Keep Calm and Go NSW! - By Mary

Is anyone else as nervous as me about State of Origin Game 2?

 

For the first time in many years it feels as though confidence is with the Blues.

 

Tonight's game sends the Blues into hostile territory when they face a sea of maroon at Brisbane's Suncorp Stadium. For the Blues, its easy, if we win tonight's game we can celebrate our first State of Origin win since 2005 (I am looking forward to who in the world gets to make the first tweet about NSW winning a SOO series). If we lose however, the stakes are raised as we'll have to close out the series in front of our home crowd in three weeks.

 

To put it simply, the Maroons were outclassed and outplayed in Game 1. They looked flat and lethargic for the first 60 minutes of the game. It was only in the last 20 minutes that QLD erupted, resulting in a late try to Darius Boyd. Unfortunately it was too little too late. Rest assured, QLD will not play like they did in Game 1. The Queensland Big 4 (Billy Slater, Cameron Smith, Cooper Cronk and Greg Inglis) will be looking to shine tonight and will not go down without a fight. To counter their attaching prowess the Blues will again look to strong performances from our man of the match from Game 1, Luke Lewis, a strong defencive effort from Robbie Marah and some Josh Dugan magic from the back.

 

The focus will also be on our fearless leader Paul Gallen this evening. Fresh from the controversy of that punch in Game 1, Gallen is my tip for man of the match tonight. I have a feeling that he is ready for a big game and that he will lead the troops to victory.

 

One possible crack in QLD's armour are the changes they have made for this game. In the past QLD have been all about consistency of squad so to see Dave Shillington and Ashley Harrison dropped for Josh Papalii and Daly Cherry-Evans is an unusual move for QLD. We will see whether it pays off.

 

New South Wales have been forced to make changes as a result of injury and discipline seeing Josh Dugan, Aaron Woods and Nathan Merritt come into the side.

 

The referees will also be facing a big test tonight. Following that punch in Game 1, referees have been strong in sending off players who throw a punch on the field. Is Origin a different type of game altogether? If a brawl erupts tonight, how consistent will our referees be?

 

I hope you all enjoy the game tonight. My prediction is New South Wales by 4 with Paul Gallen to be man of the match.

 

#uptheblues

 

Love,

 

@LadiesWhoLeague