Southern Exposure For League's Big Hit
Newcastle Herald
Wednesday July 5, 2006
THE collisions in tonight's decider should so shake the rafters of the Melbourne Telstra Dome that the southern heathens might well wonder what species of madmen play this game.
Both packs in turn, in games one and two, were subject to such embarrassing physical drubbings that the resolve to dish it out rather than cop it tonight might see the game erupt violently.Whether it does or not, both sets of forwards know that pride and reputations are on the line, there's a series at stake and a treasured place in the history of Origin for the winners.These two teams are also standard bearers for their code in a city which may not understand or appreciate the grimness of the physical battle for territory and field position. But they will grudgingly acknowledge the toughness of the men fighting for every centimetre of it.Their aerial code, where the ball is so rapidly transferred via kicking across a vast landscape of no offside, is comparatively loose. There is no brick wall of bodies to penetrate.But there is one thing the followers of all codes understand: possession rules. The skirmishes by which it is obtained in that southern game can be violent and dangerous, particularly when airborne assassins launch themselves from the blind side with an elbow aimed at the ear. But when it's eyeball to eyeball on the ground, it's only push and shove down there. There's something more admirable about physical contests that are conducted face to face so that you can actually see your opponent. Even the old-time gunslingers in the movies had rules about shooting a man in the back.So will our southern cousins appreciate the seriousness of an arm wrestle to gain territorial supremacy and field position? Or will they recognise the tell-tale signs when one side tilts the scales moving from kick-clearance into the kick-pressure zone?Will it occur to referee Steve Clark that he can improve the spectacle and while he's doing it get a good 10 metres by penalising both sides early for being inside the 10 or jumping the gun when they've got their opposition pinned down?If he supplies a couple of piggybacks out of trouble to each side early, the players will pull their horns in and the benefit to the game will be a better 10 metres, fewer grinding clearance sets and more entertaining goal-line attack sets.Will the teams go for broke in attack in search of holes, or will the necessity to win take the form of a grim trench war?Will the ref and the players know that back in 1994, an Origin game was showcased to a Melbourne audience and drew what was then an Australian league record crowd of 87,161 to the MCG?Will they also be aware that the game was strangled by a combination of 21 penalties and a grim NSW team that had lost game one and didn't give a toss how ugly they won game two?Darren Lockyer, Brent Tate and Rhys Wesser will defend the right edge for Queensland. They have been rehearsing defensive movements because there is concern about Wesser's inexperience on the edge. Will NSW target them because Wesser's wing is seen as a lucrative pathway to the try line?NSW coach Graham Murray has a plan to lighten Mark Gasnier's defensive workload by shuffling him outwards to defensive position No.2 alongside the winger. Can Queensland target Gasnier, forcing him to work far harder in defence than he is accustomed, thus reducing his attacking potency?Can Queensland put so much pressure on Craig Gower's kicking game that they force some charge downs or alternatively, pressure NSW into going to the far less-experienced kicking options Danny Buderus, Gasnier or Brett Hodgson?How guilty do the NSW big men feel that the two halves from game two were sacked? How much more determined will they be this time? If the Queensland team responded so magnificently to scathing criticism after game one, can they possibly produce the same response after a resounding victory?Do ambushes go in turns? If so, Queensland should be wary because it's NSW's turn to spring one. Surely neither side can possibly go into a decider and be shocked by the brutal onslaught of their opposition.My hope for this one is that it displays everything that is great about the code: fearless running, a ferocious advantage-line battle, brilliant tactical kicking and breathtaking ball movement in the quest for tries.To complete the picture, may the game hang in the balance until the dying seconds when the side most deserving grabs victory with a slashing try and, even if Melburnians don't understand the finer points, may those southerners be heard to mutter: "Wow, what a game!"ORIGIN III: KEY MATCH-UPSDARREN LOCKYER v MARK GASNIEROne is a former fullback who will go down as one of the greatestfive-eighths to play the game, the other is the best centre goingaround about to play just his fourth game in the No.6 jumper.Lockyer is all class and has been the man to make thingshappen for the Maroons in recent years. Gasnier is the X-factor- there may be question marks over his kicking and passinggame, but Gasnier with more of the ball will surely be a plus.PETERO CIVONICEVA v WILLIE MASONThe decider. Mason took the honours in game one with oneof the best games by a running forward in the history of theinterstate series, but it was Civoniceva's turn in game two as helifted the Maroons pack onto his broad shoulders and carriedthem to a resounding win. The Maroons did well to limit Mason'seffectiveness in Origin II, which in turn led to the demise of theBlues pack.JOHNATHAN THURSTON v CRAIG GOWERThe two generals. Gower is NSW's No1 playmaker, the man theyoriginally went with for Origin I, so it is no surprise Blues selectorstook a punt on his match fitness and rushed him in for thiswinner-takes-all contest. Thurston can take a game by the scruffof the neck, but his main role will be to do what he did so effectivelyin Origin II - take some of the heat off chief playmakerDarren Lockyer.
© 2006 Newcastle Herald