Queensland sealed it's 11th series victory out of the last 12 played on Wednesday night in Brisbane and dyed-in-the-wool Blues supporter Lachlan Barker is not happy.
LANG PARK in Brisbane on Wednesday night saw another loss for NSW in State of Origin match two.
I was aghast that a pack of maroon-clad maladroit water buffaloes, who’ll be forgotten as soon as they hang up their boots [Ed: WTF!?], won the game 26-16.
I did set out to watch the whole game, but with the as usual caveat that once the game was lost I was not going to waste my HG&Roy-less Wednesday night watching Queensland win.
Given the usual course of these State of Origin matches, I figured I’d be across to ABC iView watching QI before we were halfway through the first half and I wasn’t far wrong.
The game began with a flurry of penalties that saw NSW kicker Adam Reynolds match Queensland’s bootman Jonathon Thurston kick for kick, resulting in the sides being locked at 4-all in the 21st minute.
I was surprised (pleasantly); keep this up NSW and we could get over the line, I mused.
But I think even there it shows how badly the morale of NSW supporters has fallen when we consider the scores equal as things going well.
And indeed, at this point, NSW were looking okay, the forwards were moving with speed and intent, and driving the Queensland pack in reverse over the advantage line on numerous occasions.
However, NSW then made a critical error: badly thrown pass saw the ball find its way into the hands of Queensland winger Dane Gagai and he showed a clean pair of heels to run near the length of the field to score.
Thurston added the extras and we went to the break with Queensland leading 10-4.
So, with half time upon us. I went across to iView and caught an episode of QI. However so humorous was the episode that it completely slipped my mind that I was supposed to be covering a sporting fixture for Independent Australia.
However I noticed the clock on the corner of my computer screen and jumped as I realised the time.
I returned to the footy and there I learned that Gagai had continued to piss on NSW’s fireworks by adding his second try while I was over on the ABC.
56' - AWW @Rendiggiti! He's set up Frizell to pull @NSWRL back into it! KTC.
— South Sydney (@SSFCRABBITOHS) June 22, 2016
NSW 8 - 16 QLD#GoRabbitohs #Origin pic.twitter.com/DDUbFFVUXq
But the near miraculous part was that NSW had scored as well, through Tyson Frizell, taking the score to 16-10.
So I dared to dream and set my nerves to fractured and hoped once more.
I should have known better though, for then Gagai completed his hat-trick of tries and took the score out to 20-10.
I nearly gave it up at that point, and had indeed got Sean Micallef’s Mad As Hell lined up on Iview to watch instead when another minor miracle occurred.
Queensland hero turned villain Gagai threw an awkward pass backwards from a kick through, it landed in the hands of the NSW five-eighth James Maloney, who then sprinted the length of the field to score. He evaded the cover defence in the in goal area and paraded round to touch down under the posts.
Reynolds added the extras and the score was 20-16.
So now I was really torn, I couldn’t bear to watch and I couldn’t stand looking away.
Then NSW had a try by Jennings or Frizell disallowed for a knock on and, while it led to no points for NSW, it showed that at least NSW were still in the mix — so the flame of hope burned again.
However, then Queensland lowered the boom in the 73rd minute with a Corey Oates try, the points were added and Queensland led 26-16. So then I gave up.
I began watching Mad As Hell – which was appropriate enough, as it adequately described my state of mind – and left the remaining 6 minutes of play to the fates.
Some time later I checked back again and saw that yes, Queensland had won another series.
There is a third game, but I won’t be watching, as quite frankly I think I’ve suffered enough already.
So there we leave State of Origin for another year, with Queensland the win… Well, you know who won and I am damn sure not writing down again!
FULL-TIME. QLD 26 NSW 16 "Queensland have WON another series!" - Rabs. #Origin #9WWOS pic.twitter.com/FZXZRVIXdS
— Wide World of Sports (@wwos) June 22, 2016
My dentist has warned me to stop covering this interstate league tournament, as I’m wearing away the enamel on my choppers from constantly grinding my teeth.
However, I will put the calcium under load one more time and write – yet again – well done Queensland.
Snarl.
Follow the very blue Lachlan Barker on Twitter @cyclonecharlie8. (Maybe after he cheers up a bit.)
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Australia License
TRY Queensland. #Origin QLD 14 NSW 4 46' "Gagai's done it again!" - Rabs. #9WWOS pic.twitter.com/YksviQbDx4
— Wide World of Sports (@wwos) June 22, 2016
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There are calls for Paul Gallen and other senior players to be dumped for #Origin III @Danny_Weidler reports #9News https://t.co/0xuMa1G1oW
— Nine News Sydney (@9NewsSyd) June 23, 2016
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(Image via efangelist.wordpress.com)
