A Blues Fan's Review Of Origin III

Previously:
A Blues Fan's Review of Origin II
A Blues Fan's Review of Origin I

NSW are a terrible team to follow. More than anything they are masters of giving hope only to consistently cruelly and consistently capitulate when the going gets tough. After winning one from the last 11 Origin series you grow to hate them. But you don't get to choose who you follow when it comes to State of Origin (unless you're Greg Inglis), so it was with pure scorn that we turned out once more to watch this loathsome outfit try and salvage some pride in this here Dead Rubber, game III of the 2016 series. The pundits agreed—with the series a foregone conclusion (Qld having won games one and two) NSW's only hope of doing the state proud was to put on a stink on and win it.

It seemed likely. Among the many milestones in Game III was Paul 'Peptides' Gallen last Origin match after 23 appearances. He's spent 10 years in sport's most gladiatorial arena and in doing so has become the most capped origin skipper of all time, surpassing Danny Buderus's record of 14 games. But it is a dubious distinction. No captain in the game's history has lost more Origin series than Gallen.

His main contributions to the jersey will be remembered for the time he stopped Queensland racking up 10 straight origin series wins in 2014. And the time he punched the shit out of Nate 'Nerve Tonic' Myles's bean-shaped head.

Myles deserved it. The grub had been pulling off sneaky headbutts and third-man-in-tackles-to-the-side-of-the-knees all series long. When Gallen stood toe-to-toe with him Myles played the Gandhi card but Gallen wasn't having it. He smacked him anyway. It didn't look good and led to a crackdown on fighting by the NRL which has largely seen this time honoured cultural rite of passage disappear from the Australian sporting landscape. But it was still worth it.

How would the Blues Captain and former heavyweight boxer see himself out of the Origin theatre tonight? A victory would be one thing but we all know how Gallen really wanted to go out. In a blaze of punches and broken jaws. Whatever happened, you knew Gallen was going out on his terms. Either NSW was gonna win or someone was gonna get brutally flogged.

The Blues started typically, coughing up possession instantly and gifting Queensland an early attacking opportunity. It also Gallen the chance to make Matt Gillett's arse bleed with a vicious wedgie. Meow!

When the Blues handed it over for a second time inside the first four minutes, Thurston and Inglis combined for a silky attacking raid down the left side and a try. 4-0

Gallen was back in the action following the restart, landing an ominous knee to the head of Nasty Nate Myles. Blues fans smacked their lips. Qld forward Sam Thaiday handed over possession giving Gallen the chance to answer for his misdeeds. Opposing captain Cameron Smith didn't miss, delivering a beautifully disguised elbow to the face as the pair engaged in a running battle. No punches though. Fuck that Welsh c**t Dave Smith!

The arm wrestle continues, NSW benefitting from an avalanche of penalties and possession to get some good field position. Then it's Gallen again, receiving a lofted pass approaching the Qld try line. He has to reach for it exposing his rib cage to a Qld defensive line yearning for ruptured spleen. But he reins it in, absorbs the hit, and delivers a classic ball to a wound up Tyson Frizzel who powers across adjacent to the uprights. NSW up 6-4.

The NSW momentum build. They capitalise on field position and an avalanche of penalties. A grubber to the in-goal sees QLD half, Cooper Cronk hold Wade Graham back and get 10 in the bin—the first player this series to be sent from the field.

NSW fails to turn the extra man into points but you can't underestimate the toll extra defensive work takes on a team at this level. They will pay at some point in the game. The penalty count is lopsided as it gets at halftime, NSW leading it 9-1. Guess all that whingeing about Smith's influence over the ref's worked.

The Blues strike early in the second half getting the rub of another dubious refereeing decision. This time when Mick Jennings is ruled to not have played a part in the Fifita kick-chase-try. Front and back pages of the Courier-Mail tomorrow?

What a series Jennings has had. He's been pure poison for NSW, managing to have a hand or a fingertip in so many of the team's definitive cock-ups. This was a dumb as the rest but somehow the refs let it fly. He coughs it up minutes later meters away from the try line to complete the picture.

The niggle sets in. QLD forward Josh Maguire tries to rip Fifita's rat's tail out. Greg Inglis throws his 110 kilo frame shoulder first into the jaw of Josh Dugan—breaking it and putting him out for the night. A poor kick from Maloney gives Qld a seven tackle set before 31 year old Maroons debutante, Gavin Cooper steam rolls diminutive rookie Matt Moylan in the corner for a try. He celebrates by slam dunking the ball on Moylan's forehead. Fifita doesn't like and throws Cooper to the ground. A melee ensues but it's weak by Origin standards, no punches. Where's Gallen? On the bench. Fuck it. Fifta gets 10 in the bin and Queensland are down by two, with a gut full of confidence and 30 minutes on the clock. Here comes the choke.

Outgoing Qld stalwart Corey Parker drops a dirty, dirty elbow on Blues debutante Tedesco's face, furthering my argument that the game has filled up with cheap shots since they outlawed fighting. There's many ways to fuck someone up in a game of rugby league without punching them. If anything, the threat of being called out and forced to punch-on limited the amount of sneaky, injurious play in my experience. I definitely know what I'd rather if you gave me the chance to go toe to toe or cop a dog shot on the ground from a blood-lusting Corey Parker.

There's five to go. NSW hold the lead but no one's kidding themselves. They have perfected the art of losing from here and yep, here it is. The Herp Mansour overruns a highball near his own line. It bounces into a waiting Darius Boyd who scores next to the sticks. 14-12 to Queensland as Thurston steps up to slot a formality of a conversion and—whaaaa?—it slams it into the upright then the crossbar then the other upright and misses. Wow. I've never seen that before.

Well, at least it's gonna be entertaining. A frenetic final three minutes begins with a short kickoff by NSW. Inglis regathers, penalty to QLD. Fuck. They steam downfield. Thurston, who is kinda cooking it tonight, puts a weak cross-field kick in to finish the set. It finds touch eventually leaving NSW with 80 meters and maybe one set of six to score. It will either be victory or a filthy, filthy Gallen-led brawl to finish. Maybe both. C'mon boys.

Strong early charges have QLD on the back foot. Ball sings to the left. Ferguson shrugs off a defender and finds fresh air. Draws the fullback. Finds Tedesco on the boil. Go Tedesco! Go Tedesco! Go Tedesco!

FARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRK!

He's pulled down inches short. Always go wide after a line-break. The scrambling defence will rush to plug holes around the ruck leaving space on the fringes. That's where they go, the ball sings to the left, once, twice, bounces along the ground. It's all going to seed. Then Jennings, the villain. He scoops it, jinks to the right, finds space, the try line beckons. Thurston is coming across in cover. He's got a chance to pull one of the great origin tackles and get deliver Queensland a clean-sweep. He's done everything else there is to do. Why not?

Jennings steams straight at him, powers up and accelerates into the contact. They collide. Jennings goes straight through him like a Curry. He's in. Try time. Get that intaya Queensland. Fuck off back to Texas. Cheeeehawwww! Tensions boil over. It's on. Pushing and shoving, Klemmer wants a piece of everyone. Still no punches (fuck). Gallen converts the try for his last act in Origin. I would have preferred him to ram the ball off the tee straight into Josh Maguire and chase it with a flurry of punches but whatever. We'll take it. Bring on 2017.

There is HOPE!

Jed Smith is feeling pretty good today. Follow him on Twitter