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There is one word that NSW need to have drilled into their minds and written on the strapping tape around their wrists. One word that is crucial to make sure the State of Origin shield comes home with them.
That one word is discipline. Discipline is the key for the Blues, with over 40,000 screaming QLD fans and a Maroons team trying to unhinge them in the intensity of a series-deciding game at Queensland’s spiritual home.
The deafening noise coming out of Queensland is that they need to stand up to the Blues and fight fire with fire. But when the Maroons say things in the media, I always ask the question, how does this serve them?
It’s my opinion that the Queenslanders are great at mind games (insert joke about having an extra head) and so when they say things in the media, I’m always questioning what’s their hidden message, and their agenda. The simple answer is it’s always to advance the Queesnland cause and give them the best chance of winning.
But more specifically what the Queenslanders have been saying since the second game in Melbourne has been about lifting the players’ aggression, focus and intensity and laying the bait for the NSW players to use the Blues’ aggression against them.
Players scuffle during Origin II at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. (Photo by Quinn Rooney/Getty Images)
Queenslanders know that they have one advantage come Wednesday. A home game at one of the best rugby league venues in the world and a crowd with 80 per cent Maroons supporters cheering them on. It’s a magical place full of their own kind, similar to Loompa Land but with less cocoa beans and more XXXX beer. This is their best weapon on Wednesday night.
Queensland also know that the man with the whistle who will be standing in the middle of Suncorp Stadium can have a big influence on the result of this game. In no other game, in no other arena will a referee feel the pressure like a deciding State of Origin match at Suncorp.
The Maroons’ plan will be to play very aggressively and try to rattle the Blues cages in Brisbane. They will want to unsettle them and make them as uncomfortable as possible. There’s several players who will likely have a large target next to their name on the QLD whiteboard. Martin, Moses, Luai, Leniu and the debutant Barnett. These players will probably feature heavily on the tip sheet when it comes to using unsettling tactics to try and knock them out of their tree.
However, even though Queensland have a great advantage in the decider. They are painfully aware that a Blues blitz like the first half in Melbourne would be disastrous in Brisbane and would nullify their greatest weapon. The pressure on the Maroons if they experience a similar onslaught will be as if the entire stadium was pressing down on top of them.
So as much as Billy and his Queenslanders are ecstatic to be playing a decider at home, in the back of their minds there is a tiny voice whispering the words “what if?”.
NSW have the blueprint on how to win from their first half of Origin II. And I believe if NSW play like that for 80 minutes in Brisbane, then QLD fans will be crying in their XXXX beers on Wednesday night.
But to perform like that for 80 minutes at Suncorp will take a steely determination and a very disciplined attitude.
Nothing can be more important to NSW than winning and certainly not their egos. To win, the Blues must remember that this is not about them, it’s about something much bigger than their individual pursuits or just 17 players taking the field in a blue jersey. There is an entire state full of people who they must put before themselves and that’s why they must remain disciplined and focused for 80 minutes.
The Blues’ second half in Game 2 was poor in comparison to their first half. And it was their discipline that brought them down.
At certain times in Game 1, their discipline also let them down. For this NSW team to be only the third Blues team in 44 years to win a decider in Brisbane, they must keep a cool head.
There is no doubt that the Maroons forwards have a point to prove and the whole Cane Toad team will want to show that they can’t be bullied on their home track. I think the QLD tactics will be to push the Blues players right to the edge and then hope they will jump off. Queensland know that they will get more leeway in Brisbane. Ashley Klein will naturally be hesitant to give too many penalties away, particularly in a decider, and so the Queenslanders will push their aggression to maximum level and see what they can get away with.
Joseph Suaalii is sent off by referee Ashley Klein. (Photo by Cameron Spencer/Getty Images)
For the Maroons, a Blues sin bin or send off will be like opening a Billy Wonka chocolate bar and finding a golden ticket.
But if the Blues don’t bite in Brisbane and keep their focus on what they need to do to win the series, then it will be NSW who walk away from Suncorp Stadium grinning from ear to ear like Charlie Bucket.
I expect this third game will be played with the same intensity as Game 3 of the 2022 series. I just hope that the Blues have learned from their previous mistakes and Michael Maguire has them fully prepared this time. I hope he reminds them how important it is to remember that one word… discipline.
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