State of Play: State of Origin II

By: GameSpot AU Staff - Posted on Tuesday, June 12, 2007

Game II, June 13, 2007
We almost got it right--our simulated game in Rugby League 2 for our first State of Origin feature picked New South Wales to win by a whisker. This was something the Blues almost managed to do, but were denied thanks to a brilliant second-half effort from the Queensland side. With Game II of 2007 just around the corner, the GameSpot AU editors put on their one-eyed glasses yet again in an attempt to tip a winner. We also put Rugby League 2 to the test, running a simulated game to see who'll be victorious come the end of Wednesday night. Will our predictions ring true? Read on to find out more.

For the Blues

I'm not ashamed to say we're a sports-mad nation. Nowhere is this truer than here in the GameSpot AU office. Even something as simple as attending a friendly AFL game with some work colleagues quickly escalates into an Origin trash-talk session.

New South Wales squandered a perfectly good chance to show up those reverse Mexicans and their complete disregard for daylight savings in the last match of Origin. We wasted a reasonable first-half lead, and we were punished for it.

This time around, we're hosting the game, and the crowd will be ours. While the interest from my fellow New South Welshmen has been a little disappointing (with tickets still on sale at the time of this writing), I'm sure we'll rise to the occasion to outnumber them and rally the troops to victory.

Sharks player Brett Kimmorley will take to the field for the Blues wearing the lucky seven jersey. He replaces Jarrod Mullen, who's still nursing a calf injury that he suffered a couple of weeks ago. While Kimmorley is a known performer with a great track record and plenty of experience, he's only getting a run because Mullen can't participate. That said, we're expecting big things, and we think Brett will make the most of the opportunity.

Kimmorley's fellow Cronulla teammate Greg Bird has also been called up, and he'll make his debut at home to replace the injured Kurt Gidley. With six tries in his last five games, Bird also has the ability to play either the back row or five eighth. Anthony Tupou has been left out to make room for Ryan Hoffman, who is another player putting on the sacred blue for the first time. Picked to make holes and run the ball, Hoffman is one to watch out for and should put on a real show. Again, NSW are a little green in a couple of places, but there's enough form and experience to carry us over the line to make it a corker of a match.

I'm no sucker, but you'd be a fool to bet against the fire of the Blues. And this time, we've got much more to prove.

Chiappini's Prediction: NSW 24- Qld 16

For the Maroons

Game II for State of Origin this year looks eerily similar to Game I--at least if you're a Queensland supporter. Darren Lockyer is coming in under another injury cloud, the side is fairly settled, and we're going in as favourites. So, all things being equal, we should run away with the match yet again because the foundations for success in Game I are all still here: killer halves combination, awesome forward power, and the immeasurable Queensland spirit. Watch out, filthy cock-a-roaches.

And speaking of those cheese-eating Blues, while their side is for the most part unchanged from Game I, the few changes they have made will probably have a massive impact on their overall performance. I'm speaking, of course, about the addition of Brett Kimmorley to the NSW squad. Kimmorley--a top club player for both Cronulla and Melbourne previously--hasn't exactly set the world ablaze with his performances at the representative level. And they don't get much bigger than an Origin in the Blues heartland of Sydney. I'm tipping he'll put in an average performance, which sadly won't be good enough against the rampaging Maroons.

Of course, the Queenslanders do have a massive Telstra Stadium bogey to overcome. Our record there has been--how shall we put this--less than perfect. And such sporting hoodoos as this are usually a mountain to overcome. But with Petero Civoniceva and Steve Price battering cockroaches under their heels, with Lockyer and Thurston orchestrating proceedings from the back, this could very well be the year where hoodoos are smashed.

It'll be a close game, but Queensland is set to dominate again. Suffer in your jocks, New South Welshmen!

Ramsay's Prediction: Qld 16-NSW 10

Who do you think will take out Game II of the 2007 State of Origin series? Post your predictions below.

What Rugby League 2 says

It was back to our copy of Rugby League 2 for the PlayStation 2 to simulate the next State of Origin game, and our first task was to fix the team lineups to reflect the changes made since Game I of 2007. Queensland started proceedings off in Game II of our simulated match. And the virtual Maroons started off like the real ones finished during Game I at Suncorp Stadium: fast, powerful, and completely dominating the New South Welshmen. The Blues were kept to their own 30m line in the first set of six, thanks to some stifling Queensland defence, but were gifted the ball back at the other end of the field when the Maroon's Greg Inglis fumbled the ball for a knock-on. From the ensuing set, New South Wales got perilously close to crossing the line, with a bomb from Brett Kimmorley safely defused by the Queenslanders amidst a sea of blue shirts.

But from there, it was all Queensland as the Maroons started to pile on the attacking pressure, thanks to some barnstorming forward runs and almost frenetic razzle-dazzle passing from the backline. The Queenslanders almost hit the lead at the midway point of the half, with Darren Lockyer's cheeky chip to himself while only 10m away from the Blues' line barely covered by the New South Wales defence. A similar attempt by Johnathan Thurston--this time sending a grubber along while close to the line--was similarly thwarted by the Blues' last line of defenders. But despite nearly 40 minutes of Queensland domination, New South Wales held strong, with neither side bothering the scoreboard in the first half.

Queensland continued their dominance in the early stages of the second half of the game. An error from Anthony Minichiello--falling over the touchline while retrieving a Queensland kick after the very first set of six--gave the Maroons possession deep in enemy territory. However, the Queenslanders failed to capitalise yet again, with the pressure taken off the Blues, thanks to a bomb from Lockyer that had too much power and landed outside of the field of play.

Things turned even worse for the New South Welshmen about a quarter of the way through the second half, with playmaker Brett Kimmorley getting poleaxed in a vicious two-man tackle and having to leave the field injured. But despite the setback, New South Wales rallied and scored a try on the very next set of six, thanks to some individual brilliance from Minichiello. It was Minichiello who, on the last tackle for the Blues, chipped the ball over the heads of the Queensland defence and regathered, crossing the line just left of the big sticks. The following conversion was unsuccessful, but New South Wales still held the advantage in a very close game: 4-0.

With time quickly running out, the Queenslanders threw everything against a tiring Blues outfit. The Maroons piled on four consecutive sets of sixes in the dying stages of the game, with New South Wales scrambling to cover all angles. The Maroons actually crossed the Blues' line twice but were held up in-goal by some excellent defence. Despite the Queenslanders' domination of both field position and possession throughout the entire game, New South Wales managed to hold onto their slender lead until full-time. In the end, the Blues won our simulated Game II of Origin with a score of 4-0.

Full Time score: NSW-4, Qld-0

New South Wales		Queensland
7	Line Breaks	2
87	Total Tackles	65
28	Missed Tackles	26
3	Handling Errors	5
47%	Possession	53%

Who do you think will take out Game II of the 2007 State of Origin series? Post your predictions below.