Déjà Blu: Daley’s new era begins with same old story
Jasper Bruce |
If NSW lost the unlosable State of Origin series in 2017 – the last year of Laurie Daley’s first stint – they have begun the coach’s second stay in similarly unbelievable fashion.
Memories flooded back as the Blues faithful flooded out of Accor Stadium following the Tom Dearden try that sealed Queensland’s 24-12 win in Wednesday night’s decider.
Just like their 2017 counterparts, NSW began this Origin series romping home in Brisbane before flirting with victory and ultimately falling narrowly in game two.
That loss did nothing to discourage pundits from declaring the blue-riband Blues would once again comfortably account for their northern cousins to retain the shield in Origin III.
But it was another case of Déjà Blu, as the firm favourites found themselves beaten into submission by a Queensland team that was never supposed to have a chance.
NSW coach Laurie Daley lamented a second consecutive slow start and was at a loss for why his side had twice dug itself into an unrecoverable hole.
“It’s a good question and it’s something that we need to find out, we’ll look into that and what we need to be better at (but) you don’t get another opportunity this year,” he said.
“Big starts, first halves, they’re always hard to run down even when you’re confident you can still do it.”
Just five minutes had been played when NSW raided the red zone for the first time, looking hot to trot on a cool Sydney evening.
But Jarome Luai’s kick sailed straight to Maroons winger Val Holmes, who fielded the speculator, raced from the in-goal and tapped on the 20-metre line.
NSW were never again in control of the game, with Holmes kicking for first points after a Stephen Crichton high tackle capped that seven-tackle set.
When Holmes floored reigning player of the series Angus Crichton in a rollicking man-to-man tackle shortly thereafter, the Sydney crowd twisted in their seats.
The NSW punters remember the 2017 series all too well, though no Blues player remains from the ill-fated triptych.
But the hosts should at least have learned their lesson from three weeks ago, when an 8-0 penalty count underscored a big halftime deficit in Perth.
Again, history repeated itself in the first 40.
Silly mistakes cost NSW, whose hooker Reece Robson was penalised for a tackle off the ball ahead of Xavier Coates crashing over for Queensland’s first try.
When the Maroons looked to have made their first error of the night in the final five minutes of the half, a captain’s challenge revealed Robson taking aim at Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow without the ball.
The avoidable penalty helped Queensland force a repeat set down the other end, and Harry Grant burrowed over for a 20-0 halftime lead.
The Blues, who trailed 26-6 at the half in Western Australia, were left wondering how it could’ve come to this yet again.
Nathan Cleary, frequently criticised for his record in big Origin games, had found few avenues to pull NSW back into the fight in the first half.
But while the Blues’ second half started with promise, and eventually first points through Stephen Crichton, a comeback fell short as it did in Perth.
AAP
