In the most demoralising, sky-blue soul-destroying game of 20 questions you can imagine, ask yourself this one. And be honest.
If he from Revesby and not Rockhampton, would NSW pick Cameron Munster?
Because if you were being honest with that miserable sod in the mirror on a cold, post-Origin morning, you know the Blues wouldn’t have backed Sam Walker in.
And if NSW did take the leap of faith increasingly necessary to win an Origin when all things – sin bins, send-offs and six-agains – are equal, would livewires like Munster and Walker really be given licence to play, and triumph, their way?
With a Suncorp series decider now on the menu, the Blues have no choice.
“Completely change the attack because structured footy doesn’t work at this level,” says Immortal Andrew Johns, having beaten that particular drum for several years already.
Shrewd interchange use by Billy Slater, and superb performances by Lindsay Collins, Max Plath and Trent Loiero, turned the Blues’ smaller-bodied middles into a disadvantage, and helped Queensland reel in a 12-2 deficit that could and should have been the platform for NSW to win the match and the series.
And the Maroons didn’t need to be attacking against 12 defenders to turn an Origin on its head.
Walker, Munster and Harry Grant chanced their hand from the moment Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow put a palm into the chest of Dylan Lucas and sped off like he’d pinched his wallet. Loiero’s lovely opening try – with dummies and show-and-goes from either Queensland playmaker – followed.
Tabuai Fidow’s break came off a sideline-to-sideline shift of the type the Maroons have employed regularly this series.
Yet when NSW were presented with a similar long-range break courtesy of a fortuitous deflection that bounced into Brian To’o’s arms, the difference was stark.
NSW stuck to structure, and were swallowed up by a grateful Maroons defence.
Hudson Young and Mitchell Moses found metres and quick play-the-balls after To’o’s long break.
But where Queensland’s playmakers pinned the ears back against a scrambling defensive line, Nathan Cleary turned the tempo down.
He turned Victor Radley under and hit Dylan Lucas with a short ball then, with Queensland happily gobbling up the Blues ball-runners, Radley was pressured into an error as he veered back toward four Maroons defenders.
After Queensland’s freewheeling fightback in Melbourne, Phil Gould revisited concerns first voiced about the Blues before game one, then gave them both barrels in withering fashion.
“Queensland are far better than NSW in attacking situations,” Gould, the most successful Blues coach in history, said.
“They’re more courageous with the ball, they’re more skilful, they’re more willing to support play and throw those passes and kick the ball on early tackles.
“They’re just more courageous with their attacking football. When NSW is ultra-conservative, ultra-structured, it was a little bit more ball movement in the first half in their own half of the field which served them well.”
As with most things Origin, Gould is right. NSW did open their shoulders coming out of yardage and found fortune doing so.
But the Blues attack – with Cleary calling the shots – has too often been guilty of setting up for a single killer blow that doesn’t land.
Examples of Queensland’s spine outplaying and out-creating their counterparts spanned from one side of the MCG to the other – with Walker and Ponga’s sublime scrum play for Selwyn Cobbo’s second try the best of it.
“There is only one player on this field that would pass this ball like this,” Johns oozed in commentary as the Maroons executed the kind of play that truly demoralises defences.
“And it’s Sammy Walker.”
NSW don’t have a Sammy Walker to call up at Suncorp. They will potentially have a small army of returning stars to choose from in Latrell Mitchell, Tom Trbojevic and Stephen Crichton, while Haumole Olakau’atu and Liam Martin also loom large.
Most importantly, the Blues do have dummy-half options in Api Koroisau and Blayke Brailey, who is pushing for a remarkably quick recovery from a broken arm.
As honest as he has been in 10 Blues appearances, Reece Robson does not offer the creativity or running game required at an Origin ruck in 2026.
Harry Grant’s pivotal role in pushing and pulling NSW whichever way he pleased in Melbourne made this plain as day. Bench rotations are always tough when the opposition is running downhill.
But Cameron Smith’s calls in commentary for Koroisau to see action fell on deaf ears. In the days before kick-off, the greatest No.9 of all time told this masthead that Koroisau’s deception around the ruck shaped as “the key to unlocking Cleary and [Mitchell] Moses”.
“They’ve hardly been sighted”, was Smith’s apt summation of the Blues star halves at the hour-mark.
Understandable, given NSW had played off the back foot since Robson threw a low pass three tackles into the second half, which had Cameron Murray stumbling forward to reel it in and pounced upon by Queensland.
When defences like the Maroons can rush and swamp structured plays in their sleep, and Origins swing on the briefest lapses, mistakes like the above can keep a team like NSW pinned down for minutes at a time.
Especially if the opposition knows what’s going to be thrown at them.
The difference between the two sides this series – provided the contest is 13-on-13 – has been when the screws are being tightened.
The Blues most important players, those who handle the ball more than anyone else, flip through their playbook. The Queenslanders just play.
More State of Origin II coverage
News, results and expert analysis from the weekend of sport sent every Monday. Sign up for our Sport newsletter.
Dan Walsh is a sports reporter for The Sydney Morning Herald.Connect via X or email.From our partners
About the Author
