Origin
New South Wales Origin 18 d. Queensland Origin 10

2008 State of Origin Index [Draw] [Player Stats] [Club Headlines]

Location: Australia > National > Senior Representative Competition: State of Origin

1st State of Origin Player Ratings
Thu May 22, 2008
1st State of Origin Player Ratings.

Queensland Team

1. Billy Slater - 6.5
Forced to do plenty of work from kick returns all night, and was subsequently smashed on every occasion. Made a couple of customary errors and one nice run, but found it hard to get involved when his team was in attacking positions like he does at Club level.

2. Brent Tate - 6.5
Along with Slater, was called upon to do a mountain of work. Did everything that was asked of him, but was hounded all night by Anthony Quinn.

3. Greg Inglis - 6
Exposed in defence a number of times by Gasnier. Was not afforded much space when he got the ball either. Seemed to be another in a long list of Qld players playing out of position.

4. Justin Hodges - 6
Like Inglis, was unable to get the ball in space all night, and was faced with the Blues defence rushing up at every opportunity. Missed a few tackles in defence, but he was not on his own there.

5. Israel Folau - 6.5
Superb under the high ball once again. Proved a handful to tackle, but had to do most of his work coming off his own line.

6. Karmichael Hunt - 6.5
If I scored him for his personal mission of tackling Ryan Hoffman, I would have given him a 10. But when it came to the rest of his game, he struggled to provide anything for QLD in attack. Should hand his jersey to Scott Prince come Game 2.

7. Johnathan Thurston - 6
Fairly poor kicking game in the first half, which was somewhat redeemed by his grubber for the try to Tate on the siren. Seemed to struggle to find any rhythm throughout the game. In fact, some of their set moves looked fairly pedestrian. Was not given any go forward by his Qld pack.

8. Petero Civoniceva - 6.5
Took the hard yards as always, but struggled to find any other Qld player to go with him.

9. Cam Smith - 6.5
Got through a mountain of defensive work, but was well contained out of dummy-half. Seemed to get lost when Marsh came on the field.

10. Carl Webb - 5.5
One word, ordinary. Lasted 20 minutes in the first stint, totalling 8 tackles (2 missed) and 3 hit-ups. Did more in a shorter second stint, but continues to talk a big game and very rarely deliver.

11. Michael Crocker - 6.5
Tasted defeat for the first time in 30 something matches. Workhorse performance, but was probably outplayed by some of his bigger and more mobile counterparts in the NSW back-row.

12. Sam Thaiday - 6
Struggled to really make any impact in the game. Has had a couple of good weeks at Club level, but was unable to bring any of that to the big stage.

13. Dallas Johnson - 6
Tackled himself to a stand-still once again, but never threatens in attack. Should also look at getting some boots with longer studs as he always seems to slip when he takes the ball up. Copping a Willie Mason knee late in the game did not help his balance either.

14. PJ Marsh - 5
Should have stayed on the bench (or better yet back in Qld). Threw a couple of shocking passes and generally got in everyone's way. Should not expect a phone call when the next team is named.

15. Ben Hannant - 6
Did not look out of place in his debut, but like the majority of the QLD forward pack really struggled to make any impact.

16. Nate Myles - 7.5
The best player for Qld in my book. Got stuck in as soon as he took the field, and went looking for the ball at every opportunity. Was pretty much the only Qld forward to consistently get over the advantage line. Should expect a starting spot in the next game.

17. Jacob Lillyman - 5.5
Didn't get much game time. Well, at least that's the way it appeared to me.

New South Wales Team

1 Brett Stewart - 7
Made a few uncharacteristic errors, but was fairly solid overall. Was not really placed under any undue pressure throughout most of whole game. Got involved when needed in attack, and scored his customary try.

2 Jarryd Hayne - 7
Solid without being spectacular. Proved difficult to tackle as always, but had limited opportunities once the ball got into Gasnier's hands. Was fairly quiet in the second half.

3 Mark Gasnier - 8.5
Was a constant headache to the Qld outside backs all night, especially Inglis. Was able to get the ball in his hands early, which seemed to enable him to almost make line-breaks at will. No doubt Dragons' fans would like to see this from him more often.

4 Matt Cooper - 7.5
While not having the same impact as Gasnier in attack, he certainly contributed just as much in defence. Contained Hodges pretty well for most of the match. Worked well with Quinn in rushing up to shut off a number of Qld attacking raids.

5 Anthony Quinn - 8
Pretty much a debut match that ticked all the boxes. Had a good battle with Brent Tate for most of the night, and came out on top with a couple of nice tries and some good defensive efforts.

6 Greg Bird - 8
Provided good support in the halves to Wallace when needed, and was able to avoid doing too much defensive work. Showed that he has a bit of a kicking game. Provided another nail in the coffin for the role of a traditional five-eighth.

7 Peter Wallace - 8.5
Only took the line on a few times, but made up for this with an outstanding kicking and defensive game. Provided the NSW team with excellent field position for most of the match, and never appeared flustered or rushed. Looks like he will see out the whole series in the Number 7 jersey.

8 Brett White - 6.5
Only appeared get short stints on the field. Can't remember much of him in the second half. Was probably overshadowed by all the other NSW forwards. Perhaps might come under pressure for his spot from Luke Bailey in the coming weeks.

9 Danny Buderus - 7
Was busy in defence, but never really had a chance to make any darts from dummy half. Over the past couple of series he has pretty much carried NSW on his back. For this match though, he had plenty of helpers.

10 Ben Cross - 7
Started on the bench, but still got through a fair bit of work once he took the field. Gets through plenty of defence for a big man.

11 Ryan Hoffman - 7.5
Was everywhere in attack and defence for NSW in the first half. Got away a nice pass of the first try of the match. His style of play compliments nicely the bash and barge of some of the other NSW forwards.

12 Willie Mason - 7.5
Appeared to start off slowly, but really seemed to come into the match towards the back end of the first half. Terrorised the Qld right side defence whenever he got the ball, and pulled off a couple of nice tackles when needed.

13 Paul Gallen - 8.5
Even though I am not really his biggest fan, I have to say that he was great in this match. Was always there to take the next run, and worked extremely hard in defence. His build makes it difficult for anyone to get a good shot on him and he just kept chewing up the metres.

14 Anthony Laffranchi - 8
Finally got his shot in the NSW jersey, and showed that he was more than capable. Was able to get away a couple of nice off-loads, one of which led to a try, and was everywhere in defence.

15 Anthony Tupou - 7
NSW really do have a wealth of back-row talent, when you have the likes of this guy, and Laffranchi, coming off the bench.

16 Craig Fitzgibbon - 7.5
Put some of the Qld forward to shame with the way he was prepared to take the hard metres through the middle. Seems to have found another gear this year.

17 Ben Hornby - 6.5
Only saw action when approaching the 60th minute and did what was required.

State of Origin #1 Player Stats & Match Information
State of Origin Discussion Forum


NSW too strong for Queensland in Origin opener
Wed May 21, 2008
New South Wales have taken a one-nil lead in the State of Origin series after defeating Queensland 18-10 in front over 67,000 fans at ANZ Stadium earlier tonight.

The Blues forwards laid a brilliant platform from start to finish and their pressure in defence was too much for a frustrated Queensland side that got no where with the ball and the arrogance of their selectors and the so-called myth that they have more spirit.

Forwards hold the key in the big matches and the NSW pack out muscled them in defence and chewed up easy metres.

Anthony Quinn scored in the 4th minute when Brett Stewart found space following a nice Ryan Hoffman offload with Quinn finishing off the movement. Craig Fitzgibbon converts to give the Blues a 6-0 lead.

Peter Wallace was enjoying an outstanding debut at Origin level and he stamped his mark on the game in the 18th minute when a well timed cross-field saw Quinn out leap Brent Tate to score in the corner. Fitzgibbon failed to add the extras as the Blues were up 10-0.

The Blues extended their lead even further when Anthony Laffranchi popped a nice offload to Mark Gasnier running into space and passed on the inside for Stewart to score. Wallace missed a relatively easy conversion, but the Blues held a commanding 14-point lead.

Queensland scored a much needed try as the siren litterally sounded as Johnathan Thurston grubbered to the corner with Tate just getting his hand onto the ball. Thurston was unable to convert as NSW lead by 10 points at the break.

The second half was mostly an arm wrestle with both sides coming close to scoring with the highlight play being some brilliant play by Billy Slater and Greg Inglis to keep the ball in play and work the ball 80m downfield with Justin Hodges nearly scoring in the far corner. The match-winner came in the 68th minute when Gasnier cut the Maroons defence open and sent Laffranchri away for a try on Origin debut. Fitzgibbon was wide with the conversion attempt as the Blues held a comfortable 14-point lead.

Queensland tried desperately to get back into the match and nearly scored when Tate went over in the corner only to have his foot tackled into touch by Quinn. The Maroons finally got on the board in the second half when Israel Folau scored in the left hand corner. Thurston landed the goal with the Blues winning 18-10.

The match was won and lost in the selection room with the NSW side far more balanced and contained more durable footballers. Queensland badly missed Steve Price up front and the withdrawal of Darren Lockyer saw the Maroons selections make a monumental selection blunder. Karmichael Hunt was tenacious and courageous in defence, however, he is no five-eighth and that was exposed tonight. Hunt would have been perfect coming off the bench and be a fill-in utility player.

Scott Prince has been the form player in the NRL this season and his non-selection was a disgrace and completely political. The Queensland selectors sunk in their own arrogance and believed the myth about the extra pride that there is in the Maroons jersey. It's no secret that Prince and Thurston don't see eye-to-eye, but when it comes to selecting a representative side the 17 best available players have to be there and Prince is amongst them. Thurston is a brilliant dry track player and goes well when things are in his favour, but in previous Origin encounters he's had the experience and composure of Lockyer alongside him. Prince had to be there to provide the direction and space that Queensland needed.

One person who enhanced his status tonight was NSW Coach Craig Bellamy and in his own way showed the blue print in how to defeat his own side the Melbourne Storm in the way NSW contained Cameron Smith's effectiveness from dummy half by hanging off him. Bellamy brilliantly executed the Blues victory and got the best out of his players.

NSW will head up to Brisbane's Suncorp Stadium full of confidence leading one-nil and in the full knowedge one more good performance will see the Origin shied return back in their possesion. The Blues are simply at this stage too powerful in the forwards and Queensland need to come up with some answers to get themselves back into the series.

State of Origin #1 Player Stats & Match Information
State of Origin Discussion Forum

Wed May 21, 2008
• Blues forwards lay platform for dominant first half
  
Wed May 21, 2008
• State of Origin 1 LIVE on rleague.com
  
Wed May 21, 2008
• Betting for Origin hots up
  
Mon May 19, 2008
• Lewis called into NSW squad as 18th man
  
Fri May 16, 2008
• Special ANZ Stadium State of Origin and NRL offer
  
Thu May 15, 2008
• Maroons support Queensland Cancer Council
  
Wed May 14, 2008
• State of Fantasy
  
Tue May 13, 2008
• Hunt named as 5/8, Smith to captain Queensland
  
Tue May 13, 2008
• Buderus to lead Blues in game one, Kite omitted
  
Tue May 13, 2008
• Ali Baba brings Origin fans close to the action
  

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