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A Blues & Maroons Review
Myself and Lachlan Baxter jumped back on the mic on Thursday morning to review Queensland’s series-clinching win in Game II.
As per usual, this podcast is just for our premium members so sign up here to get the full review. We’re going to be moving further and further into the podcast space in the coming months so a premium subscription ($5/month) is where the value is.
For our free subscribers, I’ve summarised my main takeaways below as a usual feature, but Baxter and I go much more in depth on the poddy.
In the post-match presser, Queensland Coach Billy Slater talked about the ‘want’ in his players to win the little moments in Game II of the 2023 State of Origin series.
Daly Cherry-Evans ‘wanted’ to catch Stephen Crichton in the backfield.
Lindsay Collins ‘wanted’ to trap and scrap that kick and carry the ball 15 metres out of trouble.
Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow ‘wanted’ to be supporting in position when Murray Taulagi kicked back infield.
The Queensland Maroons ‘wanted’ their way to a famous series win at Suncorp Stadium on Wednesday night, but there was more than just desire and effort to their performance.
Execution in key moments ended up the difference between the two sides in Game II. Where New South Wales made errors with the ball or failed to take their opportunities in attack, Queensland were clinical with their chances.
They didn’t just work tirelessly to be in a position to make the play.
They made the damned play.
For mine, three specific moments ended up as potential 12-point turn arounds which highlighted where the Blues got it wrong and the Maroons got it right.
The first was in the lead up to Valentine Holmes’ opening try.
In the minutes prior, New South Wales are in possession on Queenslands goal-line and in position for a fifth tackle kick. Jarome Luai dribbles a grubber into the in-goal which goes dead, giving Queensland a seven-tackle set.
Queensland go the length of the field in the next set before Daly Cherry-Evans gets in position to put boot to ball himself on the last
The kick is pinpoint.
Cherry-Evans brings the ball down inches behind Josh Addo-Carr, isolating Xavier Coates onto the much smaller man. That match-up produces a positive result when Addo-Carr fumbles the catch and Holmes dives on the loose ball to score.
Two kicks – one perfect and one too heavy – and suddenly Queensland are in front.
The second moment came midway throught the first half in a New South Wales yardage set.
The Blues find Stephen Crichton on the right edge before settling one channel in-field through Tyson Frizell. Frizell gets Patrick Carrigan, David Fifita and Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow into the tackle, stripping the Maroons’ left edge for numbers.
Carrigan is late to peel and fills up down the short side which is a trigger for Mitch Moses to run.
He does.
Moses gets past the markers and over the ad-line to create a three-on-two situation down the short side, but both Crichton and Brian To’o miss their assignment and aren’t in a position to support their halfback.
The short side raid ends with a Moses play-the-ball as New South Wales let another chance go begging.
In contrast, when Cameron Munster exploded to life down the Maroons left edge in the second half, his teammates were there in support.
Quick hands moves the ball through Tabuai-Fidow to Murray Taulagi on the paint, and a kick back inside finds The Hammer in support.
Two identical short sides raids – one well supported and one not – and Queensland extend their lead.
The third moment was Taulagi’s try just before half time.
When Crichton scooped up the Reece Walsh kick and ran 80 metres downfield, New South Wales should’ve scored.
Instead, Maroon jerseys outnumbered Blue ones 12-to-6 as Crichton plays the ball and they manage to defend the rest of the set on their own line.
In contrast, the Maroons were clinical.
In their very next set after defending a length of the field intercept, they went 90 metres themselves and scored.
Carrigan gets an offload away on tackle three to Cherry-Evans who is eventually dragged down by Tedesco 25 metres out from the line.
A five pass shift follows as Queensland did what New South Wales couldn’t; move the ball to the spaces and find their winger unmarked on the paint.
Two length of the field breaks – one capitalised on and one wasted – and Queensland clinch the series.
There’s plenty of rhetoric doing the rounds about some dud refereeing calls for Queensland’s opening tries, or New South Wales bad luck to lose Tom Trbojevic in the opening minutes.
It’s sore loser rhetoric.
These three passages alone are a stark reminder of the Blues chances in this series. They had every opportunity to force a Game III decider but poor execution and effort in key moments wasted any opportunities they earned for themselves.
Queensland on the other hand took their chances in attack and their defence was superb across both games to concede just one well-constructed rugby league try to Liam Martin in 160 minutes of football.
The Queensland Maroons are throughly deserving winners of this series and should be thoroughly deserving favourites going into next year’s series.
ICYMI: Jase shared his thoughts on State of Origin Game II which you can check out here.
Head Noise – What’s living rent free in my head this week?
Kaeo Weekes
I’ve been keen on Weekes since watching him in the pre-season trials but it’s been a slow burn across his nine NRL games so far.
He’s popped up in a few different positions in those games but gets an extended run at fullback following Tom Trbojevic’s latest injury.
Weekes is an out-and-out fullback. He’s quick across the ground, he’s got good vision and spacial awareness and he’s also got great hands.
This catch and pass is as good as it gets.
Manly will have to change things up a little bit with Trbojevic out.
Their shifts in yardage won’t be as effective without Trbojevic compressing the line in the second layer of a block, but they can employ similar shapes in attack.
Josh Schuster can still dig deep into the line if he knows Weekes can produce this sort of pass out the back of shape.
I’m looking forward to watching Weekes’ involvements in the coming weeks.
David Fifita
The try has already been awarded so let’s move on from whether this pass was forward or not.
That’s a very difficult pass for a 115kg forward.
It’s also a pass Fifita has made a habit of throwing this season.
Fifita had eight try assists from 84 NRL games coming into season 2023. He’s thrown another six in 12 games this year – most of those assists coming via very similar passes to the one he threw on Wednesday night.
It’s the latest example of Fifita’s recent development as one of the best backrowers in the NRL. He’s getting through the dirty work in yardage and now adding polish on the end of sets.
In a week where his club coach Justin Holbrook was sacked out of the blue, some credit must go to the Gold Coast Titans coaching staff for Fifita’s transformation this season.
Fifita will have Kotoni Staggs coming at him in these actions on Sunday when the Titans take on Brisbane at Suncorp Stadium.
Given how Staggs has been defending this year, it’s a mouthwatering match up and one that could decide the result.
It’s must-watch TV on Sunday afternoon.
Sandon Smith
Luke Keary is under another injury cloud.
Sam Walker is still rehabbing his knee and hasn’t been seen in the NRL since Round 7.
Ben Hunt is now on the market for a new club.
Meanwhile, Sandon Smith is slowly finding his feet in first-grade and produced a special play for Nat Butcher to score last week against the Knights:
The thing I like most about this is where it happens on the field.
Smith is a right-side half. He’s spent most of his three NRL appearances so far on the right edge, but sweeps over to the left hand side of the field for this action.
With Keary and Joey Manu demanding attention from the defence out the back, Smith sneaks through the line himself before releasing Butcher into the backfield.
It’s smart footy, and it’s a repeatable action too.
The No.7 jumper is still up for grabs in Bondi and a few more moments like this could put Smith in the box seat.
RLW Percentage Play
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Melbourne Storm v Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles (Saturday)