Queensland are the best modern day Rugby League side ever assembled! How do you prepare for a game that is seen as unwinnable?
Before all the thoughts of Queensland invincibility run through our heads we need to remember one thing. They are human. They brush their teeth in the morning (at least I hope so), they put their pants on one leg at a time. While Queensland resemble a well oiled machine they aren't one. Just 17 blokes. One football team. I remember being told in High School before the team played an unwinnable game against Matraville Sports High that 'they weren't that good'. It worked, one of the greatest upsets you could ever imagine. So great in fact that people I tell in Sydney don't believe.
And there is a key word right there. BELIEVE!!!
New South Wales must believe and I feel as though they do. I have been watching a lot of old Origin matches and highlights lately on youtube. Some of them great moments for the Blues, others that meant more for the banana benders north of the Tweed. 2009 and 2010 are years that NSW didn't believe in their ability and they got hammered. 2007 they actually outscored the Maroons but lost at the big moments. 2008 the Blues were beaten by one moment of Johnathon Thurston brilliance late in game 3. 2011 took the greatest half of attacking football ever seen in Origin to put the blues away. 2011 gave great optimism for Blues fans. In reality the series should have been over after game 2.
Of all the matches I watched the games where Ricky Stuart has been coach in '05 and last year have dominated my viewing time. What gives me great belief that this will be the year we get the trophy back is the character that all Ricky Stuart coached sides have. We saw it last year, a much greater resolve that previous years. Game 3 2005 is a perfect example of what Ricky Stuart is capable of in terms of getting maximum performance out of players. Queensland spent the first 20 minutes of that match attacking the NSW line. The defence refused to buckle, set upon set the Cane Toads were denied. They make one error and NSW go straight up the other end and counter punch. They win that match and the series by a big margin.
Games 1 and 2 in 2011 had exactly the same thing. I remember watching game one and saying to myself that I hadn't seen a gutsier effort in defence. The Blues hit the front in a matter of minutes after. The exact same thing happened in game 2 and the Blues came out the other side in the second half to give a performance that many people will talk about for years to come.
2012 we are lead once more by the freight train that is Paul Gallen. Great strike power out wide with some classy light weight forwards in the middle designed to run the behemoth Queensland pack ragged. Enigma's such as Jennings and Hayne have struggled at club level but are proven Origin performers. They love it when the lights are on bright.
In the Daily Telegraph this morning I heard Ricky Stuart quoted as saying back in January that "losing isn't an option, we must win".
The line in the sand has been drawn and the time is now. WE MUST BELIEVE.
Go the Blues!!!
No comments:
Post a Comment