn’t need Todd Carney to do it…
…and thank God for that.
State of Origin II is on from 8.00pm Wednesday 9 July. Click here to see a full list of our partner venues that are showing the big match.
