Game 2 - Post Match Discussion

NSW deserve it no doubt and not saying this costed QLD the game but i bet those people saying Thaiday wasn't a loss are thinking differently now.
 
good game Blues, epic rugbyleague match and deserved the win
i think Qld were abit out of sorts even with 13 on the field (Cronks sinbinning knocked us way outta wack!)
that 1st hitup by Grant was massive, Civo came off 2nd best which is rare. think we need another enforcer out there too, nsw defence were just hammering us with ferocious tackles, no wonder Bird got Motm. time for Harrison to gtfo bring in Dallas Johnson or someone else to help Myles smash players. the Coaltrain wasnt that great either
 
Apparently Parker was sent to hospital with a gash that went right down to the bone. Sheesh.
 
My thoughts on the game now I've had a chance to cool down lol.

First and foremost, NSW deserved to win that. QLD was not in it at all that first half, and we were lucky to even get a try. Our first half attack was HORRIBLE. We barely even put in any attacking kicks on the end of our sets. We looked out of sorts.

Apart from the shocking 10 mins without Cronk, our attack picked up heaps that second half, and it finally looked like cronk and thurston were gelling, but we made WAY too many unforced errors! Taylor dropping it cold, along with hodges, myles and scott putting it down with no pressure on them just let NSW off the hook too much. NSW defended brilliantly, both on their line when we had drop out after drop out, but also by rushing up on the sides to restrict out backs.

Few points id like to raise.

1. What does hodges offer in origin? Seriously. All he does is pick up the ball from dummy half and try wrestle with people. I wanna see him hit a line and run onto a ball!
2. Civo HAS TO GO. we are actually a worse team having him on the field. he is slow, a liability in defence and offers nothing in attack. When shillo went off for him, i knew we were gone. Bring in McGuire for him.
3. Thaiday will slow straight back in for parker.
4. The gillet experiment has been tried, and has failed. We needed some attacking spark when we had all the ball. Bring in Barba NOW.
5. Taylor looks like hes a kid, playing ball with the adults. He looks overwhelmed. Tell him to pretend he has a souths jersey on. Stand far back in the line, and just steamroll everyone in front of him.
6. Shillo was our best along with myles imo.
7. Why oh why did we only kick to Uate twice?!!!! both times we scored so why the hell arent we doing it more?! How are the best players in the game not seeing that uate cant catch!
8. hayne was lucky he got a foot to that ball, very very lucky try. but u make ur own luck.
9. I thought jennings definitely hit the ball from tates hands when he was trying to score, shouldve been a drop out but didnt affect the result.

Bring on game 3. i didnt think QLD could play worse than we did in game 1, and to an extent we didnt. our attack was better but too many unforced errors cost us.
 
Farah is a Machine.

Farah is a smiley.gif whinger, who many times was he complaining to the ref & the ref was telling him we are looking at it.
 
Great effort from NSW and deserved win based on that, some luck in the way the ball fell, and mostly the fact that Qld shot themselves in the foot several times.
There's no questioning about the NSW'kers will to win and make it a contest, but that won't be enough in front of 50.000 Qld'ers!
If the Qld playmakers play their natural game in the decider, we'll tear NSW a new one with ease, because they're about 50 times better than their counterparts in the 1, 6, 7 and 9 (although Farah has been playing very well).

Of the spine, only Cameron Smith played to his ability, and while Cronk was good, Slater and Thurston played one of, if not the worst Origin games of their career. In fact, I believe Qld played the worst game in their current Origin streak.

The backs were starved of good ball and tried to make the best of it. Hodgo got me worried for a little bit there, but came back strong and killed it in defense, kuddos to Slater and Tate of course for their bravery under duress, and great effort from Inglis under the circumstances.

Smith reigned supreme again in the forwards, with much better support from all his props, including Petero. Our second row however was mostly woefully disappointing. Myles was actually very good, Harrison worked is arse off as usual, but got in the way of Thurston several times and missed a crucial tackle one on one with Carney, and more importantly I'm calling it now, Taylor is not an Origin player and never will be. Not because he dropped that ball, but because of the way he tried to score that try and the way he defended. He is more of a liability that we will ever be an asset. Parker was very good off the bench, but unlucky with that injury, and Gillett was definitely much better than in game one.

Btw, I'm not going to make a drama like a NSW'ker would, but that decision to give the ball back to NSW when it was Uate who clearly tapped it out of bounds... Well... IT MAY HAVE COST US THE GAME! Mal, get on the phone with Hollywood quickly, because we can't let that slip! :ranting:

Congratulations to NSW, you wanted this win and you fought bravely for it!
 
time for Harrison to gtfo

Harrison was our best in the first half I thought. His runs were making more metres than the other forwards, and the missed tackle on Carney will be his only missed tackle for the whole year.

I wouldn't make any changes for game 3 but geez we need to improve our execution. Overall I thought our forwards were OK, we did afterall have good field position for the majority of the second half, but Thurston-Cronk-Slater looked very disjointed. May have had a bit to do with Billy's knee injury so hopefully he will be OK.

When it was clear that Billy was struggling I would've liked to have seen Inglis given 10 minutes or so at fullback, he looked our most likely all night.

A shame for Parker because I thought he was good prior to getting gashed. If Thaiday is fit for game 3 I reckon there is a case for Parker to retain his spot and Taylor to drop out.

Would've loved the win tonight obviously but I am sure we will be much better for the run in the decider.
 
Agreed with Queenslander about Hodges. He's never really had a good game in Origin. Always seems to either get caught out in defence, or do nothing in attack (or, in worst case scenario, both).
 
Yeah - can't drop Parker. As someone else said, keeping Gillette but dropping Parker would be a joke. Gillette will be a great origin player but not quite yet (yes he needs experience but maybe not in a decider). Have to stay loyal to Petro, things will be different next year anyway and he has put his body on the line for QLD time and time again - I think McGuire gets it next year - or Casiano? (Kasiano?)

Hodges was pretty good in defence though.
 
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Mal, get on the phone with Hollywood quickly, because we can't let that slip!

I can see Hollywood answering the phone, what now Ricky. (He is used to Ricky ringing him up, he just expected it to be him again)
 
5. Taylor looks like hes a kid, playing ball with the adults. He looks overwhelmed. Tell him to pretend he has a souths jersey on. Stand far back in the line, and just steamroll everyone in front of him.
The problem was they tried to use Taylor like they use Thaiday. Taylor is a forward that only has impact when running at the little blokes or on the edges.

I found Slater was MIA for most of the game. As soon as he went down hurt, he rarely ran the ball from kick returns and rarely was involved in 2nd phase play. QLD should have moved Inglis back for a few sets just to give a little more steam from the kick returns and give Slater a little break.
 
I think Hodges is lucky Chambers isnt fit tbh.

If slater cant play, has to be inglis to fullback. Altho that leaves nielsen in centre which worries me. him and hodges seem to only play well if the person inside them sets them up, whereas inglis can make things himself.

i see only 1 spot for either taylor or gillet. both are dynamic attacking players who seem too scared to be themselves at this level. i really think its time we see mcguire
 
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