The second game is always a nervous affair when it comes to State of Origin.
The victor of Game One are looking to seal up the series with one more good showing. But the defeated are looking for a ray of hope to turn the series around and force the issue with a “decider” in Game Three.
Teams
The Queenslanders, unsurprisingly, have pretty much stuck with the same team that won them the opener. The one exception is that Nate Myles has been ruled out thanks to a knee injury with Broncos front rower Josh McGuire getting the call up from the bench to take a starting spot. Veteran Warrior Jacob Lillyman comes onto the bench.
Considering Lillyman has 11 State of Origin matches under his belt, he knows what this arena is all about.
The Blues have also stuck solid with only a couple of changes, also forced through injury. Backrower Boyd Cordner had been replaced by Cronulla’s Wade Graham until Graham found himself in front of the judiciary on a Grade 1 charge, which is the toughest charge to overcome.
He and his legal team couldn’t.
So, in comes St George/Illawarra Dragons Tyson Frizell to make his debut.
But the Blues have also lost veteran centre Josh Morris to a leg injury sustained in camp. Much maligned Dylan Walker moves from the bench to the starting side with Cronulla’s Jack Bird coming onto the bench, also making his debut.
In contrast to the Maroons, the Blues team does have a new look about it.
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Game Plans
Morris had been selected more for his defensive work against the likes of Greg Inglis but with Walker now patrolling the right edge with Blake Ferguson, Inglis and winger Corey Oates may well be a focal point of attack for the Maroons in this game.
Oates has been a try-scoring phenomenon for the Broncos down that left flank for quite a while, so he may well replicate that form in this game. Darius Boyd can testify just how good GI is at delivering tries up on a platter for his outside man, so don’t be surprised if the Maroons go left early and often here.
Otherwise, their gameplan won’t change a whole lot.
After dominating State of Origin for the past decade with the same players, why would it?
New South Wales have to go to Brisbane with the ambition of scoring points. This doesn’t mean that each play should be seen as a point scoring opportunity, but every play should be seen as an opportunity for second phase play.
The offloads, when they were attempted, troubled the Maroons defense at times in Game One. That recipe should be followed in Game Two.
They have the right players to do the job.
Andrew Fafita can cause havoc with his offloading ability as can Gallen, Frizell and the two Birds (Greg and Jack). Offloads alone won’t win the game though.
Adam Reynolds’ kicking game was well below par in Game One, giving the Maroons better field position than the Blues on many occasions. This must be rectified.
Another facet of the Blues attack that needs to change is their directness. The Blues were guilty of going sideways with the ball far too often instead of asking the Maroons
defense questions. The Queenslanders slid all night and let the b=Blues make the mistakes when they ran out of room.
If they attempt the same again Wednesday night, the same result will be waiting for them after 80 minutes.
Who Will Win?
A “do or die” mission at Suncorp doesn’t often come off for New South Wales, but this is what lies before them.
The task is even harder when you consider the team the Maroons walk out may well be the greatest State of Origin team that we ever see.
The Queensland team are full of players who have been there and done that. They also have a bit improvement in them from Game One. Not everything they touched turned to gold you know.
The current Blues team may well include a nucleus of players that will be their future, but at this point, they aren’t quite at the stage to be able to pull this off.
QLD 26-10
This article first appeared on TopBetta HERE
