Duo’s sin bin queried

MELBOURNE: Liam Martin and Patrick Carrigan were sent to the sin bin in the 50th minute of Origin game two after a chaotic scuffle broke out following a Jaydn Su’A knock on.
After the grappling match, that involved every player on the field, came to an end referee Ashley Klein requested the Bunker identify who sparked the melee.
For the Blues, Martin was called forward and was given his marching orders for a head rub on the Maroons edge forward after he lost the ball.
The next man to go was Queensland enforcer Carrigan who was also given his marching orders for escalating the situation.
Klein’s decision to send two players to the sin bin came after warning both team’s captains the next scuffle would result in a sin bin after an earlier melee.
Following Stephen Crichton’s grappling penalty on Daly Cherry-Evans, both teams converged on each other with the NSW centre laughing at his opponents.
The decision to send both men left the Channel Nine commentary team in disbelief, with Maroons great Cameron Smith imploring both sides to “play footy”.
Meanwhile, Blues legend Andrew Johns found the decision comical during last night’s encounter.
“We’ve seen grapples, we’ve seen picking up and dumping. We’ve seen Latrell chin someone,” he said.
“But you rub someones head, you go to the bin for that. Come on.”
– Fox Sports

NSW duo cause havoc in Melbourne

MELBOURNE: NSW’s centre pairing of Stephen Crichton and Latrell Mitchell caused havoc for Queensland in the opening 20 minutes of State of Origin game two as the Maroons had to contend with an early injury concern.
Crichton was involved heavily early, putting NSW in attacking territory before coming up with a forward pass.
The Bulldogs captain was involved again in the 14th minute, forcing a drop out after dragging Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow from the field of play into the in goal.
“That is a smart play from a young man, Stephen Crichton,” Maroons great Cameron Smith said on Nine’s coverage.
“He didn’t allow the momentum to stop so he’s got every right to drag him … that’s a big play.”
Tabuai-Fidow then got up clutching at his right shoulder as medical staff attended to him.
“Hamiso’s grabbing a shoulder, he looks in all sorts,” Blues legend Andrew Johns said on Nine.
The resulting drop out after Tabuai-Fidow was dragged back proved fruitful for the Blues with Brian To’o scoring on the fourth tackle on the opposite side of the field.
Sideline reporter Danika Mason then confirmed Tabuai-Fidow was given pain killers to continue on but he eventually left the field in the 25th minute.
Tabuai-Fidow later returned in the second half and scored his side’s second try of the match.
– 9 News

Suncorp to host series decider as NSW tie up series

MELBOURNE: Suncorp Stadium will host a decider for State of Origin game three after NSW pulled off a sensational first half blitz to leave the Maroons shocked.
Coming into game two at a 1-0 deficit, the Blues led 34-0 at half-time with Zac Lomax and Brian To’o scoring doubles.
Queensland managed to get themselves on the board in the second half but it wasn’t enough as NSW won 38-18.
“We witnessed men against boys,” former Blues coach Phil Gould said of the Maroons at half-time on Nine.
“This was over very early. I got the feeling right from the time Stephen Crichton first touched the ball and ran over his opponent steaming down the right hand side that physically NSW were superior here tonight.”
Maroons great Darren Lockyer said he was “in shock”.
“Full credit to NSW, they were on the front foot the whole first 40,” he said.
Gould went on to describe the Maroons as “soft”. “We have seen this before though, and I think I said it in the lead up to this game that Queensland when they’re 1-0 in the series and they know they’ve got Queensland up their sleeve in game three, can be soft in game two,” he said.
“I think they (Queensland) came here with a soft mentality.”
First try went to Blues second-rower Liam Martin in the 10th minute, before the points piled on with To’o, Lomax and Latrell Mitchell all going over.
The second half started in fiery circumstances when Patrick Carrigan and Liam Martin were sin binned for their roles in a fiery 50th minute melee.
Queensland made the most of those 10 minutes, with Jeremiah Nanai and Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow scoring.
Dylan Edwards hit back for the Blues when it was back to 13 on 13.
Maroons winger Murray Taulagi scored the final try in the 67th minute to provide Queensland some consolation.
– 9 News

