State of Origin - Game 2, 26/06/2013

[TRF_melon]

​

The second installment of this year's State of Origin series is just around the corner with only nine sleeps to go until we see Origin at its best at Suncorp Stadium.

With the chance to claim their first ***le since 2005, New South Wales will be champing at the bit to prevent the series from going to a decider. What they're up against is formidable. Queensland at home, with New South Wales fielding a weakened team.

New South Wales have named a largely unchanged team with the exception of stars Jarryd Hayne out due to injury and James Tamou denied his place after being disciplined by the NRL for being charged with high range drink driving offences.

Josh Dugan will take Hayne's place in only his second game for NSW after making his debut in 2011 and Aaron Woods replaces Tamou who will make his State of Origin debut.

The key for Qld will be to bash Paul Gallen in to submission and moving up on Lewis quicker in order to shut him down - he is too damaging a hole runner to be given space as he was in SoO1.

Queensland have made two changes with the omission of Canberra's David Shillington and Gold Coast's Ashley Harrison. This has seen Nate Myles move to the front row and Chris McQueen promoted to the starting pack. With these changes, Josh Papalii and Daly Cherry-Evans will take their place on the bench to make their State of Origin debuts.


NSW Blues

[TABLE="width: 475, align: left"]
<tbody>[TR]
[TD]1.[/TD]
[TD]Josh Dugan
[/TD]
[TD]St George Illawarra Dragons[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]2.[/TD]
[TD]Brett Morris
[/TD]
[TD]St George Illawarra Dragons[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]3.[/TD]
[TD]Michael Jennings
[/TD]
[TD]Sydney Roosters[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]4.[/TD]
[TD]Josh Morris
[/TD]
[TD]Canterbury Bulldogs[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]5.[/TD]
[TD]Nathan Merritt
[/TD]
[TD]South Sydney Rabbitohs
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]6.[/TD]
[TD]James Maloney
[/TD]
[TD]Sydney Roosters[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]7.[/TD]
[TD]Mitchell Pearce
[/TD]
[TD]Sydney Roosters[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]8.[/TD]
[TD]Paul Gallen (c)
[/TD]
[TD]Cronulla Sharks[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]9.[/TD]
[TD]Robbie Farrah (vc)
[/TD]
[TD]Wests Tigers[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]10.[/TD]
[TD]Aaron Woods
[/TD]
[TD]Wests Tigers[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]11.[/TD]
[TD]Ryan Hoffman
[/TD]
[TD]Melbourne Storm[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]12.[/TD]
[TD]Luke Lewis
[/TD]
[TD]Cronulla Sharks[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]13.[/TD]
[TD]Greg Bird
[/TD]
[TD]Gold Coast ***ans[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD][/TD]
[TD]Interchange[/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]14.[/TD]
[TD]Andrew Fifita
[/TD]
[TD]Cronulla Sharks[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]15.[/TD]
[TD]Trent Merrin
[/TD]
[TD]St George Illawarra Dragons[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]16.[/TD]
[TD]Josh Reynolds
[/TD]
[TD]Canterbury Bulldogs[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]17.[/TD]
[TD]Anthony Watmough
[/TD]
[TD]Manly Sea Eagles[/TD]
[/TR]
</tbody>[/TABLE]



























Qld Maroons

[TABLE="width: 475, align: left"]
<tbody>[TR]
[TD]1.
[/TD]
[TD]Billy Slater
[/TD]
[TD]Melbourne Storm
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]2.
[/TD]
[TD]Darius Boyd
[/TD]
[TD]Newcastle Knights
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]3.
[/TD]
[TD]Greg Inglis
[/TD]
[TD]South Sydney Rabbitohs
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]4.
[/TD]
[TD]Justin Hodges
[/TD]
[TD]Brisbane Broncos
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]5.
[/TD]
[TD]Brent Tate
[/TD]
[TD]North Queensland Cowboys
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]6.
[/TD]
[TD]Johnathan Thurston
[/TD]
[TD]North Queensland Cowboys
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]7.
[/TD]
[TD]Cooper Cronk
[/TD]
[TD]Melbourne Storm
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]8.
[/TD]
[TD]Matt Scott
[/TD]
[TD]North Queensland Cowboys
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]9.
[/TD]
[TD]Cameron Smith (c)
[/TD]
[TD]Melbourne Storm
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]10.
[/TD]
[TD]Nate Myles
[/TD]
[TD]Gold Coast ***ans
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]11.
[/TD]
[TD]Chris McQueen
[/TD]
[TD]South Sydney Rabbitohs
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]12.
[/TD]
[TD]Sam Thaiday
[/TD]
[TD]Brisbane Broncos
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]13.
[/TD]
[TD]Corey Parker
[/TD]
[TD]Brisbane Broncos
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD][/TD]
[TD]Interchange
[/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]14.
[/TD]
[TD]Daly Cherry-Evans
[/TD]
[TD]Manly Sea Eagles
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]15.
[/TD]
[TD]Ben Te'o
[/TD]
[TD]South Sydney Rabbitohs
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]16.
[/TD]
[TD]Matt Gillett
[/TD]
[TD]Brisbane Broncos
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]17.
[/TD]
[TD]Josh Papalii
[/TD]
[TD]Canberra Raiders
[/TD]
[/TR]
</tbody>[/TABLE]

 

[Sam Owen]

I've never ever seen a bad NSW origin side and this side is no different. It's gonna be tough for my Maroons but I'm betting Queensland to win convincingly. Queenslands score won't reflect the tightness of this upcoming clash.

