After a courageous victory in Game I as underdogs, New South Wales head into the second game at ANZ Stadium perfectly positioned to finally end Queensland’s eight year Origin dominance.

Whilst their attack was good and asked plenty of questions of the Queensland defence, it was NSW gritty determination in defending their own line which ultimately won them the game. At one stage in the second half, NSW were defending for ten of fourteen sets and produced five try-saves for the match.

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The new halves pairing for NSW, Canterbury’s Trent Hodkinson and Josh Reynolds, wisely didn’t overplay their hands, knowing that outside of them they had plenty of speed in the likes of Jennings, the Morris brothers and fullback Jarryd Hayne.

Hayne, who was named man-of-the-match and playing at fullback for the first time since 2010’s game II, was in brilliant form and threatened the Queensland defence with every touch of the ball.

He’ll again be the one that NSW centre their attack around and the player Queensland will have to shout down but in his current form, as Queensland’s Johnathan Thurston freely admitted last week, is easier said then done.

NSW have been forced to make several changes for Game II with Parramatta’s Will Hopoate and the Dragons’ Josh Duggan coming on the wing and in the centres respectively, to cover for the Morris brother’s absences with injury.

Both have Duggan and Hopoate have Origin experience and whilst neither are playing in their preferred position, both are quality players who will do the job.

Coming into the forwards after serving suspension is Greg Bird. Bird will be chomping at the bit and coming into this game fresh, in front of his home-crowd with an Origin series win on the line, expect him to be heavily involved.

Bird bolster’s an already strong forward pack for the Blues and with another four forwards named on the bench, they’ll be no excuses for them up-front.

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QLD

After 5 minutes of Game I, it was all going to plan for the Queensland side with Darius Boyd crossing for the first of his two tries, taking his tally to six tries from his last five Origin matches.

But only another five minutes later, the script went out the window when Queensland’s halfback and General Cooper Cronk, left the field with a broken arm.

Cronk’s absence had an immediate impact on QLD who didn’t appear as sharp in attack as when he was on the field directing traffic. Combined with some uncharacteristic poor handling and errors, Queensland allowed NSW to gain the upper hand and found themselves behind at the half-time break for the first time in six matches played at Suncorp.

Manly’s Daly Cherry-Evans who replaced Cronk in Game I will be much better for having had the experience after only playing a handful of minutes in a support role in last year’s series. He’ll also be able to head into this game with a different mind-set, knowing he’ll be the starting half and that’ll prove invaluable.

Unfortunately for QLD, the casualty ward has continued to fill since the players returned to their Club sides after the first match. Corey Parker will be missing from the squad for Game II with a face fracture and injury clouds hover low over key players Billy Slater and Greg Inglis.

Coach Meninga named a twenty-one man squad when the team went into camp last week as those recovering from injuries will be given until the last possible minute to prove their fitness but, with the Origin and Queensland reign on the line, expect them all to take their place.

It hasn’t been an ideal preparation for Queensland but worth remembering, the lead up wasn’t smooth sailing for the Blues heading into Origin I either with plenty of off-field distractions.

Queensland thrives on being the underdog and has plenty of big game experience, having won the last three series deciders so don’t expect them to be flustered by the occasion.

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WRAP

NSW’s stronger defence has been the key to them bridging the gap. Starting from 2009, Queensland have scored a series total points of 85, 58, 51 and last year, 44.

If NSW man-up in defence as they did in Game I, they have the ability via their outside backs to score the points required to come out on top.

Should NSW are successful on Wednesday night, it will be the first time since 2007/2008, where they won the last and first game of the respective series, that they have won consecutive Origin games

They’ve won three of their last four at ANZ with the only loss during that time being last year’s series decider, 10 – 12.

That result meant that Queensland’s last three wins in Sydney, have been by a margin of no greater than five points.

Queensland went close to pulling off another miracle in Game I and will need not to much different to turn the tables.

Expect another close, low scoring game – Game 2 has been the lowest scoring match four of the past five series.

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First Try Scorer  NSW; Michael Jennings ($11.00) and Will Hopoate ($11.00)
QLD; Darius Boyd ($10.00) and Billy Slater ($15.00)

SCORE UNDER 32.5  $1.90 with Sportsbet + get a $250 FREE BET

Odds Comparison:

New South Wales	1.65	1.40	1.34	1.65	1.41	1.60
Queensland	2.30	3.00	3.25	3.00	2.30	2.35

All odds are subject to change. Odds listed are correct at the time of the latest update.

In the news:

NSW skipper Paul Gallen has thought about lifting the State of Origin shield every day for years.

No one has lost more Origin series than Gallen, who’s endured the increasingly bitter taste of interstate defeat eight times.

After their epic 12-8 win in game one, NSW are in the box seat to finally end Queensland’s unprecedented eight-year winning streak, and Gallen says it’s something that’s been on his mind for years.

“I have to be honest, I have thought about Origin every day for years now, it has been a huge goal of mine,” Gallen said head of Wednesday’s game two at ANZ Stadium.

“I have had a chequered Origin career, up and down, missing games and injuries and stuff like that.

“I try not to think about it. I try to think about what I have to do to get there, but I would be lying if I said I never thought about it (winning).”

Gallen says the Blues owe it to their long suffering fans to finally end their Origin drought.

After a long line of Origin defeats, the players are aware of what’s on the line.

“I just take every Origin game as it comes these days, I don’t take anything for granted,” he said.

“I don’t take the fact that we won game one as anything – this is the decider for us and that is the attitude we are taking into the game.

“It is like game one for us again.

Gallen says the NSW players need to be mentally strong and if they have any doubts heading into Wednesday’s blockbuster they’ll be punished.

But as momentum builds, so does expectation, and he’d like nothing better than to give the home fans something to cheer about.

“It amazes me how big Origin gets every year,” he said.

“It has been huge and the expectation has got even bigger.

“To come down here and win in front of our home fans would be great not just for us but for them as well, they have backed us for a long time now and we probably owe them.”