State of Origin II

A rare hat-trick by Dane Gagai has helped Queensland claim a 26-16 win over NSW at Suncorp Stadium, sealing a 10th State of Origin series in 11 years. Of their key attackers in the first game it was only the kicking of Johnathan Thurston that was really up to scratch, with the five-eighth helping relieve pressure when the Blues had them pinned back.

In Sydney, got beat 6-4 – we had that many opportunities and we couldn’t put the nail in the coffin, whereas Queensland do it every game.

Queensland’s Mal Meninga has the most defeats by a single player in Origin, with 17 losses from 32 games but no Blue has tasted defeat as many times as Gallen.

Bennett, who took over for a third stint as Maroons coach following the 2000 disaster, says the foundations for Queensland’s decade of domination were established after that series.

Cronulla coach Shane Flanagan has labelled former NSW coach Phil Gould’s comments about Paul Gallen as unwarranted and personal while launching a defence of his captain.

“It’s been an fantastic ride, this rep scene, and I think you saw it tonight again”, he said. They’re not going to pick Gal if he’s not ready to play.

“Can I get a penalty?”

Daley has slowly brought about generational change having let Anthony Watmough and Luke Lewis go in recent seasons while Origin veterans Beau Scott, Ryan Hoffman and Trent Merrin were all passed over for this year’s series. I got the biggest hit of the night, I think.

The last time the Blues kept a series alive by winning game two in Brisbane was in 1998.

“At the end of this series we’ll probably debut a couple more, we may have a couple more in game three”.

“I know he was heavily criticised after game one but we are certainly aware of how explosive he can be”.

Recent history with seven losses from their eight previous visits to Suncorp Stadium suggests the Blues are up against it, but Smith is wary of a team with more attacking thrust in Dylan Walker and Jack Bird and a win-at-all-costs attitude. We want to stop it from a whitewash.

“If there’s a better person or captain than this country’s seen than the bloke sitting beside me, someone better identify them”, Walters said in the post-match press conference.