New South Wales are well on track to retain the State of Origin shield after a dominant 18-6 win over Queensland in Game 1 on Wednesday night.
The victory marks the Blues' two consecutive win at Suncorp Stadium - a feat they haven't achieved since 1998.
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Here's how Queensland can fight back against NSW in Game two.
Opening up Harry Grant's Game
The spine struggled to have an identity on the offensive end, with disappointing performances particularly from Daly Cherry-Evans and Harry Grant.
Cherry-Evans has opened up the field for Queensland in the past when he was direct at the line and executed within the sweeping, out-the-back shapes they drew up to open up their outside backs with flair and speed.
On Wednesday night, that wasn't the case, and the Maroons became victim of bad offence into bad defence and vice versa.
Considering how injured Grant was leading into camp, the dummy-half played a different game to what we've been accustomed to, where the quick one-hand scoop up around the ruck didn't occur at the volume he can create that action in the play-the-ball.
Solutions for the spine
- There were positive signs like the ball-playing of Tom Dearden to the halves when Harry Grant returned to the field, creating a out-the-back shape for Kalyn Ponga or Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow to wind up and have space to attack the edge defence of NSW.
- Ponga and Munster have a great feel for the game and should explore as roaming players on either side of the offence.
- Bring in a starting caliber nine for Grant to be a x-factor off the bench. The elite dummy half struggled picking his spots and by having a better start to the game opening their attack, Grant could open up the game, especially with the nature of substitutions in game one.
Lack of Go-Forward
The little amount of yardage from the forwards was a huge difference in game one.
Tino Fa'asuamaleaui and Patrick Carrigan barely cracked 100 metres each while having over 10 runs, and in the version of rugby league we have today, yardage and going forward is a huge difference.
Defensively, they conceded the first two of three penalties in the first six minutes of the game due to their lack of discipline, which led to stronger positions for NSW to start new sets and get into their half-field offence.
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Solutions for the forward pack
- Queensland need a spark in their forward and bring in Corey Horsburgh to start. The Canberra forward brings toughness and grit that this side needs.
- They need reliable contributing forwards, like Jai Arrow or Max Plath to play their role to a T.
- Start Beau Fermor to begin the game and have Reuben Cotter as a flexible option in the forward, as he can play on the edge and in the middle. Fermor's ball-playing and ability to adjust his game to different attacking actions would help the spine and forwards to open up gaps and test tired defenders.
If Queensland can address some of the concerns from game one, the Maroons could be able to fight back against NSW in the rest of the series.