GOAL! NSW 2-6 Queensland (Holmes, 24)
Halfway between the right side line and the right Holmes makes no mistake.
TRY! NSW 2-4 Queensland (Kaufusi, 23)
Queensland has only been heard in this game for about three minutes, and this game phase ends with a try! From the penalty spot, the maroons control the ball from the center to the right through multiple pairs of fast hands until Ponga delays his pass magnificently so that the Kaufusi who advances to break the line and then has enough force to accept contact near the line, reach above and score.
22 minutes: Carrigan has made a difference in his short time on the field and the midfield is now more even with Queensland gaining momentum in the bowels. Two sets in a row now NSW have done little more than erase their lines. His work will only increase after Trbojevic is penalized for tipping Cobbo over the 30m line. Very little like the origin, the NSW executor immediately apologizes to the Queensland winger.
21 minutes: Another harmless and aimless Queensland attack ends with little threat to the NSW line. The Blues get halfway there, but Luai’s kick is bad.
19 minutes: To’o does well to accept the contact and find the download, but with the space that opens on the left, Luai can not hold a juggling ball. NSW threatens to open this game, but Queensland is just expected.
18 minutes: Queensland goes down and at the last Tedesco tries to enter, but slips on this greasy surface and grants the turnover. The game is very much in terms of the blues. Grant and Carrigan have to make an impression again from the bench.
16 minutes: Queensland have offered virtually nothing so far in attack tonight, but they almost land on the first try. A mundane set ends with the DCE making a chip inside To’o, who is old enough to face the situation, but chooses to try to let the ball touch, only to find Cobbo lurking in his shadow willing to jump. The ball bounces very well, but the young man cannot go to the ground safely and the opportunity is called for. Almost a Panther horror mistake there but it goes unpunished.
14 minutes: NSW runs the ball into the second inning and wins from the left through Burton. Yeo then hits the line to set up Cleary to bomb. Put handles it magnificently under pressure, but leaves the Maroons 95m to travel. They barely make it five in four innings with the Blues ’defense over the Garnet Forwards. And another low load! This time the rebound works in favor of Queensland and Ponga can flee to clear his lines. Shortly afterwards there is a ruck offense against Luai and, due to a very unattractive situation, the Queenslanders are on the attack.
GOAL! NSW – Queensland 2-0 (Cleary, 12)
Cleary makes no mistake from the boot and the Blues have an initial advantage.
“In fact, the way the commenter said blood was coming out of his ear,” my editor points out in reference to Cam Murray. In love with the rugby league.
Updated at 11.05 BST
11 min: From the restart, the ball is released in transport: it’s another strip! This time Cleary is within range and will go for the colon.
10 minutes: Another early Queensland kick turning the NSW defense and sending them back to the 10m line. The Maroons playing like a boxer standing behind his jab. He seems to have paid dividends when Martin loses the ball coming out of the defense, but Tedesco makes an attractive Captain’s Challenge for a strip, and he succeeds! The game changes in an instant and the Blues have a good attacking field position.
However, deep down, Murray is out for an HIA after a high shot from Taulagi that will be watched.
8 minutes: NSW goes well beyond the middle of the set, then recovers the ball high to the right. Because with Origin I, the broken field game doesn’t fit the blues, Queensland retains its structure and the second kick of the last inning is quickly rubbed against contact.
A few players collapse in those first exchanges.
6 minutes: Queensland do not give up. Munster soon has the ball in his hands running across the line with his matador style. He sees a window on the right, the ball passes through his hands and Cobbo flies long … but he finds himself with the short touch of the line. Munster is a danger again.
4 minutes: The golden opportunity disappears. A few strokes of the center prepare the ground for NSW to turn the ball to the left, but it is sloppy, the ball goes to the ground in the center position and ends up dribbling harmlessly to the touch. Queensland has little ground in response and Cherry-Evans kicks in early set to buy territory. It doesn’t work, though, as Tedesco crawls and spins through a couple of tacklers and breaks the line! NSW is out! Until the whistle blows and Haas is called out for obstruction during the escape. A couple of great early outings for the Maroons, who now have a great attacking field position.
3 minutes: Cleary loads the Cherry-Evans kick close to half and recovers the ball near the 10m line. NSW immediately with the bit between the teeth.
2 minutes: A good early start for the NSW pack denying Queensland any space in their first defensive play. The Maroons respond in the same way, throwing Tupou and then Haas in consecutive strokes.
Get started!
