Game 1 - Post Match Discussion

[Ari Gold]

To the NSW fans, what do you do with Farah? Most of you were arguing for Buderus but with a series loss likely (you would have to think) then surely Farah is the future and needs time to form a proper spine with the halves (who have to stay IMO)

 

[Nashy]

OK. What stupid league show used the word spine?

It can't be a BHQ thing surely.

 

[Bucking Beads]

I thought Farah was pretty good. I think Hayne needs to be at fullback. They need 4 props and to put Gallen back in the 13.

 

[Professor47]

Farah showed what he can do when Blues aren't getting dominated. TBH I don't think the 9 spot is a problem. I think it is good having a healthy competition between Farah/Ennis... however you pick one for the entire series when you do.

I'd be more worried about Pearce TBH. The platform was there for him to win. He said himself he needs to win these big origin games. Carney... it was his first game. Pearce... he needs to step up.

We got a get out of jail free card this time round. Sydney... we need to calm the f*ck down and get our kicking game in order. QLD looked anxious and unsteady for the first time in a long, long time. We've lost games but we've never lost because we were anxious and unsteady (2008 game 1 being the exception - the most recent in my memory) but tonight we did look it. Really missed the calming influence of D Lockyer. 100%.

 

[Coxy]

No coincidence that game 1 2008 was the first without locky too

 

[Bucking Beads]

Does Petro keep his spot??? He really is a liability in defense this year. Still makes the meters most of the time. Don't think he will be dropped but I don't think he is having s great year. Age has certainly caught up with him.

 

[Kaz]

This spine is brand spanking new and will take 3-4 games to adjust properly.

But you know they will break the spine up.

Why, because the selectors are spineless 'nuffies'

 

[OXY-351]

Farah produced NOTHING.

That's a bit harsh. He produced a try from one of his kicks

 

[Fozz]

HAHAHAH! Ben Creagh made 3 runs. No wonder I didn't notice him. What a disgrace!!!!!!!

He leads from behind.

What a useless footballer.

 

[Broncoman]

I think Carney can bounce back and have a blinder in game, he was obviously nervous last night. Remember Justin Hodges played the worst game of his life on his origin debut and bounced back.

Off topic but I find QLD ridiculous when claiming the commentary is bias. BIAS?? All though the game I heard continuel praise towards the QLD'ers and not one thing that was said was one eyed towards NSW.

 

[Emma]

My 2 cents worth.

QLD: Tate was unbelievable and really stepped up once Billy started having issues with the high ball. Inglis showed good patches but went missing in between. Hannant was mammoth too, needed more minutes. I thought the whole 'Smith and co have the flu' was a bit of a smokescreen, but I'm not convinced it was now. Billy actually looked sick before the game even started and it was clear that Smith and Cronk weren't their usual selves. On the whole, the team was solid at best and has a lot of improvement in it, which I'm confident they can do by game 2.

NSW: Jennings clearly doesn't have a brain cell in that thick head of his. Stupid move and really swung the game. Dumb decision to go for the 2 points, I know I breathed a sigh of relief when they did. They got caught with the ball a couple of times on the 5th tackle, they missed a kick for touch....stupid, schoolboy errors that really dragged them down I think. On the whole, they had a lot of moments where they were on top of QLD, but just didn't have the sucker punch to get them across.

As badly as QLD played, there weren't really all that many moments where I thought they would lose. The desperation they showed was great, and despite not playing all that well, I feel they really stood up for each other when needed.

 

[Coxy]

My 2 cents worth.

QLD: Tate was unbelievable and really stepped up once Billy started having issues with the high ball. Inglis showed good patches but went missing in between. Hannant was mammoth too, needed more minutes. I thought the whole 'Smith and co have the flu' was a bit of a smokescreen, but I'm not convinced it was now. Billy actually looked sick before the game even started and it was clear that Smith and Cronk weren't their usual selves. On the whole, the team was solid at best and has a lot of improvement in it, which I'm confident they can do by game 2.

NSW: Jennings clearly doesn't have a brain cell in that thick head of his. Stupid move and really swung the game. Dumb decision to go for the 2 points, I know I breathed a sigh of relief when they did. They got caught with the ball a couple of times on the 5th tackle, they missed a kick for touch....stupid, schoolboy errors that really dragged them down I think. On the whole, they had a lot of moments where they were on top of QLD, but just didn't have the sucker punch to get them across.

As badly as QLD played, there weren't really all that many moments where I thought they would lose. The desperation they showed was great, and despite not playing all that well, I feel they really stood up for each other when needed.

Good summary.

