National Rugby League

There are just five rounds to go until the NRL finals and by Sunday night, when Round 22 draws to a close, the make-up of the finals could be a lot more clear.

Only four points separate fourth from ninth on the table, so there is no margin for error. The round is expected to be an extremely tight affair, with a line of under a converted try in seven of the eight games, according to AustralianGambling.com.au.

The action kicks off when the Canterbury Bulldogs host the in-form Parramatta Eels on Thursday night, and the visitors are set to go in as hot favourites at around the $1.50 AUD mark. The confidence comes on the back of Parramatta's best performance of the season, a 28-14 win over the highly fancied Broncos.

Friday night's game between the St George Illawarra Dragons and the South Sydney Rabbitohs provides a perfect opportunity for St George to cement their spot inside the top eight after they lost to the bottom-placed Newcastle Knights last week.

While that was a poor showing from the Dragons, Souths are on a four-game losing streak themselves, so you couldn't back them with any confidence at the moment. The Red V are $1.50 favourites to get the job done against one of their oldest rivals, who are $2.65.

When the final whistle goes at the SCG, the North Queensland Cowboys and Melbourne Storm players will be running onto the field in Townsville for a crucial clash.

Melbourne remain Premiership favourites and clear on top of the table, but beating the Cowboys, who are equal on points with the fourth-place Broncos, will be no easy feat.

North Queensland have won three of their last four home games and were on a four-game winning streak before losing to the Sydney Roosters in a tight one last week.

In selection news, Storm young gun Cameron Munster will miss out with an ankle injury, with Billy Slater set to take his place in the side. Storm are $1.51 favourites to remain on top of the table with a win, while the hosts are at $2.60.

Should Melbourne slip up, the Roosters can move to top spot with a big win over the Manly Sea Eagles on Sunday. That win would be Sydney's fourth in a row, and is priced at $1.77, while Manly are assessed as a $2.08 shot in that Sunday fixture after being belted by Melbourne last week.

The Cronulla Sharks are well positioned for a tilt at back to back Premierships, sitting in third place on the ladder after a 26-12 win in New Zealand over the Warriors last Friday.

Their next assignment is a home game against the Canberra Raiders, who are all but out of finals contention despite beating fellow strugglers the Rabbitohs last week. The Sharks are solid favourites at $1.52, with their opponents out at the juicy odds of $2.56 to keep their season alive.

The Penrith Panthers are the shortest-priced favourites of the round at $1.30 to win their fifth game in a row, over the Wests Tigers ($3.60). A win would see the ninth-place Penrith side squeeze into the top eight should other results go their way.

With two points separating third and seventh on the NRL Ladder, Round 21 is expected to be crucial in determining which teams are in the best position to make the top four come the end of the season.

The most important game comes up at ANZ Stadium on Friday night where the in-form Parramatta Eels play host to the Brisbane Broncos.

The Eels have won six of their past seven to sit seventh, but just a game from the Broncos, who thrashed the Bulldogs 42-12 last week and are third.

The Broncos have won their past three against the Eels and go in as $1.50 AUD favourites, according to AustralianGambling.com.au, with the Eels at $2.62 having won their past five straight at this venue. They may be the value of the weekend.

Another key battle at the top sees second-placed Sydney Roosters host fifth-placed North Queensland Cowboys at Allianz Stadium on Saturday night.

The Roosters are looking to maintain their buffer in second place and are $1.60 to beat the Cowboys for the fourth time in five encounters. But the Cowboys, who are $2.36, can't be discounted having won their past four matches despite being without Johnathan Thurston.

Melbourne Storm remain both Premiership favourites and two points clear of the Roosters on top of the table and face a possibly tricky Round 21 match against old rivals Manly at AAMI Park on Sunday afternoon.

The Storm go into this match with major doubts over two of their stars, Cam Smith (pec) and Billy Slater (concussion), and as a result have drifted out to $1.65 in the market.

But the Sea Eagles were hammered by the Dragons last week and are $2.26 having won just once at AAMI Park from five previous matches.

The round gets underway on Thursday night at Pepper Stadium where Penrith look to further press their top-eight hopes when they host the out-of-sorts Canterbury Bulldogs.

The Panthers, who sit two points out of the finals race, kept in touch with a win over the Gold Coast Titans last week, and are $1.42 to defeat the 'Dogs, who have lost seven of the past nine. The Bulldogs lost to Penrith 38-0 at ANZ Stadium just eight weeks ago and are $2.90.