Moses steps up for Blues in superb outing

MELBOURNE: Mitchell Moses has repaid NSW Origin coach Michael Maguire for his bold selection with the halfback starring in the Blues’ big win at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.
The Eels halfback was awarded the game two player of the match after steering his side to a 38-18 victory to keep the series alive.
Four games into his State of Origin career and four games back from injury, Moses made the NSW No.7 jersey his own in a masterful performance at the MCG.
Moses rewarded the bold selection choice of Blues coach Michael Maguire last night, despite missing two months of the season with a foot injury.
With first-choice NSW halfback Nathan Cleary unavailable for the series due to a hamstring injury, the 29-year-old Moses replaced Nicho Hynes in the NSW No.7 jersey for game two as Maguire looked for more polish in attack.
Despite struggling to recapture his best form for Parramatta since his lay-off, Moses showed the sparkle that makes him one of the NRL’s most creative playmakers.
Moses delivered an almost flawless display in the Blues’ 38-18 thrashing of Queensland to level the series and win the player-of-the-match medal.
He had four try-assists among their haul of seven and kept the Queenslanders on the back foot, kicking for 431 metres.
Not normally known for his steely defence, he twice forced a knock-on by Maroons five-eighth Tom Dearden with heavy tackles.
Former NSW coach Phil Gould, who steered the Blues to a 14-0 victory in the first Origin match ever played at the MCG back in 1994, said Moses had “come of age”.
“It’s a good feeling but I thought it was a team performance and I wouldn’t have been able to do the things that I did on the field without the forwards laying an outstanding platform and the back five were amazing,” Moses said.
“We had a simple game plan, we stuck to it, got to our spots, kicked to the corners and just played simple footy.”
– Agencies

Crichton ratttles Holmes

MELBOURNE: NSW star Angus Crichton shut down all hope of a NSW comeback late in Origin II as the second-rower put a smashing hit on Valentine Holmes, in a play that led to a try to Dylan Edwards in the next set of six.
Off the back of a late Maroons resurgence, Crichton delivered a rattling hit on Holmes in a bid to push the Blues back into control of the match.
The tackle left Nine’s commentary team and Billy Slater’s men stunned, with an error putting NSW back on the attack and Mitchell Moses putting on his fourth try assist of the match.
“That was an unbelievable tackle by Crichton,” Mat Thompson said in commentary for Nine.
“It was all legal,” league great Andrew Johns replied.
“It’s fair game. It all comes back on the inside. Valentine Holmes (is) looking at the ball and can not see what was on the inside.
Moses opted to sweep play to the right before sending a perfect cut-out pass to a chasing Edwards, who skipped around Queensland’s outside defence to find the line on debut.
– Fox Sports

Consistency in ref calls questioned

MELBOURNE: Andrew Johns has questioned the consistency of officials as NSW enforcer Liam Martin avoided time in the sin-bin for a dangerous lifting tackle.
Martin was placed on report for a dangerous throw on Reuben Cotter, which saw the Queensland star lifted above the parallel.
Queensland skipper Daly Cherry-Evans questioned whether referee Ashlee Klein would take further action against the Penrith back-rower, but Klein declined.
“Is that all?” Cherry-Evans questioned after the incident.
“He lands on his shoulder. He’s lifted into a dangerous position,” Klein responded.
Cherry-Evans interjected: “But what if he doesn’t? What if he doesn’t land on his shoulder?”
“But he didn’t,” Klein said.
Johns noted the lack of consistency around dangerous tackles in commentary for Nine, noting the shock dismissal of Roger Tuivasa-Sheck in the Warriors horror defeat to the Titans on Saturday.
“This will be a sin-bin to Liam Martin,” Johns declared.
“If they (the officials) are consistent – we saw one on the weekend with Roger Tuivasa-Sheck for the Warriors.
“He gets him up and over the parallel. If there’s consistency, he would be sin-binned.”
– 9 News

Queensland legend gives assessment

MELBOURNE: Former Maroons skipper Darren Lockyer has provided a sobering assessment of Queensland’s horror first half in game two of the 2024 series.
Queensland trailed the Blues 34-0 at halftime, with Latrell Mitchell, Mitchell Moses and Payne Haas leading NSW to a record-breaking half.
Speaking on Channel Nine’s half-time coverage, a clearly rattled Lockyer said he was “still in shock.”
“Full credit to NSW but they were on the front foot the whole first 40. We’re on the back foot,” Lockyer said.
The relentless Blues piled on the biggest single half total in State or Origin history as the Maroons seemingly had no answers.
“You have to turn that around somehow,” 36-time Maroons representative Lockyer added.
“That’s where NSW are dominant. Every time they went into contact they pushed forward. The kickers were kicking on the front foot.
“We need to try and get some good kick chase. Get them coming off their own try-line and do exactly what they did to us in the first half.
“Look, at this point in time you have to also start thinking about building some confidence for game 3.
“Like, this hole is enormous. It’s massive. I don’t know where we go from here.”
– Fox Sports