It’s been perhaps the most heavily publicised series in recent history. NSW coach Anthony Magro has announced he’ll step down to focus on coaching the English national team. Long suffering QLD coach, Roger Bossert, has made the bold claim that this season will see the trophy head north of the border for the first time in over nine years of State of Origin football. There’s been selection controversy, but after their win in Sydney, the Maroons would go into today’s decider as slight favourites. Could Roger Bossert be the man to bring glory to the Queenslanders?
QLD NSW
1 Mat Rogers 1 Anthony Minichiello
2 Ben Tune 2 Amos Roberts
3 Paul Bowman 3 Ryan Girdler
4 Shaun Berrigan 4 Matthew Gidley
5 Wendell Sailor 5 Luke Rooney
6 Darren Lockyer © 6 Braith Anasta
7 Scott Prince 7 Matt Orford
8 Shane Webcke 8 Jason Ryles
9 Cameron Smith 9 Craig Wing
10 Steven Price 10 Mark O'Meley
11 Michael Crocker 11 Andrew Ryan ©
12 Luke Williamson 12 Craig Fitzgibbon
13 Scott Sattler 13 Scott Magro
++Interchange
14 Sean Towers 14 Luke Bailey
15 Antonio Kaufusi 15 Matt Adamson
16 Gorden Tallis 16 Daniel Abraham
17 Chris Flannery 17 Steve Menzies
The first moments of the clash were straight from the pages of Origin history, with the two forward packs showing plenty of intensity, and both sides firing their opening salvoes. Queensland fans had barely sat down after a promising Mat Rogers bust before Andrew Ryan, in his first game as NSW captain, skipped free of a lazy Scott Prince tackle to embark on a dangerous run of his own. The fast paced start to the game quickly set the tone, and it was no surprise that the first points of the game didn’t take long- a penalty giving Queensland ideal field position, before Luke Williamson offloaded in traffic to Wendell Sailor. The big winger didn’t waste any time, throwing off a weak Amos Roberts attempted tackle to slam the ball down out wide. Mat Rogers continued to extend upon his unbeaten kicking record to twenty nine to make it 6-0 after seven minutes of play.
But fate can be cruel. Sailor went from hero to villain in the ensuing set of play, forced into touch by a desperate Luke Rooney tackle on the third tackle. The Blues didn’t waste any time evening the score line, Luke Rooney finding it almost too easy when he was put in thanks to a brilliant Matt Orford long ball. The Gold Coast connection paid early dividends, and Fairfield’s Scott Magro kicked things to 6 all after nine minutes.
The rapid fire scoring continued from the kick-off, and it was almost a carbon copy of the first New South Wales try, except this time around it was the Blues making a mistake on their return set of six, Andrew Ryan fumbling an ambitious Braith Anasta short ball. Four tackles later, and the Maroons were able to cross again, with Ben Tune capitalising on a two on one overlap to dive over in the corner. Mat Rogers’ goal kicking perfection fell just one goal short of equalling Luke Covell’s long-standing record, however, the conversion shaving the upright to leave the Queenslanders as 10-6 leaders. There was electricity in the air, though, and true to the way the game had gone so far, the next points didn’t take long to eventuate.
Some dour play came between Queensland’s second try and that of New South Wales, but five minutes after Rogers’ narrowly missed conversion, the Blues were in again when Ryan Girdler shrugged off some weak defence to race it around and under the posts. Scott Magro didn’t have the tough conversion that Rogers had, and easily converted to put the visiting Blues up 12-10 after fifteen minutes. The two sides were more than matching the clock, and Roger Bossert signalled his intentions to hit right back when he brought on exciting Canberra halfback, Sean Towers.
