The State of Origin series continues on Wednesday when the roadshow moves deep into Blues territory as the New South Wales Blues take on the Queensland Maroons in a pivotal clash at the ANZ Stadium in Sydney.
Queensland took the early initiative with a win in Adelaide last week and they can return home next week with the Shield already secured if they can find a win here. New South Wales will be desperate to find a win to set up a winner takes all decider next week.
Where to watch
The game will be available to watch on the Sky Sports Main Event and Sky Sports Arena channels with the build up beginning at 9.05am and the match due to kick off at 9.10am.
New South Wales
There is no doubt New South Wales will have been very disappointed with last week. It wasn’t just the loss but to lose from 10-0 up and seemingly cruising even when they weren’t playing well will have been all the more galling. Ultimately once they allowed Queensland to get on top they were unable to get the initiative back again. There are a few things for them to build on for this match but the first thing must be the way they control the ball when they have the lead, should they get it.
The big concerns for me for the Blues were the way their forwards never really got to grips with the game but their half-back combination just didn’t work at all and it is no surprise that Brad Fittler has made a change in there. They had the better back line on paper in Adelaide but never really got the chance to show it because their forwards couldn’t get hold of the game. They will be wanting a lot more from their pack here.
Queensland Maroons
Queensland are in that wonderful position that they are 1-0 up in the series after winning a match which going into it would have been the one they expected to struggle the most in given that they had injuries and suspensions hampering them. Having won that match and getting a couple of big players back they will feel that they can win the Shield here and now and make the final game in Brisbane a celebration lap.
If they are going to do that then their forwards need to win the battle once again. Their pack got them into some wonderful positions which their halves could capitalise on and when they got up a head of steam and got themselves in front they controlled things very well. The experience of Wayne Bennett as a coach is something that shouldn’t be underestimated as the Maroons emerged from the break a different side last week.
Special Offer
Opt in and place 5 accumulators either in a Boylesports shop or online and get an acca free! Click the image below to bet. ALL CUSTOMERS! 18+ T&Cs apply. Gamble Aware.
Team News
New South Wales have been forced into a change with captain Boyd Cordner forced out because of the head injury he sustained last week while Luke Keary has been dumped. Cody Walker comes in for Keary and Nathan Brown comes into the 17.
Valentine Holmes returns for the Queensland Maroons at full-back and he will significantly strengthen them. Cameron Murray and Christian Welch miss out with injured while Coen Hess has been dropped. Dunamis Lui is among those coming in.
Betting
I expected New South Wales Blues to take the lead in the series in the first game but this one feels a lot more even to me with the injuries that the Blues have and the players that are back for the Queensland Maroons so although they are away from home I’m a little surprised they are getting 10 points on the handicap here. Admittedly it is hard to see the Blues playing as poorly here with the series on the line but at the same time there is natural improvement to come from the Maroons.
Often these Origin matches are won in the forwards and there is no doubt in my mind that the edge there goes to the Queensland outfit and there is always the added bonus that if something is going drastically wrong for them then Wayne Bennett has the class to change it up. We saw in the first game that there are question marks over whether Brad Fittler can do likewise. This should be competitive just going on what is at stake and it might be that the Blues are good enough to win and set up the decider but I like the Maroons to keep within 10.
Tips
Back Queensland Maroons (+10) to beat New South Wales Blues for a 3/10 stake at 2.00 with Betfred
Copyright secured by Digiprove © 2020
