New South Wales Blues vs Queensland Maroons – Wednesday night – ANZ Stadium
New South Wales
- Brett Stewart (Manly Sea Eagles)
- Jarryd Hayne (Parramatta Eels)
- Michael Jennings (Windsor Wolves)
- Josh Morris (Canterbury Bulldogs)
- Akuila Uate (Newcastle Knights)
- Todd Carney (Cronulla Sharks)
- Mitchell Pearce (Sydney Roosters)
- Tim Grant (Penrith Panthers)
- Robbie Farah (Wests Tigers)
- James Tamou (North Queensland Cowboys)
- Glenn Stewart (Manly Sea Eagles)
- Greg Bird (Gold Coast Titans)
- Paul Gallen (c) (Cronulla Sharks)
- Trent Merrin (St George Illawarra Dragons)
- Luke Lewis (Penrith Panthers)
- Ben Creagh (St George Illawarra Dragons)
- Anthony Watmough (Manly Sea Eagles)
Queensland
- Billy Slater (Melbourne Storm)
- Darius Boyd (Newcastle Knights)
- Greg Inglis (South Sydney Rabbitohs)
- Justin Hodges (Brisbane Broncos)
- Brent Tate (North Queensland Cowboys)
- Jonathan Thurston (North Queensland Cowboys)
- Cooper Cronk (Melbourne Storm)
- Matt Scott (North Queensland Cowboys)
- Cameron Smith (c) (Melbourne Storm)
- Petero Civoniceva (Brisbane Broncos)
- Nate Myles (Gold Coast Titans)
- Corey Parker* (Brisbane Broncos)
- Ashley Harrison (Gold Coast Titans)
- Matt Gillett (Brisbane Broncos)
- Dave Taylor (South Sydney Rabbitohs)
- Ben Hannant (Brisbane Broncos)
- David Shillington (Canberra Raiders)
* Sam Thaiday has been ruled out with a shoulder injury.
I don't feel entirely comfortable saying it, but here is why I think New South Wales will whinge the second game of the 2012 series:
Conditions
The weather has not been kind to Sydney in recent days. Conditions may improve between now and Wednesday night but even then, ANZ Stadium is a slippery surface for a game of football on a cold night. With the weather in mind, much of this game will be won in the middle third* of the field. That negates much of the Queensland advantage in the backline which is lengths superior to their opponent. It's in the middle third where New South Wales hold a slight advantage. The New South Wales forwards have more mobility and they can offload to create second phase play. That combination of speed, mobility and offloading will have the Queensland forwards on the back-pedal.
*For those who don't know, when you hear I or anyone else refer to the middle third assume you can slice the field horizontally into three equal sections like the German Flag. The middle third is the red section of the German flag where the big boys do much of the hard yards. By the way, don't slice up the German Flag. It's not a good look.
Confidence
Ricky Stuart and his troops have told themselves so many times that they should have won the first game of the series. Right now they actually believe it. Before game one they thought they could win. After game one they know they can win.
Enthusiasm
No doubt every player who steps out on Wednesday night will go out there wanting to win, but the New South Wales side need to win. Queensland will put in as they always do, but at some point during the game that tiny little voice might pop up (not Allan Langer...the other one) and remind them that there is still a game to play in Queensland. New South Wales don't have that luxury, and it might be the difference at the business end when both sides have to dig deep.
Verdict : New South Wales 20 - Queensland 16
First try scorer : Jarryd Hayne
Man of the Match : Robbie Farah
Comments
Submitted by Esra Star on
Hi there Mr, Thinker.
I don't think Jonathon Thurston and Cam Smith will be listening to that little voice.
Submitted by a on
I think qld IS GOING TO WIN 20-18
Submitted by Craig on
Alfie should get a jersey...gold!
Ive got the same thoughts thinker, though im balancing the Blues confidence with QLD's motivation, i think they will lift for Scott.
Im very interested to see how the ref's go, will they try to make up for the first game? personally i thought they were solid calls and Qld were the better side, but it wont be the first, second or tenth time Qld get jobbed by the whistler blowers, so we will see.
QLD 18 - NSW 16
MOTM - Slater/Tait
Submitted by a on
This is my predictions to the 20-18 QLD score line
2ND Very dry conditions up here the field looks we Should see some good attacking football.
4rd Cooper Cronk knocks on after a tough pass from Hannant. Good attacking signs early QLD. They will know they need to attack against NSW.
6th Penalty to the QLD and they will go on the attack. Matt Scott was penalised in the play the ball.
9th I will be a tough night for Robbie Farah
12th TRY NSW - Todd Carney scores after chasing down a Mitchell Pearce kick! How often do you see that. He looked like he was running in mud but he got there.
14th NSW - Josh Morris smashes the conversion over from to the left of the sticks. Good kick.
16th Trent Merrin to Paul Gallen is called forward. The Ref's have been cracking down on those line balls all last weekend.
18th TRY QLD - QLD score! Good lead up play before Jonathan Thurston through the looping cut out ball to the flying Brent Tate who scored in the corner!
20th CONVERSION QLD - Brent Tate coverts his own try from the left hand touch line. Great kick and he is pumped
22nd TRY NSW - Mitchell Pearce grubber to Brett Stewart for the try! How often do we see that pet play. Good composure from Brett Stewart to chip the ball forward before diving on it.
23rd CONVERSION NSW - Correction Robbie Farah is out there and just hit the conversion from 15m to the right of the posts.
24th TRY QLD - Nate Myles scores under the posts after out leaping Brett Stewart to a Cooper Cronk bomb. He is a massive human and Brett Stewart stood no chance!
26th CONVERSION QLD - Brent Tate locks the scores up with his conversion from out in front.
28th QLD are playing well out there. They are keeping their composure and sorting through the high volume of NSW dummy runners before making their tackles.
30th No try from the video ref after Nate Myles looked to have gone over! He just bobbled the ball trying to force the kick.
32nd NSW go on the attack after a Jonathan Thurston error. is Josh Morris probing for holes out on the left edge.
34th Billy Slater does well to field a Mitchell Pearce chip kick in the in goal and they will restart on the 20m.
37th Penalty to NSW after Jonathan Thurston strips Brett Stewart and NSW will get a chance for more points before the break.
40th QLD hold on with some great goal line defence. That'll take us into the break here and scores are locked up here.
I will be back tomorrow to tell you what will happen in the 2nd half of this game
Submitted by a on
Heres what I think is going to happen in the 2nd half
Robbie Farah will get us restarted here and the QLD need to lift. NSW of course have no pressure to win.
42nd Mitchell Pearce misses the mark with his first kick of the second half. It went about 5m over the touchline. QLD will start their set 15 out from their own line.
44th Trent Merrin throws the pass forward to Anthony Watmough. It is an interesting prospect when him and Robbie Farah are operating around dummy half at the same time. QLD are just guessing.
45th Brett Stewart is trapped in the in goal by Jonathan Thurston. Good chase and that is what you need to do with Brett Stewart
48th TRY QLD - Justin Hodges dives over for the QLD after an extended period of pressure from QLD.Nate Myles broke the line before tossing the ball over the top to Justin Hodges.
51st CONVERSION QLD - Brent Tate with a great curling kick from 10m in from touch. It never looked like missing.QLD Lead By 6
52nd QLD are rolling nicely out there. A good set after scoring a try sees NSW restarting on their 20m.
54th NSW are a beautiful side to watch when they are in motion. QLD are nullifying their weapons though. Josh Morris is teasing Darius Boyd when he gets the ball every time.
58th Melbourne go on the attack now after Darius Boyd spills a kick. Josh Morris was gassing towards him and he took a look.
59th Repeat sets for NSW in the QLD red zone.
60th Another repeat for the NSW after Todd Carney put a clever grubber in behind the line which Darius Boyd had to bat dead. Patient play from Melbourne.
62nd QLD survive! NSW are getting a little bit frustrated now as wave after wave is being turned away by QLD.
65th Darius Boyd is being bullied out there by Josh Morris. They kicked to his wing then Josh Morris waited and scragged him back into the in goal.
67th Billy Slater knocks himself out putting his body on the line as Jarryd Hayne raced to the line. He was out cold before he hit the ground! (Saved the try)
68th Matt Scott is throwing himself into NSW defence out there. He is just lining himself up at NSW props and taking off.
69th Cooper Cronk aims for a drop goal but it comes off the upright!
71st Greg Bird was almost away for NSW! Unfortunate accidental offside after Cooper Cronk came off Tim Grant's head. Falcon. Kickable penalty for Brent Tate.
72nd PENALTY QLD - Brent Tate's kick just has the legs from 35m out and just to the right of the posts! Bulldogs lead by 8.
74th Greg Bird and Matt Scott come together and exchange blows. Penalty to NSW! They'll start their set in QLD's red zone..
75th TRY NSW - Greg Bird finishes a short side move from NSW and smashes his way over the line! Darius Boyd has had a torrid game.
77th CONVERSION NSW - Robbie Farah doesn't bother waiting for the touch judges but hits the sideline conversion through the middle!
78th NSW will pack the scrum 20m out from their own line. One last try...
80th Stanley coughs the ball up after they had gone left to right and back. Anthony Watmough should have held the football there. QLD will come away with this one!
80th Brett Stewart lifts his head up in the scrum and the Ref restarted the clock! Game over, they would have had one more tackle there! QLD get the title.
I hope you've enjoyed it and I hope to do the same next serise not lke last time
Submitted by The Thinker on
a,
Sheesh! If I started reading your description now the game will be over before I finish.
Enjoy the game.
Submitted by Dubai Dan on
A, you didn't mention what the cheer leaders would be doing....
Good luck with the predictions!