Towers wasn’t the catalyst for the next Queensland try, which came only two minutes after Girdler’s effort, but the try was no less exciting. Luke Williamson, playing like a man desperate for an Australian jersey, rampaged through some soft centre defence to lead the Maroons to another scoring opportunity. This time it was Scott Prince who was able to reap the rewards, dummying and slicing through to put the ball down just left of the uprights. Mat Rogers’ record dream may have been shattered, but he started it all over again by converting to put the ‘home’ side up 16-12 heading into the game’s second quarter. With the way the game had been played so far, it was no surprise when Sean Towers knocked on after three tackles and New South Wales were able to hit right back. Matthew Gidley, seizing some initiative and running from dummy half, was able to go forty metres virtually untouched, running it around under the sticks to allow Magro’s conversion to make it 18-16. Thirty four points had been scored in only nineteen minutes of football, and the way both sides were playing in offence, it looked like more points were definitely on the offer.
The rough and ready pace of the first quarter clearly had an effect on both sides, however, and where fans could barely catch their breath in the opening stanza, the latter portion of the first half was more of the Origin of old. Big hitting forwards, desperation defence, and in the spirit of enterprising attack, plenty of dropped ball and narrowly missed opportunities. There was no denying Sean Towers in the 34th minute, the veteran making up for his earlier indiscretion by tearing the NSW defence to shreds with a truly inspiring thirty metre dash from dummy half. With Cameron Smith still receiving attention in the sheds, Towers proved to be a more than capable dummy half. Rogers’ off night with the boot continued, however, with a fairly routine conversion rebounding back off the right upright and leaving Queensland as narrow 20-18 leaders with five minutes of the half remaining.
As if the Queensland try had reminded NSW of what the opening exchanges had been like, they hit back in turn, but left it until the final twenty seconds of play to do so. Playing one out football, the Blues were able to get themselves in an ideal position to score, and Andrew Ryan couldn’t be stopped when he powered on to a bullet-like pass from Oilers’ team-mate, Craig Wing. Scott Magro proved reliable with the boot, and the halftime siren sounded on a 24-20 scoreline after one of Origin’s most thrilling first halves.
HALFTIME: QLD 20 trail NSW 24
The second half came in stark contrast to the first, and word from the sheds was that both coaches were appalled at the defensive efforts of their teams. Certainly, the scoring of forty four points in one half of Origin football wasn’t a testament to hard-hitting defence. Both camps were, of course, encouraged to continue with their enterprising attack- and the opening period of the half showcased what can happen when both sides come ready to throw it around, and equally ready to shut it down. First Andrew Ryan set hearts aflutter when he burst through a seemingly non-existent gap and raced towards the line, only to lose the ball in a tremendous one on one tackle from Ben Tune. Then it was Luke Williamson’s offloading putting the NSW line in all sorts of disarray. One of these offloads, made in the 48th minute, appeared to have put Scott Prince in under the posts- but closer inspection showed that Prince had stepped in behind another Maroon and ruled the try out through obstruction. Queensland fans and officials cried foul, and even a Mat Rogers penalty in the 51st couldn’t sate their hunger. The penalty came for fighting, and Queensland fans were up as one when Luke Williamson levelled Braith Anasta with a sterling hay-maker after the Falcons’ five eighth had kneed him in the tackle. Surprisingly, neither player was sent from the field, but Rogers’ penalty conversion brought it back to 24-22.
Anasta showed no signs of ill effect from the Williamson hit when he chipped ahead for himself only minutes later, the favourite for the Australian five eighth spot collecting the erratically bouncing ball and looping a pass out wide to Shanghai veteran, Ryan Girdler. The Blues’ fans were up at the time, but went down fast when Girdler somehow managed to drop the ball in space.
The scores were finally levelled in the 60th minute, when Paul Bowman had the ball raked in a blatant two on one tackle. Rogers kicked the long range penalty, and with twenty minutes remaining, fans were looking at a 24 all thriller. All memory of a high scoring first half seemed to have been forgotten, with the two sides instead focussing on their defence heading into the final minutes of the 2004/2005 State of Origin.