Cronulla will be looking to consolidate their position in the top four when they travel to New Zealand to play the Warriors on Friday night. The Sharks start $1.65 favourites for the match but will be wary knowing the Warriors have won six of eight matches at Mt Smart this year.

The Warriors are $2.26 having lost seven of their past nine against the Sharks including three of their past four at this ground.

St. George Illawarra breathed new life into their season with a thumping win over Manly last week, and they will be looking to continue that form when they travel to Newcastle to take on the Knights.

The Dragons are the shortest-priced favourite for the round at $1.25 against the Knights ($4.05) having won nine of the past 10 matches between the two teams.

Canberra's campaign looks to be done for after they slipped three games out of the top eight, but the Raiders are $1.54 favourites in their clash against South Sydney ($2.50) at ANZ Stadium.

The Gold Coast Titans are in a similar situation to the Raiders having slipped from contention, but they go into their clash against the Wests Tigers on Sunday as $1.26 top picks, with the Titans at $3.95.

The St George Illawarra Dragons' season is in serious danger of slipping into irrelevance ahead of Sunday's crucial NRL clash against the Manly Sea Eagles in Wollongong.

The Dragons were top of the ladder after seven rounds but have since lost seven out of their last 10 matches to slump to eighth, just two points clear of the Penrith Panthers in ninth having lost to two teams outside of finals contention in the past two weeks.

They may have thrashed the Sea Eagles 35-10 at Brookvale back in Round 6, but they go into this match as $2.14 AUD outsiders, according to AustralianGambling.com.au, with a line of 2.5 points in their favour.

Since that last meeting, Manly have won eight of their 11 matches and sit in third, six points clear of the out-of-form Dragons. The Sea Eagles are $1.72 to win their first game in Wollongong since 2003 having lost their past four there by an average of over 20 points.

That match is by far the closest in the round, with none of the other seven matches featuring two teams inside the eight.

The next closest game is expected to be between two teams who are relying on late-season revivals to replace the Dragons inside the eight, the Penrith Panthers and the Gold Coast Titans.

The Panthers host this one at Pepper Stadium and are $1.52 to the Titans' $2.56. The Panthers were second bottom just 10 weeks ago but have won six of their past eight, including victories over the Sea Eagles and the Warriors in the past fortnight.

The Titans have put together three straight wins, including one over reigning premier Cronulla last week to keep their season alive and did win last time they played in Penrith last year.

The round kicks off Thursday night when the Brisbane Broncos welcome the Canterbury Bulldogs to Suncorp Stadium. The Broncos' progress this year has been consistent but unspectacular, and in fourth place, they are well-poised to attack the last six weeks of the season.

They go into this match as $1.30 favourites, but the Bulldogs beat them earlier this year (10-7), one of Canterbury's seven wins of the year. The Dogs are big outsiders at $2.60 with a 9.5-point line in their favour. They have won three of their past four against the Broncos.

The Sydney Roosters come off the bye into what looks a straightforward clash with Newcastle on Friday night at Allianz Stadium.

The Roosters are the shortest-price favourites of the round at $1.15, with the Knights at $5.60 having won just one of their past eight against the Tricolours.

In fact, Newcastle haven't beaten the Roosters at Allianz Stadium in eight years and lost 24-6 when the teams met in Round 7.

Later that night, Cronulla look to bounce back from that shock loss to Gold Coast when they host the South Sydney Rabbitohs at Shark Park.

The Sharks slumped to fifth with that defeat and desperately need the points in this one to keep in the fight for the top four. They are $1.35 to beat the Rabbitohs, who are $3.25 with their season seemingly over.

Premiership favourites Melbourne Storm are $1.50 favourites to take the two points when they travel to the national capital to take on the Canberra Raiders ($2.62) on Saturday evening.

Later that night, North Queensland Cowboys, whose only defeat in their past six came via golden-point against the Storm, host the New Zealand Warriors. The Cowboys are $1.35 to win that one, with the Warriors at $3.25.

The round finishes off on Sunday when Wests Tigers host Parramatta Eels at ANZ Stadium. The Eels, currently eighth, are $1.33 favourites for that game, with the struggling Tigers at $3.40.

Queensland Maroons produced a spectacular performance to beat New South Wales Blues 22-6 at Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane, Australia, in Game 3 of the 2017 State of Origin on Wednesday and seal a 2-1 comeback series win.  

