SECOND COMING
IT was another Queensland Origin miracle.
The Blues were just three minutes away from sealing just their second series in 12 years but again Queensland broke their hearts last night.
For much of the game, Queensland again looked too slow and too old.
But it was the old firm that created the magic late in the game to conjure up a 18-16 win.
Cameron Smith and Billy Slater set up the final try, with Michael Morgan popping a brilliant pass to Dane Gagai, who has now scored seven tries in just six games.
Then Johnathan Thurston, who had been playing with just one arm, stepped up to slot the conversion from just inside the sideline to send the series to a decider next month.
“That’s what dreams are made of, kicking the winning goal,” Thurston said.
“We hung in there and kept on fighting and working for each other and got there in the end.
“We’ve got great self-belief and we never give up and keep working for each other and that was evident tonight.”
Thurston will retire at the end of this series but whether he turns out in Game Three in Brisbane on July 12 is in doubt.
The little master was in agony by the end of the match and how he was able to get through the game without being targeted by the Blues is a mystery.
The Maroons repeated the mistakes of Game One late in the first half, allowing two quick Blues tries to go into the break trailing by 10 points.
But they didn’t concede a point in the second half and when they were within reach in the final 20 minutes, a miracle seemed inevitable.
It was massively disappointing for the Blues, who shut up
IT TOOK EVERY OUNCE OF EFFORT FROM EVERY PLAYER ON THE FIELD TONIGHT TO GET THE VICTORY SKIPPER CAMERON SMITH
shop in the final 20 minutes as they tried to protect a lead.
“We gave away cheap yards and you can’t do that to a team like Queensland,” NSW captain Boyd Cordner said.
“I felt like we were in the game but we just didn’t ice the sets like we were in the first half. You just can’t give them too much quality ball.
“We’ve got another game so we’ll keep our heads up and keep going.”
Queensland captain Smith praised the courage of his troops to hang in during the tight match.
“It took every ounce of effort from every player on the field tonight to get the victory,” Smith said.
“I don’t think there were too many people that thought we could do it but we had a belief.
“It’s going to be a massive game, Game Three.”
Smith said there was great belief in the Maroons camp at half-time despite the Blues’ dominance in the period leading into the break.
“There were just a couple of things we didn’t execute properly that gave NSW a chance,” Smith said.
“But we were always confident that if we held on the footy and got our structures right we wold be right.”
It looked as though it would be a different story for Queensland in the opening 20 minutes.
But as soon as starting front-rowers Dylan Napa and Jarrod Wallace came off, Queensland was loose in the middle of the field and immediately paid the price.
There had been plenty of pressure on Tim Glasby ahead of his debut and he was the villain late in the first half, making two poor defensive reads that led to breaks for tries to Blues pair Brett Morris and Mitchell Pearce.
The middle was again the problem for Queensland but they tightened it in the second half, with Napa playing a massive role when he returned to the game.
The Blues had little direction in the second term and were guilty of watching the clock, giving Queensland the chance to pull off yet another Origin miracle.