Defence was certainly the order of the day, and in the ten minutes of play after the Rogers penalty, the game seemed to be perpetually played in the middle of the field. The only time teams saw the opposition twenty came on the kick chase, and thankfully for both camps, the returns were always good enough to keep the opposition out of strike distance. The 67th minute saw NSW with an excellent opportunity for a potentially match winning field goal, but whether it was greed or poor planning, Orford ignored a clear shot at field goal in favour of spreading the ball to his wings. It didn’t pay dividends, with the spiralling bomb easily diffused by the reliable Wendell Sailor. A penalty in the 69th minute for offside Queensland their shot at a close range set, and Scott Prince showed why he’s a star of the future when, on only the second tackle, he steadied and took a shot for field goal. The ball sailed high and it sailed true, the Queenslanders celebrating as they took a 25-24 lead with ten minutes of play remaining. Commentators were crying that it came too early, but in a half that hadn’t seen a single try, it could well have been enough to secure Queensland their first series win in recent memory.
The pressure of having to score next began to show in the New South Wales play, with the inexperience of Rooney, Magro, and Roberts at rep level obvious as they tried too much, too soon. Indeed, Queensland looked like they were coming home on a wet sail, forcing two late line drop-outs that could very well have spelled the end of New South Wales’ dominance. Exhausted from too much defence, New South Wales relied on a penalty for offside in the game’s final two minutes for their sole opportunity for a draw or victory. Matthew Gidley gave the Blues the needed spark when he again exploited weak defence on his wing, racing down the field but unable to offload to support in heavy traffic. With the crowd counting down…
5….
Gidley plays the ball, Wing to dummy half. Wing throws a pass to….
4….
Menzies, who runs at the line, but spins as he hits it and…
3….
Finds the waiting arms of Matt Orford. Orford looks to the posts. Steadies, kicks…
2….
It’s hit the uprights! The ball rebounds back into the field of play, where it is collected by….
1…
Braith Anasta! Anasta goes right, turns, heads back left… Skips out of a weak Scott Prince tackle, fends off Sean Towers, dummies to his right, he’s five metres from the line.
The siren sounds…
Anasta is still going, Anasta is lunging for the line. He’s got Tune and Bowman hanging off him. Anasta has fallen short. Anasta is dragged to the ground just inches short of the line. Fulltime is blown by the referee, and the game is over.
Queensland have won the 2004/2005 State of Origin series! Roger Bossert has coached the Maroons to a 25-24 victory on the third and deciding game of the State of Origin, ending a drought that stretches back to the 2000 season. New South Wales’ six season domination of State of Origin is over.
FULLTIME
Queensland 25
Wendell Sailor
Scott Prince
Ben Tune
Sean Towers
Rogers 4/6
Prince 1 fg.
Defeated
New South Wales 24
Ryan Girdler
Matthew Gidley
Luke Rooney
Andrew Ryan
Magro 4/4
MAN OF THE MATCH: Luke Williamson
Scott Prince…………..2 points
Ben Tune……………..1 point
MAN OF THE SERIES: Scott Prince (Queensland)
Team of the Series
1: Mat Rogers (QLD)
2: Ben Tune (QLD)
3: Ryan Girdler (NSW)
4: Matthew Gidley (NSW)
5: Wendell Sailor (QLD)
6: Darren Lockyer (QLD)
7: Scott Prince (QLD)
8: Antonio Kaufusi (QLD)
9: Sean Towers (QLD)
10: Mark O’Meley (NSW)
11: Michael Crocker (QLD)
12: Luke Williamson (QLD)
13: Scott Sattler (QLD)
14: Andrew Ryan (NSW)
15: Scott Magro (NSW)
16: Craig Fitzgibbon (NSW)
17: Shane Webcke (QLD)
NSW: 6
QLD: 11
qqqqqqqqqlllllllllllllllldddddddddddddeeeeeeeeeeeeerrrrrrrrrrrrrr....
saint hood now, saint hood now... we love you coach bossert
Wooooo Brissy Bull man of the series and man of the match! Go Qld.
Blues can win the series because they have a better bench.
GO NSW!!
Methinks he's missed the point of this thread entirely....
On that note, he's right