 

[TRF_melon]

As per my post below in the NRL discussion thread, Blake Ferguson will miss SoO2 after having his registration suspended by the NRL following an indecent assault charge.

It's likely that eiter Akuila Uate or Nathan Merritt will take his place.

If Uate gets the vacant jumper, here's hoping Qld will pepper him with high balls all night.

With any luck, Nathan Merritt will get the call up to make his long awaited debut.

In other news, Blake Ferguson has decided to flush his career down the tube, for the time being anyway, after being charged with indecent assault today following an incident on Sunday.

As a result, the NRL has suspended Ferguson's registration. It is likely Ferguson will be shown the door by the Raiders, which have previously also sacked high profile players Todd Carney and Josh Dugan.

Ferguson will miss next Wednesday's State of Origin match.

 

[TRF_melon]

Nathan Merritt has been given the call up to replace Blake Ferguson. The Qld team was announced a few hours ago - I've updated the initial post to reflect this.

I can't wait for the game. Fresh blood, Suncorp stadium, must win for Qld, tension regarding Paul Gallen. It's going to be a blinder!

 

[LittleGuy]

Don't forget to get your picks in on the bru guys....I think I'm going to go with the Maroons in this one at home, a healthy Thurston and a more energized lineup I think will push them through. Plus my heart says a grandstand final game with the series drawn at 1 win each.

Looks like the word is the Maroons intend to use Inglis and Thurston a lot more which isn't surprising, Blues really held them in the first half in SOO1. I am suprised that the bookies have Queensland 10:1 to win the game though, I certainly think they should be favourites but that seems a little high, the Blues team has been improving the last two years . I like Dugan joining the side again as well always thought he deserved another chance I think he's an underated player.

I'm a little worried about seeing a bunch of cardings as the refs have been told to crack down lately, though Gallen should have rode the pine for ten minutes last week Fox Sports had an insider claiming the officiating won't be as tight as it has been in NRL over the last month or so...

http://www.foxsports.com.au/league/state-of-origin/wholesale-send-off-not-on-the-cards-in-state-of-origin-ii-according-to-an-nrl-insider/story-fn31yxah-1226669422070

Better check my fantasy team as well LOL.

 

[Sam Owen]

Queensland!!

 

[Amobokoboko]

NSW to cause for an upset

 

[ZeFrenchy]

At what time is this game starting? I see 20:00 everywhere, but it's 12 minutes past that time and still not on...

Edit: Now it's started. I guess the actual time zone in Brisbane is GMT+9:45

 

[Amobokoboko]

Good win by Queensland. It all comes down to the third game.

 

[LittleGuy]

Absolutely massive by Queensland, I was expecting a win but that was a statement...Thurston was immense in open play and was unlucky with missed kicks. Boyd is a try machine, in five straight origin matches he has at least one try. Hard to point to any poor Maroon performances, it was a complete effort from the side, especially on defence.

It was odd that NSW were so unprepared for that initial onslaught from the Maroons, they had known it was coming all week and still looked like deer in the headlights in the first quarter. They were certainly better after that but they didn't threeaten to often in attack and being in a hole so much limited their options. Can't rate anyone too highly, that being said in the final hour the Blues weren't actually that bad, they prevented the scoreline from getting comical despite being under continuous pressure.

Was expecting a little biff, in the 52nd minute it finally happened, the scoreline was just too out of touch for it not too!!! Bizarro officiating calls afterwords, Merrin deserved to be binned...but the other players didn;t need to be, 11 on 11 was silly. Hopefully the NRL get their heads together and take their pants off their heads again this always happens when you give the officials stupid direcitives from up on high and tie their hands on handing out punishment.

Third game will be a cracker.

 

[TRF_melon]

What a start by the mighty Maroons!

Exactly what NSW did in game one, however Qld managed to keep it up for longer.

If Slater hadn't made an uncharacteristic four errors, Qld may have seen 40.

Thaiday was an absolute Machine in the first twenty minutes and Corey Parker was dominant for the entire game whilst Thurston was almost back to his world-beating best.

