New South Wales – 4 Queensland - 6
FULLTIME - Worst. Origin. Ever. Click above for video 'highlights'.
79 mins - Dylan Walker looks to milk a penalty at the play of the ball, gifting a scrum to Queensland. That may do it.
76 mins - Both sides out on their feet. NSW take the 5th tackle at halfway.
72 mins - NSW tap restart at their 22m.
65 mins - Josh Morris looks like he may have forced the ball on the line, referee has give it on the field. Looks like it's short on further review, but the evidence is minimal. The Bunker returns a No Try verdict.
63 mins - Queensland knock on 10m from their line, huge chance for NSW here. Still waiting for this game to break open, it's been teetering in third gear.
57 mins - NSW can't convert the pressure into points. The momentum well and truly with the hosts.
54 mins - Gagai unable to cover the in-goal grubber. Repeat set coming up for NSW.
42 mins - Great cover defense on Gagai bundles him into touch.
41 mins - Moylan with the mistake near his own line. Qland with a great early attacking opportunity, 10m out.
Second half (finally) underway....
HALFTIME
36 mins - TRY QUEENSLAND - Thurston exposes a short-side overlap and Dane Gagai is over in the corner.Thurston can't convert. (Qland 6-4)
25 mins - TRY NSW - James Maloney commits two defenders to open a hole for Boyd Cordner to stroll straight through from close range. Reynolds can't convert. (NSW 4-2)
21 mins - Moylan forces a repeat set with a delicate grubber.
19 mins - Blues finally grab a penalty of their own. They tap at the Qland 40m.
15 mins - Queensland given yet another penalty. This time Thurston will line up a shot at goal. Over it sails. (Qland 2-0)
13 mins - High shot by Paul Gallen ruled to be a penalty. Massively dubious call. Queensland with a fresh set from the 20m.
9 mins - Queensland penalty. They tap and go at the NSW 40m.
7 mins - Moylan soars to defuse the Cronk bomb, his first touch.
5 mins - Thurston grubbers poorly, easily cleaned up by Ferguson.Penalty Blues, they tap at the half.
4 mins - Reynolds sends up a towering bomb, Boyd up to the task. Queensland penalty as Myles is put into a dangerous position in the tackle. Tackle one for Parker at the NSW 30m.
2 mins - Oates can't hold on to the crossfield kick. NSW ball 10m from their line.
1 min - Woods with the first brutal hit-up as the crowd finds it voice early. Reynolds clears from the 30m on the last. Debutant Oates passes halfway on the 2nd.
We're underway...
10:18pm - The Blues have joined them to rousing applause. Both teams line up for the anthem as we pass the proposed kick-off time. My bad.
10:15pm - Out run the Maroons on to ANZ Stadium amongst a haze of blue smoke.
10:10pm - In case you you forgot, it's state against state as well as mate against mate.
10:09pm - We're told kick-off is due at 10:18pm NZT. Buckle up, people.
Commentary will start from around 10pm. In the meantime click the video above for a preview of tonight’s match with League Fix hosts Sam Ackerman and Jerome Ropati.
Teams:
News South Wales: 1. Matt Moylan, 2. Blake Ferguson, 3. Michael Jennings, 4. Josh Morris*, 5. Josh Mansour, 6. James Maloney, 7. Adam Reynolds, 8. Aaron Woods, 9. Robbie Farah, 10. Paul Gallen, 11. Boyd Cordner, 12. Josh Jackson, 13. Greg Bird
Interchange: 14. Dylan Walker, 15. James Tamou, 16. David Klemmer, 17. Andrew Fifita
Queensland: 1. Darius Boyd, 2. Corey Oates, 3. Greg Inglis, 4. Justin O’Neill, 5. Dane Gagai, 6. Johnathan Thurston, 7. Cooper Cronk*, 8. Matt Scott, 9. Cameron Smith, 10. Nate Myles, 11. Matt Gillett, 12. Sam Thaiday, 13. Corey Parker
Interchange: 14. Michael Morgan, 15. Josh McGuire, 16. Aidan Guerra, 17. Josh Papalii
Head-to-head:
NSW - $1.87 Queensland - $1.92
Pregame Banter:
What's with the apathy around State of Origin?
By Dave Di Somma
What has happened to the good days when we used to hear about 'State of Origin - mate against mate, state against state, world war 3 with rules.'
The build-up to this year's series seems to have been stale and largely anonymous. The opener is Wednesday night would you believe.
Why the apathy? Is it because the Warriors are average and people don't care about league right now, especially after the Kiwis lost to the Kangaroos in a snore-fest?
Or are we caught up with the All Blacks announcement, Joseph Parker-mania or Steven Adams hysteria?
The answer is not obvious because on the face of it this State of Origin could be classic.
The odds are tight - New South Wales are paying $1.85 to win the opener at home, with the Maroons at $1.95.
Last year the Blues got thrashed in the decider after it appeared that Laurie Daley was actually starting to close the gap against a side that had been so dominant.
Of course Maroons coach Mal Meninga has moved on to the Aussie job, leaving Kevin Walters as the new coach. He has a lot of experience to call on though the side will obviously be weakened if Cooper Cronk is ruled out. Already the backline has lost Billy Slater to injury and Justin Hodges to retirement.
But in the old hands like Johnathan Thurston and Cameron Smith, who will become the most capped player in origin history with 37 games, they have a host of experience.
The Blues, we are told, will rely on fresh talent and a lot of muscle.
That can't be a bad thing. Bring on the opener - and let's see if it's good enough and tough enough to get people talking and caring.
Newshub.
