Last night in Sydney Australia the first game of the 2024 State of Origin Series was played and won by Queensland 38-10. It was a lop-sided result which would have surprised many because it was expected to be a close match. However, the game was basically over in the 8th minute when Rookie NSW Centre Joseph Sua’ali’i was sent from the field for an illegal tackle which knocked out star Queensland Fullback Reece Walsh (who also did not return to the field).
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At this intense level of competition, having only 12 players on the field against 13 players is just such a massive disadvantage that the contest was pretty much over after just 8 minutes. Queensland exploited the extra man advantage to break through the hole in the left side defence of NSW twice in the first half to take a 20-6 lead at the Half Time Break and they looked unassailable.
In the 2nd Half the NSW Forward Pack got stuck right in and tried their best to make a contest of the game. It was a pretty good effort for about 20 minutes but they couldn’t sustain the intensity and Queensland eventually ran in 3 more tries in the final 15 minutes to finish strongly and make a definitive statement. They took a dominant win and now lead the Best of 3 Series 1-0.
Unfortunately now the NSW Media and Pundits will gab on for the next 2 weeks about the send off, how brave NSW were in defeat and a whole bunch of other garbage narratives. In the past NSW have always sacked 1 or 2 of their Playmaker Halves after a loss like this and I expect they will do that again. I also expect they will be forced into recalling the polarizing Latrell Mitchell to the Centres because Sua’ali’i won’t be playing Origin again. He was a dubious pick anyway because he’s off to Rugby Union after this season and after promising “I won't let anyone down” when he was picked, that’s exactly what he did.
Bring on Game 2. Hopefully it will be a better game in Melbourne on June 26.