Valentine Holmes scored a hat-trick of tries for Queensland in front of a raucous crowd, while Jarrod Wallace claimed the Maroons' fourth to earn an 11th series win in 12 years.

Josh Dugan went over for the Blues just after half-time to give them a glimpse of a comeback after a first-half hammering, but Queensland quickly reestablished their dominance and eventually won with ease.

NSW Blues provided both lineups ahead of kick-off:

The opening exchanges were even, with both the Blues and Maroons showing excellent defence.

But it was New South Wales who were making more mistakes and Queensland slowly began to take control of proceedings before 21-year-old Holmes opened the scoring in the 15th minute.

He finished off a slick team move started by Billy Slater in impressive fashion, holding off three NSW defenders to score in the corner, and Cameron Smith duly slotted the conversion.

Three minutes later Cooper Cronk looked to have scored Queensland's second try after an excellent break, but the score was ruled out after he was rightly adjudged to have dropped the ball before the line under pressure from Brett Morris.

Cronk more than made up for his mistake in the 26th minute, though, when he set up Holmes for another score in the left corner with an inspired flat cross-field kick, per NRL:

The Blues could not live with the intensity of the Maroons, and three minutes from the break NSW were spared further punishment when another Holmes try was ruled out for a forward pass.

The 12-0 scoreline at the break flattered the Blues, who had been outplayed for most of the opening period.

However, they looked in much better shape at the start of the second half as Dugan plucked Mitchell Pearce's kick out of the air in the 48th minute and ran in a try under the posts to put NSW back in contention.

A slight momentum shift toward the Blues was apparent, but they could not take further advantage, and Holmes ran in his third try of the night on the hour to all but seal the match and the series.

Cameron Munster deserved huge credit for setting up the score as he produced a dazzling run to open up space before offloading to Holmes, who claimed the pass brilliantly before going over.

Seven minutes later it was then Wallace's turn to get on the scoreboard, running in under the posts from three metres out after an inside pass from Munster. 

With the first and third teams on the NRL ladder having the week off, Cronulla, Brisbane and Manly are all looking to strengthen their positions in the top four as we head into the post-Origin period.

Cronulla travel to Gold Coast on Saturday night to take on the Titans, hoping to stay clear in second place and maintain the pressure on top-placed Melbourne.

The Sharks had five players involved in Origin 3, and exactly how many of those players return three days later will play a large part in determining the market for the match against the Titans.

As it stands, Cronulla are $1.60 AUD favourites, according to AustralianGambling.com.au, with the Titans, who knocked off the Dragons in their last match and must continue winning if they are to have any hope of making the finals, at $2.38.

Fourth-placed Manly had their five-match winning streak snapped when they were beaten by Penrith last week but can get things back on track when they face the Wests Tigers on Sunday afternoon at Brookvale.

The Sea Eagles are the shortest-priced favourite of the round at $1.17, with the Tigers on $5.25, with a huge line of 15.5 in their favour. Interestingly, the past six matches between these two have all featured a margin of at least 10 points, but they haven't met since Round 2 last year.

The Tigers had lost seven straight before beating the Knights last time out, but this looms as a much tougher task having not won at Brookvale in 14 years.

The Brisbane Broncos, who are always heavily impacted by Origin and have gone 2-3 over the Origin period this year, travel to Newcastle to face the Knights on Saturday evening.

Again, this market will be impacted by how many of the Broncos' best players back up from Wednesday, but they are listed at $1.30 on the betting lines with the Knights, who are on a six-match losing streak, at $3.60. The Broncos have won five straight against the Knights and haven't lost in Newcastle since 2010.

Round 19 begins in Auckland on Friday night with the New Zealand Warriors and the Penrith Panthers desperate to keep in touch with the top eight.

Both are four points out of the finals fight, with Friday's match somewhat of an early elimination matchup. The Panthers may have beaten the Sea Eagles last week, but they go into this one as $2.20 underdogs having lost their past two at Mt Smart Stadium.

The Warriors have won their past five at home and go into this one as $1.68 favourites.

Canberra Raiders are two points further back in 11th and face a must-win match against St George Illawarra at GIO Stadium later on Friday night.

The Dragons look like the most vulnerable team in the eight having lost six of their past nine and are $2.58 outsiders as they travel to the national capital, where they haven't played in two-and-a-half years.