Nathan Cleary launches Origin II in Perth …
Dangerously close to schedule, Origin II is ready.
It’s hard to discern a field change when the Blues ran out. A very EXCITED atmosphere.
Here come the Maroons, running to Optus Stadium. They are the nominal match tonight, but they have a lot of support for WA.
Ashley Klein is once again the middle man, a decision that reportedly did not delight the NSW field who thought the referee did not sufficiently repress Queensland’s infractions at Origin I.
James Tedesco will be in Ashley Klein’s ear from the first moment. Photography: Dan Himbrechts / AAP
Conditions: look, it’s Perth, what are you waiting for? Of course, there are cloudless skies, pleasant mid-winter temperatures and only the slightest breeze.
The weather in Perth is fantastic. Photography: James Worsfold / AAP
“Madness and greatness are both sides of the same coin,” Phil Gould sings as a forgotten Chris Morris character. Bloody love Origin.
Joke.
Also, does Queensland police suggest the Maroons are about to commit a crime?
While you wait for the action to begin, enjoy the tragic Sam Perry of Bears for life and keep the dream alive.
Speaking earlier about the changes to the NSW ruck, Billy Slater considers that they have made the Blues a more dangerous proposal, and tells Nine: “I see great strength in their simulated midfield position. First, with Apisai Koroisau starting the game, he has a great job around the simulated midfield and then we wait for Damien Cook to get to some point at the end of this first part.So when he gets there, he’s an explosive runner.So that’s what we’ve been working on a lot this week. It will be a great strength of their game. “
It’s time for Grinspoon to move through a generic 00s rock on a stage with a flame effect in the middle of Optus Stadium. By the way, if you smile with a spoon you will look like Pete Townshend from The Who.
Tonight is the second time Origin has crossed the Nullarbor. In 2019, the Blues got a 38-6 lead. NSW crossed six attempts that night, but none of the scorers are in the lineup tonight.
Mate versus companion, statistic versus statistic.
The message coming out of NSW is more creative than Origin I, especially from the bench. The introduction of Api Koroisau to the prostitute brings Damien Cook closer to the pine, from where he has leaned to have more impact.
“I think it helps me,” pattern James Tedesco just told Andrew Johns. “He [Koroisau] He did it for a few years in Penrith, Cookie arrives fresh, in the 23rd minute, he wreaks havoc with hope for the center “.
Damien Cook and Apisai Koroisau will share ruck tasks for the Blues tonight. Photography: Paul Kane / Getty Images
Queensland XVII
By contrast, only the two forced changes due to injuries in the Queensland group with Xavier Coates and Reuben Cotter replaced by Murray Taulagi and Jai Arrow.
NSW XVII
Brad Fittler will not die asking. Wholesale changes were requested and wholesale changes have been delivered. Jake Trbojevic welcomes a return to the pack, while the replacement of the central ones reflects the inability of the blues to stretch the play in Sydney. The initial XIII now contains seven Panthers.
Match-breaker Tom Trbojevic and the unpredictable Latrell Mitchell remain costly absent.
Outside: Jack Wighton, Cotton Staggs, Reagan Campbell-Gillard, Ryan Matterson, Tariq Sims.
A: Angus Crichton, Apisai Koroisau, Jake Trbojevic, Matt Burton, Siosifa Talakai.
Nick Tedeschi anticipates tonight’s showdown in what could turn out to be a referendum on coach Brad Fittler.
While the pressure is certainly on NSW to keep the series alive, history suggests that this is a very good place for them. Brad Fittler has not lost a second game during his tenure as coach, suggesting he has been able to make the necessary adjustments when needed. And teams that lost the first game have won the last six when Game 2 is played on their field or on neutral turf. Fittler has made a big bet on Perth. Whether he pays or not will decide not only the 2022 series, but Fittler’s reputation as a coach.
Updated at 09.59 BST
Preamble
Jonathan Howcroft
Hello everyone and welcome to the live, deep breathing coverage of the Brydens Lawyers NSW Sky Blues against the unmarked Queensland Maroons in the second game in the 2022 Ampol State of Origin series at Perth’s Optus Stadium (AKA Origin II). Start is at 17.50 local time (19.50 on the east coast).
The best enemies in the rugby league are venturing out of the heart for one of the most important matches on Australia’s sporting calendar, and have gone all the way to WA to spread the gospel of the game born in a Huddersfield boozer.
Origin I was a belt, I played at breakneck speed with no …