State of Origin Game 1 – Queensland Maroons

Origin 3 has finally arrived, the decider, the game we’ve all been waiting for. And what a game it promises to be, everything that has occurred over the last 6 weeks has been leading up to this match.

Queensland have had a stranglehold on State of Origin for the past 5 years, a win here would make it their sixth straight series victory and would also send Darren Lockyer and possibly Petero Civoniceva out winners in their final Origin matches. With these 2 stars leaving the representative scene it will be the end of an era for Queensland.

New South Wales, meanwhile, are already in the process of ushering in a new era and game 2 appeared to be the coming of age for a number of their young stars, most notably Mitchell Pearce and Jamie Soward, who led the team around the park and didn’t buckle under the pressure that so many had predicted they would. Gallen was a machine once again and led by example, more of the same will be required going into this third and deciding Origin match.

Queensland have Justin Hodges back but will be missing Dave Taylor after he was suspended for a spear tackle in the match against the Broncos, apart from this change, Queensland have their full strength side available so this will be NSW’s biggest test of the series so far.

The Blues haven’t settled on a final 17 yet, with 19 players still in the mix and all of them have travelled up to Queensland for the match. The whispers are that Galloway and Morris will be the players to make way, with Jennings cleared to play it appears that Morris was a back-up to the Penrith flyer.

Galloway can consider himself unlucky after being named in the initial 20 man squad, but at least he now knows that he is being considered and the experience of being in camp for the week will have done him the world of good. Trent Merrin was underused in the first 2 games and it was a bit of a surprise that he was left out of game 3 to be honest, he was the first player from the 20 man squad to be dropped, playing for the Dragons on Sunday.

For NSW to win this match and the series they will be coming up against all sorts of obstacles that suggest they shouldn’t be winning this game. They lost the first game of the series and not many teams come back to win a series from that position, 2 of Queensland’s stars are finishing up and their teammates will want to give them a fairytale send off, they’ll not only be up against 17 quality Maroons, they will also be against 52,000 screaming Queenslanders.

Add to this the fact that Tony Archer has been appointed as referee for the decider (the Blues have won just 2 matches under Archer in the 10 games that he has officiated) and the Blues will go into this match as massive underdogs.

No doubt Ricky Stuart will have drummed this into them over the last week and they will be ready for this match, NSW are on the verge of something special and my only concern is if we don’t win this match the media in this state will condemn them as “failures” and all of the hard work that has been done under Stuart’s tenure will be undone. We need to get behind our state, support them whether they win or lose, as they are turning the corner and only time will tell how Queensland copes with the loss of Lockyer going into next years series.

I think the fact that this is Lockyer’s last match and being at home, the Queenslanders will no doubt be up for this match. My heart says the Blues will win this match in what will probably be their greatest ever victory, but my head says that Queensland will have too much firepower and will bounce back from a below par performance in game 2.

Update: It appears Jennings and Scott will be the two to miss out on Game 3, both were struggling with minor injuries leading up to the big one so maybe Stuart didn’t want to take a gamble with so much riding on this game. Good news for Keith Galloway who will make his debut if the late mail is true!

Sportingbet Prices
Maroons: $1.55
Blues: $2.47

sportsbanter.com.au Tip – Maroons
Banter’s Best Bet – NSW + 6.0 @ $1.72