Almanac Rugby League – 2022 State of Origin Game 3: One absentee makes all the difference

 

 

 

 

 

A third and deciding State of Origin game is always very highly appealing and very highly anticipated. Except for this year.

 

Wait a minute. How could a third and deciding Origin game not be highly anticipated, especially if it’s at Suncorp Stadium, better known as Lang Park, The Cauldron, or the spiritual home of State of Origin?

 

Cameron Munster has been ruled out with Covid. That’s why.

 

Seriously, can the Maroons win without him?

 

I know that one player should not be able to make all the difference, but I can’t for the life of me imagine Queensland winning without him. As a Queenslander through and through, I’d love to be proven wrong.

 

The absences of Felise Kaufusi and Murray Taulagi haven’t helped Queensland’s situation either, but it’s Munster’s unavailability that is the key blow.

 

I’ll say this: if the Maroons win on Wednesday, it will be the biggest boilover in State of Origin history. Even bigger than 1995, when a team featuring many rookies won the series 3-0 under Paul Vautin’s coaching.

 

Yes, Queensland’s previous series win in 2020 was a big surprise to many (including me), and that’s less than two years ago. But Munster was in that team, and Queensland surely would not have won without his brilliance in that year’s decider. Ditto for Game 1 of this year.

 

It must be said that the circumstances were extraordinary in 1995 and 2020 with the Super League crisis draining both states of first-choice players on the former occasion before the 2020 series was played in November with only one week’s break between each of the three games. I fail to see any such unusual circumstances this year.

 

Admittedly, it was something of a surprise when Queensland won Game 1 of 1988 without Wally Lewis while Mal Meninga (injured), Greg Dowling (retired from representative football) and Dale Shearer were also missing. The Maroons were able to cover for these absentees as they had the likes of Allan Langer, Peter Jackson, Gene Miles, Gary Belcher, Bob Lindner and Paul Vautin, while props Sam Backo and Martin Bella laid a platform. But I can’t imagine the Maroons being able to do likewise in Game 3 of 2022. Tom Dearden will certainly be thrown in at the deep end and the Maroons will have to do something special to be able to contain NSW’s forwards as well as the likes of Nathan Cleary and James Tedesco.

 

NSW’s depth this year has been quite remarkable. Even with Payne Haas and then Jordan McLean ruled out of Game 3, along comes Jacob Saifiti while other candidates, including Daniel Saifiti and Reagan Campbell-Gillard, can’t get a look-in. In the centres, Jack Wighton has not been able to get back into the team after being a standout performer in Game 1 and then missing Game 2. Not to forget that Tom Trbojevic and Latrell Mitchell aren’t even available.

 

It was less than five weeks ago that Queensland won Game 1 in Sydney to give Billy Slater a dream start to his Origin coaching career. Then, with the Maroons leading 12-8 in the shadows of half-time in Game 2, a series win that night was a real possibility. Fast-forward to now and I can’t help but say: “Oh, to think of what might have been!”

 

As for Ashley Klein being appointed to officiate all three games, I must say the refereeing was plagued with controversy in the first two games, with both teams having reason to be unhappy (and followers from each state only noticing the calls that went against their team). Blues coach Brad Fittler had plenty to say after his team narrowly lost Game 1, yet NSW was arguably gifted a couple of piggyback penalties in the late stages to set up a grandstand finish. In Game 2, Blues observers could argue that Queensland’s first try came from a forward pass. Yet the game was effectively decided with the controversy surrounding the five minutes leading up to half-time, as NSW received a 50-50 penalty and a series of ‘six again’ calls, as well as a Queensland player being dispatched to the sin bin.

 

In my opinion, the Game 2 result wasn’t a true reflection of the flow of play. NSW recorded its third highest score in Origin history which didn’t do justice to Queensland’s gutsy effort for the first 50 minutes. NSW led only 14-12 before the floodgates opened as the Maroons ran out of petrol. While there is no use speculating, I can’t help but think the outcome would have been much different if Queensland had clung to its four-point lead at half-time and not had Kaufusi sent to the sin bin. Would NSW have been deflated after not being able to crack the defence, and could this have turned the game Queensland’s way? Or would the Maroons still have run out of petrol in the second half, in which case the Blues would have taken advantage? Even if the latter possibility had materialised, I’m sure the margin would have been much closer than 32 points. One thing’s for sure: the fine line between winning and losing was just as evident in Game 2 as it was in Game 1, despite the two vastly different scorelines.

 

History shows that the Blues have won a third and deciding game on Brisbane soil just twice: in 1994 and 2005. Something extraordinary would have to happen to prevent 2022 being added to the list.

 

 

Liam Hauser is the author of  State of Origin: 40 Years (Gelding Street Press, 2020: 3rd edition), The Immortals of Australian Rugby League (Gelding Street Press, 2019) and  The Great Grand Finals (New Holland, 2019: 2nd edition). An updated third edition of  The Great Grand Finals will be released on August 15. In 2023, Gelding Street Press will publish Liam’s The Immortals of State of Origin in which he selects his best ever teams for both Queensland and New South Wales. Liam is also the author of  several publications on cricket, including A Century of Cricket Tests (New Holland, 2013), A History of Test Cricket (New Holland, 2016), and The Immortals of Australian Cricket (Rockpool Publishing, 2018).

 

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Our writers are independent contributors. The opinions expressed in their articles are their own. They are not the views, nor do they reflect the views, of Malarkey Publications.

 

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