New South Wales Blues

The New South Wales Blues have lost the State Of Origin series for a fourth straight year and no doubt there will be repercussions, but should Craig Bellamy be made the scapegoat and get sacked from his position?

The Queenslanders seem to be on to something with using a non-NRL coach in Mal Meninga, so should New South Wales follow suit and look to gain the services of a coach that isn't affiliated with any of the NRL clubs?

If NSW did decide to hire a new head coach for the 2010 series, there are a number of possible replacements for Bellamy.

The newest coach on the market for next year is Brad Fittler after the Sydney Roosters decided not to renew his contract after this season. He's one of the biggest legends in NSW State Of Origin history, still holding the record for most appearances throughout his career. Could you imagine a coaching team of Brad Fittler, Andrew Johns, and Laurie Daley!

Stuart Raper got the axe from the Cronulla Sharks a couple of years ago when they decided to pick up Ricky Stuart. He has plenty of experience when it comes to NRL players, but would he be right for the job?

Graham Murray is a former NSW coach, so he knows what it takes to get the job done. Should NSW give him another chance to prove himself after being in the wilderness for a couple of years?

Chris Anderson. If he was stressing out while coaching the Roosters, then I don't think he'd last a single game as coach of NSW. I would give this a one in a million chance of happening.

Wayne Pearce has been there before. He's won matches, lost matches, and even had a draw. With a team of former Origin greats backing him up, and maybe a bit of luck, he could definitely get the job done. I wonder who his pick would be for the halfback position?

Tommy Raudonikis. He represented NSW during his playing days and his coached his beloved Blues as well. The inventor of the "cattledog" call could be just what State Of Origin needs going into the 2010 series.

Phil Gould. The great "Gus wonder" is the most successful coach in NSW State Of Origin history, but he has said on numerous occasions that his coaching days are over. Is there anything that could persuade him to come back?

Who do you think it will be?

Ladies and gentlemen... I give you the reason why the Blues lose games in the annual State of Origin series.

It isn't that the Queensland side is that good, or that the New South Wales selectors can't pick a side if their life depended on it (which for next year, it should). It is because the man in the photo either goes to the game, or watches it at the pub with me and my friends. Let us call him... Mickey.

You don't think that one insignificant man can be the reason? And that i'm drunk?

Before our friend Mickey was invited to an Origin game in 2007, me and my friends had never seen a losing game when we went to them. Draws, yes. Losses, no.

When we lost the game that year that we attended, we blamed Mickey immediately. Hell, we were drunk, angry and needed an target for our abuse.

Mickey was it.

The next year, we didn't invite him and we won. When he watched the next game at our friends house... we lost.

We didn't exactly have proof that he was a jinx until this year, when he attended the pub to watch Game I. We lost.

Game II, he was re-invited along with a few other friends. We lost.

But Game II went so far as to prove our theory beyond all doubt. Whenever Mickey was out of site, and had gone to the toilet or to get another beer, the Blues would score and would generally be playing good football.

When he came back, a New South Welshman would drop the ball near our line, allowing a Queenslander to score.

Game III, where was he? At home... or something. He didn't come out to the pub with us, because we told him he wasn't allowed. What happened? We won.

Coincidence? I think not!

Is there some magical force driving the Blues to lose when Mickey appears? Perhaps.

Perhaps there is some God, that sits on a stack of clouds in the sky (where else would clouds be, I don't know) making the Blues lose when he notices that Mickey is there, watching in hope that we might send the young man to him soon... perhaps.

So, the experts can go on and say that this is the greatest Queensland side of all time, and that is the reason why they win. But I know the truth.

I feel tempted to invite him to one of next years games, as we plan to go to all three, just to see if our theory is correct and that it is him.

But then again... I want to win next years series. And giving Queensland a handout win by having Mickey there again is not the best start.

Note: The names of the accused have been changed, any resemblance to those living or deceased is purely coincidental... huh?

On Wednesday night at a very dewy Suncorp Stadium we saw the final game in the 2009 State Of Origin Series. There were some great tries, some brutal defense, and even a traditional State Of Origin punch up!

These two great teams proved that there is no such thing as a "dead rubber". Even though the series had already been won by Queensland for a record 4th time in a row at 2-0, New South Wales proved that they will not stand down for their northern rivals.

The first try went to QLD's Dallas Johnson after a dubious video ref decision. He was ruled  to have grounded the ball with his torso, which I think is one of the most ridiculous rules in the game today. The player needs to have control of the ball for the try to count in my opinion. Jonathan Thurston then converted the try. QLD 6-0.

Next we saw NSW's Ben Creagh run a perfect line through a hole in the defense and cross the line. Michael Ennis made the conversion look easy. 6-6.

The next scoring opportunity went to David "Wolfman" Williams, where after he had placed the ball on the ground, Thurston ran across and accidentally kicked him in the head resulting in a very rare eight point try. NSW 14-6.

A special mention has to go to one of the most spectacular no try rulings that you'll ever see in a game of Rugby League. The ball was kicked into the NSW try area and it was chased down hard by QLD's Justin Hodges, who leaped into the air and performed some sort of a somersault to try and ground the ball. He was unsuccessful, but it looked great!

Hodges soon got another chance at the try line and this time he got through. He had to beat four NSW defenders, but he showed some awesome strength to get there. NSW 14-10.

Dragon's superstar Josh Morris was next to cross the chalk for NSW. He showed some real tenacity and desperation to gain some hard earned points for his team. Gidley converted the try. NSW 20-10.

Arguably the fastest man on the park, Billy Slater, proved yet again why he is the best fullback in the NRL today. He chased down a ball with blistering speed and forced the ball down just short of the dead ball line. I personally think he knocked it on, but the game goes on. Thurston kicked the goal. NSW 20-16.

Ben Creagh got his chance in the spotlight next for NSW. He grabbed the ball in both hands and jumped towards the line in a superman-like effort. The ball somehow landed on the try line as Creagh landed on the grass outstretched. Ennis kicked a successful conversion. NSW 26-16.

Sometime after that, NSW was awarded a penalty close to the QLD try line. NSW elected to kick and earned another two points to now lead 28-16.

The game seemed to wind down somewhat once it was clear that NSW had the game wrapped up. That was clearly not the case when a fight broke out involving veteran Queenslander Steve Price. He was eventually laid out and had to be taken off the field by a medicab.

In the last minute of the game alone, one player was sent off (Trent Waterhouse), and two others were sin-binned (Ben Creagh and Sam Thaiday). Not since Gordon Tallis in 2002 had a player been sent off in State Of Origin.

Tensions flared yet again at the end of the match as the final buzzer went off. Both teams settled down and ended up shaking hands, like all good sportsman do. The final score: NSW 28 - QLD 16.

These players, these warriors, showed no fear and absolutely no self preservation. They provided the fans with a classic State Of Origin match that won't be forgotten anytime soon. There were a few interesting things to come out of the game.

Brett Kimmorley seems to have made up for "that pass" that lost NSW the series in 2005. He played a very good game for the blues with easily the best kicking game of the night. It's a shame that NSW hasn't stuck by him for the last few years.

It's great to see that the NSW assistant coaches, Laurie Daley and Andrew Johns, still have all the passion they had when they were playing. They rode every play during the game from on the end of their seat.

Jared Hayne would have to be the NSW player of the series. He literally carried the blues through the first two games and had another solid game this time around.

Queensland definitely got revenge on Trent Barrett for what he did to Greg Inglis in game two. The first time he hit the ball up, there was a wall of maroon to drive him into the ground.

The State Of Origin series has finished for another year, but the rivalry will never be over.