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Message: [QUOTE="Big Pete, post: 2750780, member: 1899"] As close and tense as last night's Origin was, in the cold light of day, it maybe one of the more forgettable Origin clashes in recent memories. Neither team could settle into a rhythmn, making for a very disjointed game. In the Blues case, it seemed like they only had one mode of attack - target O'Neil and Gagai. They spent a fair portion of the first and second half throwing various second man plays at them yet time and time again the rookie edge pairing stepped up and made great decisions in the heat of the moment. It was fantastic work from them, but the Blues inability to come up with an effective Plan B proved to be their undoing. They needed to get the ball into the hands of their ball-players, they needed to score points and play from in-front. Instead too often the ball would end up in the hands of a prop forward who would cart it up and burn whatever opportunities NSW had on the line. It forced them to rely on their last tackle options which ranged from very good to downright horrendous. Typically the Blues would force at least one repeat set inside the opposition attacking zone but on all but one occassion it resulted in a cheap turn-over. Queensland rarely had to work it out of their own end in any trouble. To make matters worse, Moylan and Ferguson had mediocre games and made it far too easy for Cronk to find space. The Blues pack would do all the hard-work, only for Moylan to ruin it with a lazy take. Compare his efforts to Darius Boyd and it's night and day. The Maroons never got going, but at the same time, didn't really look like they were in any serious danger. They just had enough big plays in them to get over the line and as it turns out, it was enough on the night. They appeared to be in second gear for the majority of the night and I expect a much improved performance at Suncorp. While I was impressed with Gillett's contributions, Corey Parker was the best player on the field. I guess we're so used to his contributions that we take him for granted, but his work through the middle was the difference. Plus if this media gig doesn't pay off for him, he can always join the circus. His juggling act had everybody on the edge of their seats. Also big ups to Cooper. Busted ankle and all, he had the most consistent kicking game of anyone on the night. [/QUOTE]

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