 

[Anonymous person]

firstly, in years gone by that was the game we lose. NSW get 2 lucky tries off us dropping bombs, we made NO ground with the ball, our forward pack was dreadful, our play the balls were the slowest ive ever seen, and NSW were making 10m+ before they even caught sight of a defender.

to win that game was awesome.

my thoughts on the players:

Hannant was our best prop by a country mile. ran strongly and made ground - unlike any of the others.
Thaiday went missing and was ineffective.
Scott was poor for the most part. had a few minutes of good fired up runs though.
Civo, well he didnt deserve to be there on form, and he played poorly.
Myles was great, got through a mountain of work and was always around.
Harrison was great, sure he got penalised a few times but with the amount of work he was doing and the metres he was making i can forgive it. seemed to be the only forward putting his hand up for a run.
Slater had a mixed game. horrible under the high ball, but played well other than that. dangerous with the ball.
Boyd, well he did all that was required - catch and put down - but also helped us out when our forwards went missing for 60 minutes of the game.
Tate, in origin, is the thing dreams are made of. never doubted him, knew hed give his all, and he didnt disappoint. clear MotM, how the selectors got it so wrong ill never know. if we had 17 Tates we'd never lose a single game.
Cronk had a shocker with the boot.
Smith played very well, and when he kicked we were much better off.
Thurston was epic yet again. probably the difference between the 2 sides.
Inglis looked sensational in the first half and whenever he got the ball. the ball to him dried up in the second half though.
Hodges, did he even play?
Gilletts not ready for origin, like i said last week. he was rushed in on the back of hype.
Taylor was MIA, although from the looks/sounds of it he shouldnt have even been on the field.

as for the blues - Bird, Hayne, Williams, and Farah were their shining lights. Bird played one of the dirtiest games ive seen in a while which was a shame, but with ball in hand he was very tough to handle. like with parramatta, when Hayne decided he wanted to play footbally he was very threatening. Carney sucked, Pearce went missing, Jennings is an absolute idiot, Creagh justified all the "WTF?!" comments on his selection with a laughable showing, and Buhrer also lived up to the "why is he in the team?" comments. i rate buhrer, but not as a hooker for 7 minutes in a state of origin.

now on to a few of the calls.

Hayne punches thurston in the face......no penalty? even after the replays? disgraceful.
Jennings was lucky not to be sent off, absolutely moronic thing to do.
the inglis try - there is NO doubt that its a try. its either a try or a penalty try - either way we're getting 6 points. you cant kick at the ball while a player has it in ANY circumstances, so that gives a penalty try. even if you COULD kick at it, it would then be classified as a steal, meaning play on. inglis then regathers and puts ball down - try. NSW seem to forget that they got a penalty try like last year or in 2010 for this, even though Thurston had more right to kick at the ball than Farah did.

 

[Browny]

Yep, what AP said.

 

[The Pearl]

TATE FOR PRESIDENT

 

[Kaz]

Just saw the replay of the Inglis try.

Farah kicked the ball out of Inglis hand & it wasn't a knock on by him.

Go frame by frame if you don't believe me.

 

[The Brizz]

Sin Binning was a straight forward correct decision. The Inglis try was a straight forward correct decision (albeit a stupid rule), Farah spreads his leg wide to play at the ball with his foot no other reason why he would stretch out like that it certainly wasn't a balance issue. Also a clear penalty should have been given for holding a shirt when we were in the clear. The spear although soft in the context of Origin was a spot on decision. The referring was excellent as they basically got most of it right and by the letter of the law got the biggest calls correct. I thought all our props were average at best, I would like McGuire in just to add enthusiasm outside of him I would not change a thing. Although Lillyman's hard defence in the middle was also sorely missing. Our best forwards were Smith, Harrison and Myles they were all fantastic and our backline were all good in a game which didn't produce many clear chances for either side due to strong defence in the middle third of the field. Slater was poor in his judgement but with his record I am happy to excuse him one below par game.

As for NSW they need one more prop. It is absurd to lump all your go forward on a lock come prop (who was tremendous again last night) and a young guy like Tamou, Merrin did little to nothing. They need a big guy like Snowden, Galloway or Woods just to lighten the load for Gallen. Creagh and Lewis were very quiet so I would ditch Creagh for one of those guys.

The main difference was the polish. Our backline and hooker got the few moments we had right NSW didn't look likely unless it was from the pure pace of one of the speed men or off a dropped kick. I thought Farah was good while NSW's forwards had a roll on and then his influence was minimal. They need Carney or Pearce to take charge neither of them did at all and in fact many of NSW's better attacks came through the boot of Farah not the 6 or 7. All in all a tough game of footy where neither side really was able to camp in the opposition 20 which QLD has done so well on many occasions in the last 6 years and therefore few strong chances came about.

 

[mrslong]

I was of the school of thought that it was a no try. But Farrah did play at it with his foot. Hmmmm.

NSW lost it when they took the 2. Our halves were stuffed and couldn't get us metres with the kick. Our forwards were stuffed and couldn't tackle or make us any ground...and Paul Gallen runs in and says to Toddy at 40 out take the 2. WTF...a fresh T-Rex on the field carving up, and NSW give us a nice little rest to put the game to bed. Thanks guys.