So far the Raiders have been inconsistent but can keep their season alive with a win here. They are $1.52.

The sixth-placed North Queensland Cowboys could also be suspect to a late-season slump without Johnathan Thurston, but they have been battling away well recently, winning four of their five games over the Origin period.

South Sydney host them in Cairns on Sunday, a match which should be a virtual home game for the Cowboys, who are rightly $1.68 favourites.

South Sydney couldn't get past a half-strength Sydney Roosters team here and are unlikely to be able to knock off the Cowboys. The Rabbitohs are $2.20.

The Sydney Roosters and Melbourne Storm may be at the top of NRL Premiership markets, but the impact of State of Origin III means both go into their Round 18 matches as underdogs, according to AustralianGambling.com.au.

The Roosters host South Sydney on Friday night at Allianz Stadium having dealt with the same opposition 10-6 when they last met in Round 4.

But the oddsmakers have the Rabbitohs, who are 11th in the table, as $1.60 AUD betting favourites with the Roosters $2.37 with a four-point head start.

The reason is straightforward as the Roosters are without Mitchell Pearce, Boyd Cordner, Blake Ferguson and Dylan Napa, all of whom are on Origin duty. Souths don't have a single player on duty and have an excellent opportunity to get a big scalp here.

It's a similar story for eighth-placed Parramatta, who travel to Melbourne to face the Storm with pretty much a full-strength outfit. The Eels, who have won just one of four matches at AAMI Park, and just one of their past five against the Storm, are $1.58 to win this one.

Punters are avoiding the Storm given they have their best six players in the Queensland squad and they are out to $2.40 with a 4.5-point line in their favour.

A win in this one would be massive for the Eels, who can pull clear of the fight for the final spots in the eight and notch their fourth win in their past five matches.

Manly Sea Eagles are one of the form teams in the competition having won five matches in a row to surge to third but are only $1.91 equal favourites against Penrith, who have dropped their past two.

The absence of Jake Trbojevic, who is with NSW, is a factor in this market, whereas the Panthers, who are in ninth, go into this one virtually at full strength.

The Panthers have won just two of five matches at Pepper Stadium this season, but this is their first match at the ground in two months. The Sea Eagles haven't won there in six years.

In the weekend's final match, and the only Sunday fixture, Canterbury are $1.42 favourites against bottom-of-the-table Newcastle Knights ($2.90) at Belmore.

The Dogs may be languishing in 13th, but the Knights look unlikely to win another game this season having been thrashed by fellow cellar-dwellers Wests Tigers 33-12 last week.

The Knights haven't played at Belmore since 1996 and haven't won there since 1992.

After being stunned by a golden-point loss to the second-place Sydney Roosters last week, Premiership favourites Melbourne Storm face another difficult task on Friday when they travel to take on a Brisbane Broncos side looking to rediscover their momentum.

The Broncos endured a major form hiccup over the early Origin period, losing back-to-back matches before recovering with a narrow win over South Sydney last week.

They sit third on the ladder, just four points adrift of top-placed Melbourne, and they can close the gap to two with a win at odds of $2.20 AUD in this match.

The Broncos' prospects are helped by the fact Melbourne are likely to be without skipper Cameron Smith. However, the Storm do get back Origin trio Billy Slater, Cooper Cronk and Will Chambers. They have won their past six matches against the Broncos at Suncorp Stadium and are $1.68 to make it seven straight on Friday, according to AustralianGambling.com.au.

The round kicks off on Thursday night with Parramatta, who have edged into the eight after last week's win over the Dragons, taking on the Canterbury Bulldogs at ANZ Stadium.

The Dogs possess the worst offence in the NRL and have slumped to 13th after a loss to the Warriors last week. They desperately need a win, but the market has them as $2.80 outsiders, with the Eels at $1.45 to record their third straight win over their Western Sydney rivals.

It's a measure of how far St George Illawarra have fallen that they aren't a clear favourite against the Gold Coast Titans in Friday's other match. Having won six of their first seven games of the season, the Dragons have now lost five of their past seven, including their past two against the Bulldogs and the Eels.

The oddsmakers have them as $1.91 equal favourites with the Titans, who have dropped four in a row to slip to 14th. Remarkably Gold Coast's most recent win was against the Melbourne Storm.

The other two teams to have beaten the Storm this year, the Sydney Roosters and the Cronulla Sharks, meet at Central Coast Stadium on Saturday afternoon.

