State of Origin 2012 Game 2 Preview

The smell of rivalry is rife in the air and in the end all the slanging back and forth will come down to 80 minutes of play.  After Game 1, all the talk has been about the officials and nothing has been mentioned south of the border about the actual game. Regardless of how you look at it, Queensland are 1 game up and NSW are fighting for more than their dignity. With all the dribbling and moaning by Ricky Stuart and his NSW counterparts, all dignity has been squandered and their reputations will be in tatters if as expected Queensland make it seven series in a row.

The biggest change from game one is the appointment of archer to the list of officials, which can be seen as a small victory for NSW. One can only hope the refs do not play an integral part again and leave no reason for either side to complain. But unfortunately we all know that won't be the case. The same way that you never here a side thanking the officials for decisions that go their way.

Here are the squads for Game 2:

Greg Bird, Todd Carney, Ben Creagh, Robbie Farah, Paul Gallen (c), Tim Grant, Jarryd Hayne, Michael Jennings, Luke Lewis, Trent Merrin, Josh Morris, Mitchell Pearce, Brett Stewart, Glenn Stewart, James Tamou,  Akuila Uate, Anthony Watmough

Billy Slater, Darius Boyd, Greg Inglis, Justin Hodges, Brent Tate, Johnathan Thurston, Cooper Cronk, Matt Scott, Cameron Smith (c), Petero Civoniceva, Nate Myles, David Taylor, Ashley Harrison. Interchange: Matt Gillett, Corey Parker, Ben Hannant, David Shillington. 18th man: Ben Barba.

With little changes to the NSW team it seems like new territory. Maybe they have learnt from days of old and not chopped and changed after every loss. Whilst Queensland named an unchanged side, but due to Thaiday pulling due to injury were forced to make one change.  The only other changes I expect to come are what the actual starting sides will be. I am expecting both sides to change at least one in their starting sides.

The big question though is who will win. Even though NSW are very confident and with all the speculation of the officials after game one, Queensland should still overpower a NSW side that will be given more latitude than other other side has even seen at this level. What is yet to be seen though is whether or not the NSW have the attacking ability to score through general play and not resort to the luck of the bounce off high balls. I also doubt Billy Slater will have another bad game under the high ball and will be back to his blistering best. The Queensland forwards will be on the front foot all night and if allowed to play the ball quickly will have a backline ready to tear strips though blue. At the same time I think NSW will struggle to stop the Queensland forward momentum and in doing so will be sapped of energy when they need it the most.

Where I see Queensland scoring their tries is in the same manner they did in game 1, with a slight change.  Carney is a proven poor defender and has been made to look ordinary by Inglis on more than one occasion. What cost NSW was Carney's insistence on watching and marking Inglis out wide. With Inglis still in top form this will continue. But also watch for Taylor to be run at Carney on the fringe.  Unfortunately though I think we will see a return of previous series where players are deliberately targeted by cheap shots.  There will be more fights and like the last one I challenge you to find a Queenslander actually going in to throw the first punch, let alone a punch at all. All everyone wants is a good contest where the winning team can say they were the best. Instead I think we will see either of the following:

Queensland Victory: Celebrations by the Queensland players and credit given to the NSW players for a great contest. Meanwhile you will see the Ricky Stuart disappear getting ready for his post match spray and Paul Gallen yet again giving the most ungracious poor me speech and yet again failing to congratulate the opposition.

NSW Victory: Just cast yourself back to game 2 last year and watch a team celebrate like they have won the series and really rub it in. At the same time Queensland will acknowledge the opposition and mention about looking to game 3 and ensuring they get things right.

I am backing Queensland in a dirty affair. It will be like game 3 last year where Queensland came out of the block running and had the result assured by half-time. Only this time they won't let NSW get a sniff and put on brace of tries in the second half. Queensland by 20.

What you won't see:  Phil Gould and Ray Warren actually giving good commentary and giving credit to players on both teams.