November 5, 2024, 10:18 am

State of Origin Game 3 – NSW v Queensland – One Minute Match Review

State of Origin Game 3 – NSW v Queensland – NSW 14 Queensland 4.  The one-minute match report – giving you the bare minimum State of Origin round up in the bare minimum of time.

The NSW Blues have secured the 2024 State of Origin series with a hard fought win over Queensland in Game Three at Suncorp Stadium.

In a tryless first half, the Maroons took a 2-0 lead to the break, courtesy of a Valentine Holmes penalty, and it was a lucky lead given the dominance of territory and ball NSW had in the first half. Great defence from Queensland and key errors from the Blues cost them.

The first half also saw a scuffle break out that spilled over the sideline. It started with a little push and shove between Daly Cherry Evans and Jarome Luai (a battle that raged throughout the game) but then escalated when Jeremiah Nanai came in as the third person in, followed by the fourth to twentieth players in. Nanai was sin binned for his involvement, and so was Cameron Murray who got involved despite being subbed five minutes prior. 19th man Haumole Olakau’atu was ejected from the sideline for his involvement as 19th man, not even in the actual team.

The two sides traded penalty goals in the second half, with Zac Lomax nailing one from the sideline and Valentine Holmes getting an easy one in front. The teams were tiring, but things were starting tire given the physical nature of the game.

Eventually Queensland broke as Bradman Best scored after a Jarome Luai break down the left side, Luai’s run coming after an offload that went wrong from NSW. This gave NSW the lead for the first time. 

The Blues went further ahead a few minutes later when Mitchell Moses danced through some tired/ordinary tackle attempts close to the line.

Queensland and Channel Nein commentators tried in vain to make the last few minutes exciting, but expecting a team to score two tries in ten minutes when the preceding 70 minutes had seen no tries was wishful thinking at the highest level.

FINAL THOUGHTS

NSW Blues thoroughly deserved their win, having outplayed Queensland for most of the series. You could argue that Qld only played well for 10 minutes of the first half of Game One and the final 20 minutes of the second half. They can’t claim to have played well for any of the 80 minutes of the Game Two. You could also argue that Queensland had a good 10 minute period of Game Three and that’s it. So that means Qld played good for a total of 40 minutes of 240 minutes.

If Billy Slater was looking for impact he didn’t find it. And Kurt Capewell was and is never the answer to any question at Origin level. There’s a thin line between coaching genius and a Brad Fittler, and Billy will have to suck it up after his slightly absurd and churlish “We’re Queenslanders” comments after Game Two. Maybe he was still riding high of having Selwyn Cobbo on the bench in Game One and the call was spot on when Reece Walsh got knocked out. Queensland needed impact off the bench in Game Three, the Maroons were missing someone like David Fifita. Or someone. Or something. If you swap three of your bench players into the starting side then you’ve probably picked the wrong team. We don’t want to go full NSW and start the blame game, but in reality Queensland were ordinary in attack for two straight games.

For all of Reece Walsh’s superpowers, you can’t beat the NRLs most reliable player in Dylan Edwards. Sure he doesn’t light up the crowd, he merely gives you his all, hundreds of metres, and mostly error-free performances at the back. Any talk or whispers of him replacing James Tedesco will have evaporated by now. With a plethora of fullbacks to choose from, Reece Walsh will need to light up the NRL early in 2025 to justify his return.

Given the atmosphere and pre-game hype, isn’t it about time the NRL dumped neutral venues and gave back the State of Origin to the stats that matter. Or maybe reduce the neutral game to every third season. One season two games for NSW, next two for Qld, third season one neutral game. Take it to Melbourne, Perth or even Las Vegas, just do it less.

As good as the series has been, it is time for standalone State of Origin, played over a three week cycle, with a carnival of international, women’s and under-age games played alongside. Is Origin worth ruining the NRL for two months every year. Only Channel Nein think so. And they can go and…….

Talking of Channel Nein, and to wrap this all up, Mat Thompson needed to yell less. Much less. Talking of less, less Cameron Smith too. Looking forward to the day Peter Psaltis gets a go.

 

State of Origin Game 3 Stats That Mattered

Courtesy of nrl.com

2024 State of Origin Game 3 Stats - Match Report Stats

  • NSW’s win broke a run of eight straight wins for Qld at Lang Park when hosting Game Three.
  • It is only the fifth time in Origin history where NSW have won the series after Queensland have won the first game (22 occurrences)
  • It is only the second time of nine occurrences where NSW have won the series after Queensland won the first game in NSW.
  • It was NSW’s sixth win in 23 live rubbers for Game Three. And third of 13 when the final game is played in Qld.
  • The game was the equal second lowest scoring game for live series decider.
  • It was Qld’s equal lowest score in an Origin decider and lowest score in a decider at Lang Park.
  • Patrick Carrigan topped the Run Metres and Tackle Count for Queensland.
  • Tom Dearden had more running metres than Payne Haas and every Qld forward other than Carrigan.
  • Felise Kaufusi’s return was two runs for four metres. And seven tackles. So he made more tackles than run metres.
  • Spencer Leniu topped the Run Metre per Minute played, ahead of Dylan Edwards and Isiah Yeo. You have to go down to tenth for Queensland’s best effort.
  • Haumole Olakau’atu made Origin history by being the first player to make a tackle without actually playing.
Max Laynehttps://www.thegurgler.com
Max has no time for long bios, he has only time for sport and then more sport. Each week he tries to sum up what sport has tickled the collective fancy of The Gurgler.

Related Articles

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here

Stay Connected

0FansLike
0FollowersFollow
182FollowersFollow
- Advertisement -spot_img

Latest Articles