This one will have a real spice in it with second playing fifth. The Roosters have lost their past five matches to the Sharks, but they are $1.72 to break that drought here. Cronulla have lost their last two, including a 35-18 flogging by the Sea Eagles last week, and are $2.15 outsiders with the line at just two points.

Manly have won four on the bounce to surge into the top four and are well-fancied at $1.46 to beat the New Zealand Warriors ($2.75) in Perth on Saturday afternoon.

The Canberra Raiders, meanwhile, have lost three in a row, but they are still given a chance to make the finals despite slipping to 11th.

They host the seventh-placed Cowboys on Saturday night, but they will go into the match as $1.53 favourites given they have home advantage and the Cowboys ($2.55) are without Johnathan Thurston for the rest of the season.

Sunday's games see the Newcastle Knights with an excellent chance to capture just their third win for the season when they host the bottom-place Wests Tigers. The Knights haven't started as a favourite in a game since 2015, but they are $1.80 here with the struggling Tigers at $2.04.

The South Sydney Rabbitohs and the Penrith Panthers sit in a glut of teams just outside the eight and meet at ANZ Stadium on Sunday afternoon. Penrith are $1.65 favourites, with the Rabbitohs given some chance at $2.26.

The battle of the top two teams, Melbourne Storm and the Sydney Roosters, is the highlight of a tricky NRL Round 16 for bettors with six of the seven games having a line of less than a converted try, according to AustralianGambling.com.au.

Melbourne, minus their Origin stars, overcame a major scare last week when they needed a field goal in golden-point extra-time to defeat the North Queensland Cowboys.

They remain four points clear on top of the table, but the Roosters can close the gap to just two points with a win in this match, which will be held at Adelaide Oval.

The market has the Storm, who have won their past three matches against the Roosters, at $1.75 AUD, with the "home" side at $2.10, and a line of just two points.

That market could change depending on how many players back up from Origin 2. The Storm have five players involved there, while the Roosters have four.

Third-placed Cronulla Sharks have won five of their past six matches and are favored to continue in that vein when they face Manly Sea Eagles on Sunday afternoon at Shark Park.

The Sharks are $1.61 to prevail, but do not have a good record against the Sea Eagles having lost 13 of their past 15 against them. Manly, currently fifth and four points adrift of the reigning premiers, are $2.35 to cause the upset.

The round kicks off Friday night in Auckland when the New Zealand Warriors host the Canterbury Bulldogs. Currently 11th and 12th, respectively, on the ladder, these two teams are just two points out of the eight. The Warriors are $1.51 favorites having won five of seven matches at home this season, with the Bulldogs at $2.60.

The Wests Tigers can get off the bottom of the ladder if they can overturn odds of $2.20 to defeat Gold Coast Titans ($1.68) when they host them at Campbelltown on Friday night.

The Saturday afternoon matches between North Queensland Cowboys ($1.60) and Penrith Panthers ($2.38) and the Canberra Raiders ($1.66) and the Brisbane Broncos ($2.25) are both expected to be close.

The Cowboys and the Panthers are separated by just one spot on the ladder with the Cowboys favored because the match is in Townsville and they are likely to have Johnathan Thurston back for what will be his 300th game.

The market in the Raiders vs. Broncos match is another that is likely to be impacted by who backs up for Origin. The Broncos have win their past four matches against Canberra but are outsiders here.

The most lopsided match of the round sees St George Illawarra Dragons, who have lost five of their past seven, $1.20 picks to knock off Newcastle Knights, who are $4.65 on Sunday afternoon.

Dane Gagai led Queensland Maroons to a comeback win in Game 2 of the 2017 State of Origin against New South Wales Blues, scoring two tries to help the Maroons to an 18-16 victory and force a decider. 

Queensland took the lead through Valentine Holmes early, but the Blues dominated the rest of the first half. Jarryd Payne, Brett Morris and Mitchell Pearce all scored, giving their team a 16-6 advantage at the half.

Gagai brought his team back to within four points after the break, and he added a second try in the final minutes to set up a decisive Game 3. 

The NRL's official Twitter account shared the squads that would start Game 2:

They also added this statistic, giving the visiting fans some hope:

NSW were clearly eager to put on another show in Game 2, as evidenced by a bone-crunching tackle from Aaron Woods just minutes into the contest. The first try was scored by the visitors, however, with Holmes diving over in the corner and replays providing insufficient evidence to overturn.