I thought the sin-binning of four players was overkill. Tate was sucker punched after a simple push on Gallen who was hanging around too long, and as far as I could see he barely manged to defend himself and perhaps get in a blind jab or two, such was the attack. Hodges HAD to come in because you simply can't let your mate get bashed and although Bird is a downright grub, he was in the same position. There's no way in the world Tate should have been sent off - even Hodges and Bird. If anything, there should be a five minute sin-bin which would have been ideal for "coming in". Merrin fully deserved the ten minute rest.

Nathan Merritt was shown up several times. He was quite simply out of his depth. Terrible under the high ball, not marking up properly and rushing up too often. I would imagine Blake Ferguson will still be unavailable for game three so that should pave the way for Jorge Taufua to make his debut on the wing but NSW may opt for experience in Akuila Uate despite the fact he is also pretty average under the high ball at the origin level.

Hayne will likely replace Dugan at fullback. It may be possible that Dugan will move to Merritt's wing which I think would be a good move, given Dugan made the most of what he was given. A game high six tackle breaks highlights his potential.

Although I don't think a change in the halves will help NSW's cause in game three, Pearce needs to go. For the most part, he has always been just "average". He is never a game breaker. Pearce has played eleven origins, over six series, since the 2008 decider and basically has nothing to show for it. Adam Reynolds FTW!

At what time is this game starting? I see 20:00 everywhere, but it's 12 minutes past that time and still not on...

Edit: Now it's started. I guess the actual time zone in Brisbane is GMT+9:45

You'll find the actual kick off time has in fact been 8:15pm/20:15 for a number of years.

I don't quite understand why it's advertised as 8:00pm by many (most?) sources.

 

[LittleGuy]

What a start by the mighty Maroons!

Exactly what NSW did in game one, however Qld managed to keep it up for longer.

If Slater hadn't made an uncharacteristic four errors, Qld may have seen 40.

Thaiday was an absolute Machine in the first twenty minutes and Corey Parker was dominant for the entire game whilst Thurston was almost back to his world-beating best.

I thought the sin-binning of four players was overkill. Tate was sucker punched after a simple push on Gallen who was hanging around too long, and as far as I could see he barely manged to defend himself and perhaps get in a blind jab or two, such was the attack. Hodges HAD to come in because you simply can't let your mate get bashed and although Bird is a downright grub, he was in the same position. There's no way in the world Tate should have been sent off - even Hodges and Bird. If anything, there should be a five minute sin-bin which would have been ideal for "coming in". Merrin fully deserved the ten minute rest.

Nathan Merritt was shown up several times. He was quite simply out of his depth. Terrible under the high ball, not marking up properly and rushing up too often. I would imagine Blake Ferguson will still be unavailable for game three so that should pave the way for Jorge Taufua to make his debut on the wing but NSW may opt for experience in Akuila Uate despite the fact he is also pretty average under the high ball at the origin level.

Hayne will likely replace Dugan at fullback. It may be possible that Dugan will move to Merritt's wing which I think would be a good move, given Dugan made the most of what he was given. A game high six tackle breaks highlights his potential.

Although I don't think a change in the halves will help NSW's cause in game three, Pearce needs to go. For the most part, he has always been just "average". He is never a game breaker. Pearce has played eleven origins, over six series, since the 2008 decider and basically has nothing to show for it. Adam Reynolds FTW!




You'll find the actual kick off time has in fact been 8:15pm/20:15 for a number of years.

I don't quite understand why it's advertised as 8:00pm by many (most?) sources.

I hope they leave Dugan in the side at least, in the interchange if not starting on the wing, I thought he was the most dangerous Blue on attack all night, and was probably their hardest worker. Merritt was pretty terrible, though not the best circumstances in which to make a debut.

I like that five minute sin binning idea melon(this is what fighting is in Ice Hockey and Indoor Lacrosse in Canada is punished by) or perhaps a rule where simultaneous binnings of opposing players the offendors can be replaced by the inter-change players so yes they do have to sit out for 10 but we don't have to see 11 on 11 for an extended period of time.

The kickoff time thing has become a major issue in Canada, one of our sports networks TSN is notoriously bad for advertsing their half hour pre game show vaguely, so you think a gridiron game starts at 7:00 p.m. tune in and it's their half hour show and the real kickoff is 7:30 p.m. it's annoyed me a few times so now I have to check the teams home page to find out the true kickoff time.

 

[Saints1]

The Maroons were exceptional in the first half. If they weren't scoring tries they were turning the Blues around and making it a struggle to get out of their own 30. Thurston was kicking them to death.

Origin 3 will be huge - should be an indicator for us all as to how much the gap has closed or wondering if it has at all.

 

[Sam Owen]

Everything's back to normal and we will win game 3

 

[UilamOsa]

Everything's back to normal and we will win game 3

Agreed.

Loz has said he wouldn't drop any players. NSW will be without Gallen. (unless he makes a miraculous recovery)

Thurston's performance was Joey Johns like.

 

[Amobokoboko]

Highlights of the game for those who missed it: