Monday 22 June 2009

State of Origin Game Two 2009 Video Preview

QUEENSLAND have defeated NEW SOUTH WALES 24-14 in Game TWO - to claim a 4th successive State of Origin Series win! Congratulations to the Maroons - simply a better side than the tripe NSW keep putting on the field. Man of the Match was Sam Thaiday - still dumbfounded as to how - on a night when no Queenslander really shone above the rest and only two New South Welshmen stood up to be counted. To get a full Origin Two Video Review check out this site on THURSDAY 25 JUNE on the www.wdnicolson.blogspot.com front page.
Video Previews of GAME TWO - TUESDAY 23 JUNE 2009. IN DEPTH VIDEO PREVIEW OF GAME TWO QUEENSLAND LEAD SERIES 1-0 after a 28-18 win in Game One on June 4. Check out the Video Previews above for a comprehensive look at Game II. Team News Update: Tuesday 23 June 2009: Peter Wallace the player NSW got absolutely nothing good from in Game I could find himself benched for most of Game II with the addition of Josh Morris to the bench for Craig Wing. Before the DT ran a story on this today I'd been considering the option of moving Jarryd Hayne to fullback and having Kurt Gidley play in the halves with Wallace dropping back to the bench. Wallace was borderline useless in Game I and the less he has to do with running the team the better in my opinion but the bigger question his possible demotion raises is why didn't NSW Selectors have the foresight to see that Wallace was expendable and useless off the bench and retain Campese instead. One thing Campese would've given was some impact off the bench but alas... the Blues are still a chance in the Series. But how much of a chance? Check out the Video Previews Above. Game KICKS-OFF around 8-8:10pm AEST from ANZ Stadium Sydney. QUEENSLAND MAROONS - GAME II 2009 Backs: B Slater, D Boyd, G Inglis, W Tonga, I Folau, D Lockyer (c), J Thurston. Forwards: S Price, C Smith, P Civoniceva, A Harrison, S Thaiday, D Johnson. Bench: K Hunt, B Hannant, N Myles, M Crocker. Extras: N Costigan. VERSUS
NEW SOUTH WALES BLUES - GAME II 2009
Backs: K Gidley (c), J Hayne, J Lyon, J Monaghan, D Williams, T Barrett, P Wallace. Forwards: B Kite, R Farah, M Weyman, B Creagh, L O'Donnell, P Gallen. Bench: J Morris, J Poore, G Stewart, A Watmough.
PREDICTIONS GAME TWO: SCORE: NSW 23 def. QLD 22 FIRST TRY SCORER: Ben Creagh (NSW) LAST TRY SCORER: Israel Folau (QLD) MAN OF THE MATCH: Trent Barrett (NSW) How it may play out: First Half. NSW 6-0 NSW open the scoring with Ben Creagh barging over from a Trent Barrett offload on the left side next to the posts, Gidley converts. NSW 6-4 Israel Folau goes over from a Lockyer cut out pass across the face of whichever QLD centre plays on the right side, NSW defence can't stop the big fella but Thurston cannot convert from the right touchline. NSW 12-4 Jamie Lyon does something at Origin level racing through to touch down a Robbie Farah grubber kick from dummy half. Gidley converts. NSW 12-10 Queensland strike back just before half-time in typical fashion with a Jarryd Hayne dropped bomb spilling to Willie Tonga who goes over untouched. Thurston converts and there's only two points in it at the break. Second Half. QLD 16-12 Ben Hannant runs all over Anthony Watmough to score a simple try by Origin standards from 10m out and Thurston extends Queensland's first lead of the match to 4 points by converting. NSW 18-16 Some Farah magic running behind some tired Queensland markers about 40m out from the line creates an untouched run to the line for Josh Morris who looms up in support as Farah draws Slater perfectly. Gidley from in front restores NSW's advantage. NSW 22-16 A stunning kick-return from Jarryd Hayne (now playing fullback) puts NSW into the QLD 20m zone and from a spread across field Morris grabs his second in the space of a few minutes to score out wide. Gidley who could ice the game by converting with under 10 minutes left but he misses the conversion and QLD still have life. NSW 22-22 With just two minutes left Queensland do it AGAIN! Folau gathers a cross field kick from Thurston outleaping the NSW defenders to score in the corner. And Thurston obliges by kicking the goal from touch and we are all tied up with 90 seconds left. NSW 23-22 Inexplicably Steven Price knocks on in a big Michael Weyman tackle as QLD bring the ball back from their first set after scoring and it takes just two tackles for Trent Barrett to size up the opportunity and pot a field goal to win the game for NSW with just 3 seconds left on the clock from 25m out. GLORIOUS - we now have a decider in Brisbane! Predicted Scorers: NSW 23 (J Morris 2, B Creagh, J Lyon tries; K Gidley 3/4 goals, T Barrett 1 Field Goal) Defeated QLD 22 (I Folau 2, D Boyd, B Hannant tries; J Thurston 3/4 Goals) @ ANZ Stadium Sydney. Series tied 1-1 with Game 3 to be played at Suncorp Stadium July 15 2009. VIDEO REVIEW COMING THURSDAY 25 JUNE