Here's a look at the controversial score, via NRL Bunker:

Johnathan Thurston converted from a tough angle to make the score 6-0.

Queensland's advantage didn't last long, however. The Blues put together a fine attacking move, ending with Hayne using his strength to score on the left wing. The try tied Michael O'Connor's all-time mark for scores in State of Origin history by a Blues player, at 11. James Maloney mirrored Thurston's kick, tying things up.

A surging run from Maloney set up the hosts' second try, as he beat several defenders before tossing a simple pass to Morris after 24 minutes. Here's a look at the spectacular score:

And momentum remained with the Blues, who scored a similar try just minutes later, with Pearce the recipient of another easy pass. A successful conversion gave NSW a double-digit lead.

Hayne could have added to the tally but refused to pass and was pushed into touch, with Gagai returning in time. Josh Dugan and Jake Trbojevic made crucial stops to preserve the lead at half-time.

During the half, former football player Ned Zelic couldn't help himself:

The Blues did a fine job controlling the pace early in the second half, but a try from Gagai and conversion from Thurston cut the deficit to just four points, with plenty of time left on the clock.

NSW didn't allow the setback to mess with their momentum, however, and kept building fine attacking moves as the half wore on. 

But Queensland started to press entering the final stages, and it took a monstrous run from Dugan to relieve the pressure. Here's a look at the impressive dash:

The match came down to the final minutes, with Gagai scoring after an offload on the right wing. Queensland needed the conversion from Thurston to take the lead, and he delivered from a very tricky angle, winning his side the match.

The 2017 State of Origin will be decided at Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane on Wednesday, July 12. Queensland have won 10 of the last 11 series.

New South Wales Blues are one victory away from winning the State of Origin series for just the second time in 12 years and face off with the Queensland Maroons in Game 2 at ANZ Stadium in Sydney on Wednesday.

The Blues thrashed the Maroons 28-4 in Game 1 at Suncorp Stadium on May 31 and now have the chance to seal a first State of Origin win since 2014 on home soil.

Per News.com.au, the Maroons are likely to be boosted by the return of playmaker Johnathan Thurston, who missed Game 1 with a shoulder injury but is "a definite starter" for Wednesday, according to skipper Cameron Smith.

Read on for a preview of the crucial encounter, along with scheduling and viewing details.

Date: Wednesday, June 21

Time: 11 a.m. BST/8 p.m. AEST/6 a.m. ET

Live Stream: Premier Sports (UK), Fox Soccer 2 Go (U.S.), Fox Sports (AUS)

Preview

Maroons coach Kevin Walters has overhauled his side for Game 2 as he looks to mastermind a comeback victory in the series and extend Queensland's winning run to three in a row.

Along with Thurston, Billy Slater and Gavin Cooper also return to the side, while Nate Myles, Sam Thaiday, Jacob Lillyman, Corey Oates, Aidan Guerra and Justin O’Neill are all dropped, and Anthony Milford is injured.

Valentine Holmes, Coen Hess, Tim Glasby and Jarrod Wallace have all been handed debuts, per NRL:

In contrast, NSW will play with the same side that were so emphatic in winning Game 1:

It is the first time the Blues have named an unchanged State of Origin side in 21 years, and coach Laurie Daley said he was delighted to be able to pick the same players, per Matt Encarnacion of the Australian Associated Press (h/t Stuff.co.nz):

"It's great to be able to name the same 17 guys again. They did such a great job in game one. But the key for us is to try and repeat that performance."

A repeat of the hammering the Blues handed out in Game 1 is unlikely.

Per Sporting Life's Ian Millward, the Maroons' squad for Game 2 looks much better equipped to deal with the Blues and Thurston's return could prove crucial in a potentially tight encounter.

Certainly NSW are likely to have to work harder to earn scores than they did at the end of May as the Maroons now boast a potent blend of youth and experience.

Nerves could play a crucial role on Wednesday. The Blues have largely been starved of State of Origin triumphs for over a decade.

Their 2014 victory marked a first shield win since 2005, so they will desperate to convert their Game 1 triumph into a series win, and they will want to get it done sooner rather than later.

Should the Maroons take an early lead and show that they will not be bullied as they were in Game 1, the tension inside Sydney's ANZ Stadium will ratchet up and could have a major influence on the outcome of the match.