Maroons on cusp of Origin win
Billy Slater has emerged from a rookie coach’s ‘‘nightmare scenario’’ to put Queensland on the cusp of a State of Origin series win.
It’s a series that has risen above the usual war of words into a game of physical chess.
The Maroons can seal the series in Perth tomorrow at Optus Stadium after their upset 16-10 win over NSW in Sydney earlier this month.
That victory came despite injuries to winger Xavier Coates and the brief absence of bench backrower Jeremiah Nanai, forcing a dramatic mid-match reshuffle of the Queensland backline.
The quick fixes stuck before their under-rated bench and superiority around the ruck tore the game open.
In Slater and his support staff of Cameron Smith, Johnathan Thurston, Nate Myles, Greg Inglis, Josh Hannay and Allan Langer, the Maroons have the embodiment of Queensland spirit.
That’s certainly resonated on the squad, but Valentine Holmes says it is not why they won in Sydney.
‘‘I went to the wing, Capes [Kurt Capewell] into the centres and Fus [Felise Kaufusi] on an edge he doesn’t normally play,’’ he said.
‘‘We had a lot of changes and that’s a credit to Billy for the way he handled it [as] a first-time coach, seeing that happen is like a nightmare scenario and we just carried on.
‘‘You could [feel the calm] and see it out there when the boys came on.
‘‘You look around the coaching staff we have and the players – you can’t not be confident with our game plan.’’
The result, decided by a late trysaving tackle from Kalyn Ponga, forced a staggering seven changes and strategic overhaul from Blues