State of Origin 2015: Game One Wrap

Queensland halfback Cooper Cronk was world-class in Game One. Here is the Melbourne Storm player kicking the winning field goal.

The Queensland Maroons defeated the New South Wales Blues in Game One 11-10 to take first damage in the 2015 State of Origin series held, notably away from home, in Sydney.

The Blues started off well in a game that typified what Origin was all about – intense, physical, and fast-paced. 

I also cannot remember an Origin game that wasn’t influenced as much as seen in the past by the decisions of the NRL referee officials, which is some credit to them.

Essentially, the game was of two halves with the Blues playmakers of Mitchell Pierce and, supposedly out-of-form, Trent Hodkinson doing their jobs significantly well in the first stanza but nearly non-existent in the second, courtesy of a dominant Maroons second wind effort.

Before kick-off the selection of the NSW halves pair, as expected, came under plenty of scrutiny but all that was forgotten rather quickly.

Hodkinson displayed variety, creativity, and strong-ball running which hadn’t been seen with the Bulldogs all year while Pierce, along with a great kicking game, ducked under Greg Inglis to put Beau Scott over the line for a try assist before half-time.

Despite playing the better footy of the two sides, the Blues four-point lead at the interval proved too little as the experience of the Maroons side evolved as the game progressed deep into the second-half.

We can only guess what Mal Meninga may have said at half-time to his men but whatever was said clearly made a large impact to his 17 players.

The Maroons came out of the blocks, particularly in the forwards, fiery and far more determined to get a positive result out of Game One than their opponents.

To demonstrate Queensland's overcoming control, there was a period of five back-to-back drop out kicks from the Blues.

While the Blues defended set after set, something eventually had to give soon and it did when Maroons winger Will Chambers finished off a brilliant Melbourne Storm-inspired set play for the score-levelling try.

It is quite rare that forwards of rugby league get a mention in the sporting headlines in comparison to someone perhaps in the form of Queensland halfback Cooper Cronk, who kicked the match-winning field goal.

But many would argue that on this occasion Cronk deserves all the plaudits after playing the full 90 minutes with so much composure – and undeniably the real Man of the Match despite hooker Cameron Smith receiving the official award.

Overall it was the big helping hand of the Maroons forwards, lead notably by Nate Myles and Sam Thaiday, coupled with Cronk’s brilliance that set their team up for what should be a 19^th series win with likeable venues at Melbourne and Brisbane for the last two Series games respectively.