State of Origin I 2015

[TRF_melon]

​

Wednesday 27/05/2015 @ ANZ Stadium, Sydney; Kick-off 8:16pm AEST

Only 8 sleeps away, State of Origin I will be the opener for what may be the biggest series yet - Queensland want to prove last year was a mere stumble and New South Wales will be out to show all that they're not pretenders.

NSW coach Laurie Daley is without captain Paul Gallen and origin stalwart Greg Bird through necessity (injury and suspension respectively), however he chose to leave out long term servants of State of Origin, Luke Lewis and Anthony Watmough. This has shown Daley's commitment to youth and the long term view of creating an Origin dynasty, much like the Maroons of the past decade.

Josh Jackson and David Klemmer will make their debuts. Perplexingly, Trent Hodkinson has been retained.

Qld is for the most part as expected. Josh Papalii misses out this year, with Josh McGuire set to make his Origin debut. Although named in his usual role, Daly Cherry-Evans is expected to be ruled out through injury. Michael Morgan is tipped to move on to the bench to fill the utility position, however Dylan Napa has a chance to snag the vacancy due to NSW's decision to name a sizeable bench.

NSW Blues

1 Josh Dugan
2 Daniel Tupou
3 Michael Jennings
4 Josh Morris
5 Will Hopoate
6 Mitchell Pearce
7 Trent Hodkinson
8 Aaron Woods
9 Robbie Farah (c)
10 James Tamou
11 Ryan Hoffman
12 Beau Scott
13 Josh Jackson

14 Boyd Cordner
15 Trent Merrin
16 Andrew Fifita
17 David Klemmer
18 Tyson Frizell

Qld Maroons

1 Billy Slater
2 Darius Boyd
3 Greg Inglis
4 Justin Hodges
5 Will Chambers
6 Johnathan Thurston
7 Cooper Cronk
8 Matt Scott
9 Cameron Smith (c)
10 Nate Myles
11 Aidan Guerra
12 Sam Thaiday
13 Corey Parker

14 Daly Cherry-Evans*
15 Josh McGuire
16 Matt Gillett
17 Jacob Lillyman
18 Dylan Napa

 

[ENZED-88]

It's gonna be a whitewash QLD to take the series 3-zip!!

 

[chris_rp]

State of Origin Preview - Game 1

State of Origin Preview
ANZ Stadium
Wednesday, May 27 (8:00pm AEST / 11:00am GMT + 1)

New South Wales play host to Queensland at an 80,000 strong ANZ Stadium on Wednesday night, marking the start of what will be another passion-fueled State of Origin series â€" underlined by bruising hits, scintillating tries and, if we’re lucky, a bit of biff.

The star-studded Maroons enter this one favourites (the game and the series) and will be looking to send off a number of their older players on a winning note. This despite their outrageous eight-peat coming to an end in 2014.

Cameron Smith might argue otherwise but The Blues will take to the field underdogs tonight, fielding a new-look team that’s equal parts exuberance and inexperience. They’re short of several key players, including talismen and Blues Brothers Greg Bird and Paul Gallen, who miss the game through suspension and injury respectively, and will come up against a Queensland side out for revenge.

http://rugbypunt.com/state-of-origin-preview-game-1-2015/

 

[Amobokoboko]

Common you Blues!!!!!

 

[LeinsterMan (NotTigsMan)]

Queensland is going to go in hard and dry.

 

[Amobokoboko]

NSW lost with one point difference. Can't wait for game two.

 

[LeinsterMan (NotTigsMan)]

NSW where a lot better than I thought TBF.

 

[Amobokoboko]

Idd, but it was an awesome game to follow.

 

[RoosTah]

Bugger... Blues lost the plot a bit in that second half... Not sure what happened but they just lost their aggression and composure. Fingers crossed they can get it back for game 2

 

[Amobokoboko]

Highlights for those who missed it: