2010 RUGBY LEAGUE STATE OF ORIGIN OVERVIEW
Battle Counter (After this Series) – QLD 15 v NSW 12 (2 drawn series)
Highest Crowd – 68,753
Average Crowd – 60,821
Total Crowd – 182,464
2010 Rugby League State of Origin Snapshot – The Rugby League State of Origin 2010 series will see the continuation of the biggest rivalry in Australian sport. The New South Wales Blues will have home advantage as they try to stop the Queensland Maroons from striking up another series win. This year the State of Origin will be beamed into over 90 nations around the world. Like usual the Series will be a ratings winner for Rugby League in Australia and help cement the code as Australia’s number one sport.
New South Wales will have the advantage this year with the 1st and 3rd games scheduled in for ANZ Stadium at Homebush. Queensland’s ANZ Stadium in Brisbane will host the 2nd game in the series.
In the build-up to the first game drama hit the Queensland camp with Cameron Smith ruled out with an elbow injury. Matt Ballin stepping into the dummy half role for Queensland. On the back of this NSW went from underdogs to favourites for the first game in Sydney. New South Wales also had injury concerns with Timana Tahu. Trent Barrett was put on standby just in case. Major changes were averted with Tahu passing his final fitness test. The Blues went into game one with a fairly smooth preparation compared to Queensland drama filled week.
Heavy rain fell down the day of the game. Many predicted a close low scoring game but Origin is always full of surprises. The first half saw QLD go to the break leading 12 – 8. The 2nd half saw the game open up with QLD running away with the game. NSW scored a few late try’s to keep within striking range but eventually ran out of time going down 24 – 28 in the first game of the series.
Prior to the 2nd game Timana Tahu stormed out of the New South Wales team due to racism claims. The Blues preparation was thrown into turmoil as a media storm engulfed the team. Joel Monaghan was rushed into camp to replace Tahu. Andrew Johns stood down from his roll in the NSW coaching team. As John’s comments were directed at Queensland players the tension between the two team increased significantly.
At a packed stadium in Brisbane tensions boiled over with all in brawls taking place throughout the match. In the end New South Wales just fired up the Queenslanders even more with the Maroons putting on a clinical display to wrap up the series. The final score of 34 – 6 was an embarrassment to the New South Wales blues who had just lost their 5th series in a row.
The 3rd game was all about Queensland completing a clean sweep of the series. With 10 minutes to go in the 2nd half of the final game at ANZ, NSW was in a position (18 – 13) to win the game. As always the Queensland team seemed to step up a gear when it counted and raced in a few quick tries to seal the series white wash.
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2010 STATE OF ORIGIN TEAMS
New South Wales Blues
Kurt Gidley, Jarryd Hayne, Matt Cooper, Timana Tahu, Brett Morris, Jamie Lyon, Brett Kimmorley, Anthony Watmough, Ben Creagh, Trent Waterhouse, Michael Weyman, Michael Ennis, Josh Perry. Interchange: Brett White, Tom Learoyd-Lahrs, Jamal Idris, Luke Lewis (Added for Game II – Beau Scott, Trent Barrett, Mitchell Pearce, Paul Gallen. Nathan Hindmarsh, Luke O’Donnell, Joel Monahan) (Added for Game III – Michael Jennings, Michael Gordon, Jason King, Kade Snowden, Greg Bird, Tim Mannah)
Queensland Maroons
Billy Slater, Israel Folau, Greg Inglis, Willie Tonga, Darius Boyd, Darren Lockyer, Johnathan Thurston, Petero Civoniceva, Matt Ballin, Matt Scott, Sam Thaiday, Nate Myles, Ashley Harrison Interchange: David Shillington, Cooper Cronk, Dave Taylor, Neville Costigan (Added for Game II – Cameron Smith, Ben Hannant)
STATE OF ORIGIN SERIES
Game 1: May 26th New South Wales Blues 24 – Queensland Maroons 28 Location – ANZ Stadium, Sydney, Australia, Crowd – 68,753 (2nd biggest Origin crowd for Game 1)
Game 2: Jun 16th Queensland Maroons 34 – New South Wales Blues 6, Location – ANZ Stadium Brisbane, Australia, Crowd – 52,452 (Sellout)
Game 3: Jul 7th New South Wales Blues 18 – Queensland Maroons 23, Location – ANZ Stadium, Sydney, Australia, Crowd – 61,259
State of Origin Champions: QUEENSLAND MAROONS
