New South Wales Blues v Queensland Maroons
Wednesday Night, ANZ Stadium
The Origin cauldron takes centre stage once again as the Maroons travel south of the border looking to square the series while the Blues aim to hoist the shield for just the second time since 2005 in front of their home fans.
While the result of Origin I wasn't overly surprising, the margin of the Blues' victory was, which has resulted in changes that haven't been seen in well over a decade ahead of Origin II.
The Maroons have made a total of seven changes in a bid to keep the 2017 series alive, a number that hasn't occurred since the end of the 2000 series while the Blues have named an unchanged 17-man side, something familiar to coach Laurie Daley given the Blues haven't done that since Daley was captain in the 1996 series.
Much was made of the Maroons' 'loyalty' to its squad members in game one but the result was such that coach Kevin Walters had no choice but to make changes for tomorrow night.
Valentine Holmes and Jarrod Wallace have been named in the run-on side in their debuts while Coen Hess and bolter Tim Glasby will come off the bench in their first game for their state.
Questions had been raised over the latter pair, with Cowboys coach Paul Green saying that 20-year-old Hess wasn't ready for the interstate arena while Glasby's lack of household name had many so-called experts (along with much of the public) almost laughing at Walters' decision.
Billy Slater and Johnathan Thurston's return adds much more stability across the park for the Maroons, which sees Darius Boyd move to the centres as Will Chambers moves to the right edge to line up on Jarryd Hayne, who took control of game one in dominant fashion.
New South Wales were able to storm through the middle of the park in game one and will look to assert their physicality again in game two, led by Andrew Fifita as he lines up on a trio of Maroon debutants.
Josh Papalii was a stand out for the Maroons in the opener and will look to slow down the rampaging Shark this time around.
The two kicking games will no doubt he heavily feature once again with Cooper Cronk regaining the aid of champion five-eighth Thurston, look for the Maroons to improve in another area they were outclassed in during the series opener.
The pair's connection at the back with Slater will also give the Maroons more spark in attack, while for the Blues, Mitchell Pearce and James Maloney fed off the strong games from their forward pack, released their outside backs at pace while winning the kicking battle with over 100 more metres than their Queensland counterparts.
Finally, the return of Billy Slater is not to be underestimated. The Maroons' defence was plagued with gaping holes in game one which saw the Blues walk through them on their way to a big win and you can rest assured that won't happen with Slater marshalling the troops from the back.
His positional work is second-to-none, while his play-making abilities, which are sure to come into play, are in career-best form as he has registered 11 try assists with the Storm so far in 2017.
Over 80,000 noisy (and largely blue) fans are expected at ANZ Stadium on Wednesday night as they hope Boyd Cordner can lift the Origin Shield in a game what would make him the first man since Danny Buderus in 2004 to win a series for the Blues in their first year as captain.
With a host of changes including both new and old faces for the Maroons, it makes for a tough game to predict however the bookies have installed the Blues as favourites with a 3.5 head start.
The form of New South Wales' big men pose a mighty challenge for the Maroons and will go a long way to deciding this match and potentially the series. While the Queenslanders have their core fighting fit and intact, we reckon it could be time for the Shield to head back south of the Tweed.
Blues by 4.
Comments are closed.