The first of the State Of Origin 2013 matches will be played tonight at 8pm at ANZ Stadium in Sydney. Home team New South Wales hold favouritism for the match but money has come for both teams to win the match and it looks to be one of the closest Origin matches on paper in a few years. View our 2013 State Of Origin Live scores, results and odds.
WHERE AND WHEN: ANZ Stadium, Wednesday 5th June, 8:00pm
Preview:
Key Match-Up: Cameron Smith v Robbie Farah. Arguably the greatest dummy-half of all time will again be a key member of the Queensland squad this year. Smith is a master at controlling the ruck and his efforts have given the Maroons a huge edge over the years. But in Farah he faces one man that can match him for skill. Farah was superb last series – his short-kicking game and crisp service at the forefront of the NSW surge.
Where It Will Be Won: Origin is a different beast to any other game of rugby league. Will it be won in the forwards? Sure, they’ll be important. What about the halves? Their input is critical. Out wide? There is plenty of talent there. But Origin is about the little things – repeat efforts, denying your opponent field position and taking your chances when they come. These are what will make or break in 2013 in what shapes as a thrilling State of Origin series.
The History: Played 94; Maroons 49, Blues 43, drawn 2. Queensland have edged ahead during their seven-year winning streak. NSW have dominated at ANZ Stadium, however, with 13 wins to Queensland’s five. The two sides played out an 18-all draw at the venue in 2002.
Teams:
New South Wales:
Jarryd Hayne, Brett Morris, Michael Jennings, Josh Morris, Blake Ferguson, James Maloney, Mitchell Pearce, Paul Gallen, Robbie Farah, James Tamou, Ryan Hoffman, Luke Lewis, Greg Bird, Anthony Watmough, Andrew Fifita, Trent Merrin, Josh Reynolds
Queensland:
Billy Slater, Darius Boyd, Greg Inglis, Justin Hodges, Brent Tate, Johnathan Thurston, Cooper Cronk, Matt Scott, Cameron Smith (c), David Shillington, Nate Myles, Sam Thaiday, Ashley Harrison, Corey Parker, Matt Gillett, Ben Te’o, Chris McQueen, Daly Cherry-Evans, Josh Papalii (Justin O’Neill has been placed on stand-by for Darius Boyd)
The Greg Inglis factor looms large on the minds of every man that coaches against him and rest assured Laurie Daley will have spent hours staring at his name on the Queensland team sheet.
Inglis’ form in the No.1 jersey for Souths this season has been so good that there was serious discussion about the possibility of him replacing Billy Slater as Maroons fullback – a proposition that would have been deemed laughable not so long ago. Inglis has averaged 173 metres, scored 11 tries and made 65 tackle-breaks this season at the back but as NSW knows all too well he has been just as effective in the centres for Queensland in the past.
Notably Inglis is State of Origin’s all-time leading try scorer – with 14 tries from 18 appearances.
Watch Out Maroons: If the NSW big men match their performances at club level on Wednesday night when it comes to eating up the metres then Queensland could well find themselves in some trouble.
First and foremost is Blues captain Paul Gallen who has a habit of notching some phenomenal stats. For the Sharks this season he is averaging 166 metres per game but he has historically stepped that up for Origin, having run for a whopping 230 metres in Game One last year.
Fellow prop James Tamou is averaging a very respectable 146 metres this season while newcomer Andrew Fifita could prove to be a game-changer. The Cronulla forward has been relentless over the past month, running for 210, 204, 189 and 251 metres in his past four outings.
Queensland love shifting the ball quickly to the left whenever they are attacking the NSW line. Be it from a quick play-the-ball or an offload, they enjoyed plenty of success on that edge last year with Darius Boyd scoring two tries in Game One and another in Game Three in very similar circumstances. The Greg Inglis factor plays a big role in their love of going left, but in-particular watch for Johnathan Thurston to throw a cut-out ball past Inglis to an unmarked Boyd on the outside.
It will be interesting to see whether new Blues five-eighth James Maloney adopts similar plays to those that have served him well at the Roosters this season. A favourite is to throw a short-ball to his lead runner on the left edge in the hope that the defence is drifting out to the dangerous Michael Jennings on the outside. At the Roosters, that runner is usually Mitch Aubusson but the one constant for NSW is that Jennings will still be there on his outside. Will Jennings look to his NSW second-rower Ryan Hoffman or will he favour Jennings out wide?
