Maroons prove that there is no dead rubber in Origin

There was no doubt that the Maroons wanted it badly. Really bad.

They wanted to send a winner to Billy Slater. They wanted to avoid the painting.

And for the first 37 minutes, it seemed like they would easily get those things done. Their possession statistics were incredible.

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Queensland had ten more sets than NSW. They made 460 meters more with the ball in hand. They allowed the New South Welshmen to make 90 more tackles.

They had done it thanks to a superb game from the front and a good kick from Daly Cherry-Evans. They forced five sets of rehearsals through dropping out, and their focused and determined play allowed the Blues to concede five penalties to their loners.

They had the ball for ten minutes more than the Blues in the first 40.

And in the 31st minute, Jimmy Maloney was sentenced for deliberately blocking Billy Slater's race. by 18 at least.

However, for all this domination, the Blues would not yield to the defense.

Like Leonidas and his 300 Spartans, defending the hot gates of the Battle of Thermopylae, the New South Welshmen formed a defensive wall that the Maroons could only cross through an attempt to intercept Valentine Holmes. in the 11th minute. and again, they threw their frames on the blue wall. Again and again, they were pushed back.

Then, in the 37th minute, Cam Munster threw a wide ball to Dane Gagai and Corey Oates, who had a two-on-one. The problem is that Tom Trbojevic intercepted the pbad and ran 90 yards to score.

Suddenly, it was 8-6 and all this possession counted for nothing.

Then, three minutes later – At the stroke of half-time – Josh McGuire made a bad play in defense and allowed Jim Tedesco to score intact next to the posts.

Suddenly it was orange and the blue Spartans of Boyd Cordner had not only repelled the Chestnuts. were in the lead. They had resisted a seemingly endless siege and had gone out one way or another

Boyd Cordner of NSW Blues. (AAP Image / Dave Hunt)

It seemed disastrous for Queensland. When Kevin Walters told Darren Lockyer at half-time that he was confident that all his team had to do was repair his attack and that they were going to win the victory, I did not know too much who he was trying to convince: we or himself

It seemed like we had seen the wind turn and NSW was about to roll over Queensland.

When Walters replaced Andrew McCullough in the 31st minute by Ben Hunt, the half-man's pbad suffered immediately. McCullough's balls give his runners an advantage. Although Harbor Bridge does not pbad, the Hunt cast did not do it. Plus, McCullough's half-simulacre defense is unparalleled, while the half-defender of the Dragons is not a noted defender.

But McCullough will not return to the field for the rest of the game.

When the second half resumed, the Blues made 90 meters on their first set, Tom Trbojevic pbading through Ben Hunt during the set. Maloney returned to the field in time for the last game in the series and forced a rehearsal set.

The writing was surely on the wall. Not only did the Maroon dynasty come to an end, but the Blues would ransack their capital and salt their fields.

But the Chums held up. The Blues came closer but could not cross the defense of the Maroons. The Blues won possession in the second half but that's all they've won.

In the 51st minute, Valentine Holmes finished a big move back to score in the corner to level the scores. Then seven minutes later, Daly Cherry-Evans crowned a triumphant return to State of Origin, pausing a Cameron Munster break to score under the posts.

Although Billy Slater received the official match award, DCE could not have been far from this award. It's hard to imagine a scenario – an outside injury – where Manly's point guard will not keep the Maroon's number 7 in 2019.

Queensland had a six-point lead and did not have it. would not give up, despite a determination (19659003) Finally, the victory returns to the small moments.

With his team in possession at the 50th minute, the beginner Tariq Sims decided to attack the marker, Ben Hunt, and driving him into the ground was a good option. Gerard Sutton was not in agreement and granted a penalty to the Maroons. The Queenslanders took full advantage of their possession and position on the field as Holmes scored on the next set.

Valentine Holmes of Queensland (Photo by Bradley Kanaris / Getty Images)

The Maroons line in the 64th minute, David Klemmer played the ball and quickly followed this by deliberately tripping Ben Hunt . Ash Klein saw it and gave the Maroons a very comforting penalty.

Latrell Mitchell made a silly mistake. Angus Crichton held the ball too long rather than releasing James Roberts with a fastball.

These little moments are part of what ended up separating the two sides.

However, none was more important than Valentine Holmes. take a great interception in the 77th minute. Outnumbered, he knew he had to cut the ball. He flew to the ball with the kind of despair that you only see in the finals or games of the original state.

That he did not just cut the ball, but that he kept possession of it, was vital.

There were so many great performances on both sides, no player could be distinguished for playing a bad game. . For Queensland, I felt that Daly Cherry-Evans, Valentine Holmes, Billy Slater and Gavin Cooper were the best, with Josh Papalii doing very well in the front row.

Daly Cherry-Evans of Queensland (Photo by Mark Kolbe / Getty Images

Tom Trbojevic, Damien Cook, Jake Trbojevic and Tyson Frizell – whose pursuit on Valentine Holmes' On the other side of the field once again proved his superb speed – were very good for New South Wales

It is normal that Billy Slater was able to get out of the winning stage, finishing with 31 titles. Originally, the same number as Brad Fittler and Wally Lewis – which is a very suitable company for the Innisfail boy.

It has been an ornament of interstate competition since it's started to Maroon 15 years ago.

And the match was superb, probably the best of the series

This proves, once again, that there is no dead rubber in the state of origin