Almanac State of Origin: Prop by the Sea (was there)

 

 

 

 

 

The bus pulled into Balmain, leaving me soaked to walk down Darling Street with the Balmain Irishman glistening with pride after our/my loss. I am home tomorrow and need to get into the sea at Tower 39 to wash away the sting of Accor Stadium. The scoreboard says we lost 22-20. The headlines will scream about the collapse. But standing here, drenched by the relentless rain, I feel nothing but immense pride.

 

You find out what a man is made of when the sand shifts beneath his feet and what a shift it was. For me, the game was ours.

 

When Kalyn Ponga was sent off in the 57th minute, leaving us with 12 men against a roaring blue tide, it should have been a landslide. Instead, it became a clinic in Queensland spirit.

 

Look at Sam Walker. A kid on debut, thrown into the absolute furnace of Origin football, playing with the poise of a veteran. He steered the ship, kicked flawlessly, and never blinked. Alongside him, Cameron Munster played like a man possessed, organising a fractured defensive line while his lungs burned.

 

Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow shifted to fullback without a second thought, covering the turf like a gazelle, while Robert Toia played with a maturity far beyond his years. Up front, Thomas Flegler ripped into the Blues’ pack, laying a brutal, uncompromising platform that should have won us the match.

 

We didn’t get the points, but we found something better: our Maroon identity. They fought for the jersey until their legs gave out. As the sea spray hits my face tomorrow home in Quensland I know this series isn’t over. If we bring that same undying effort to the MCG, the Blues won’t know what hit them and I’ll be there to cheer them on!

 

NB The Balmain Irishmen poured me a Jameson when we got home. I think it was from pity for a dishevelled water-logged sight – not a beaten Maroon!

 

New South Wales  22      Queensland  20

 

 

Read more from Prop HERE.