Queensland take origin series despite losing Prince
July 2, 2008
Are you new here? you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for your visit!
In game two of the origin series Scott Prince came into the Queensland side and made a huge difference. Just look at the 30-0 scoreline.
In the deciding game three played on NSW home turf at ANZ stadium the QLD team got off to a good start when Israel Folau was on hand to take advantage of a Athony Quinn error. The NSW winger jumped to field a bomb, his let it bounce off his shoulder and Folau gleefully accepted the rebound and touched down for a try.
NSW hit back after a QLD error gave them the ball in good field position. At the end of the set of tackles Matt Cooper ended a move down the left side by stretching out to plant the ball down as he was tackled. The conversion by Craig Fitzgibbon gave NSW a 6-4 advantage.
The next thing I noticed in the match was Scott Prince running up the tunnel with what turned out to be a broken arm. He did this as he went it in for a tackle and whacked it against the elbow of Braith Anasta.
The loss of the QLD playmaker looked to have thrown his team into disarray as they had trained all week with him running the show. Now they looked lost.
QLD did manage to score again. It was Folau again. This time he did all the work. He lept high to take in a bomb. It was a spectacular grab that would have done the Swans proud. As he came down he had the skill to plant the ball for the four pointer. The missed conversion kept the scoreline tight.
Some penalties goals to NSW and one to QLD saw the teams go into the sheds at 10 all.
In the second half the NSW team looked most likely to win the match. The moved the ball around better than QLD however they maybe did not do enough. QLD without Prince seemed to struggle for direction and they could not add to the halftime score until some Johnathan Thurston brilliance busted the game wide open.
Thurston ran onto the ball out wide and recognized that a forward was sitting out wide. He dummied and took him on. Mitchell Pearce slid in defence to take the outside man and this let Thurston make the bust. As he looked for support Billy Slater flashed up along side to take the pass and sprint over untouched. The conversion took the score to 16-10.
After the conversion there was 11 minutes left for QLD to hold out. Calling on their strong desire to win the QLD team defended with passion and kept the Blues from crossing their line. Steven Price showed the commitment that it takes to play and win at this level. He charged down a Mitchell Pearce kick to diffuse a dangerous situation.
It was plays like that from QLD which helped them take the match and along with it their third straight series win. It was just the second time they had won at the Olympic stadium.
NSW will have to wonder what they can do to score more points. In game two and three they could only manage 10 points and this included just one try.
In the end it was a sad send off for Danny Buderus who is the outgoing NSW skipper. He is headed overseas next year. The Queensland fans won’t care too much about that as they celebrate another fine series win for the Maroons.
What did you think of game three? Have your say below.
Comments
Got something to say?
