3. The Queensland Maroons pull off a miracle Origin series victory
Against all the odds, Queensland took out the State of Origin series 2-1 against the much-fancied New South Wales side.
The win compares to the 1995 series where the Paul Vautin-coached Maroons took down the Blues 3-0, without the availability of Super League-aligned players.
A host of players (including Kalyn Ponga) were missing from the line-up. Coach Kevin Walters was replaced (after signing on as the Brisbane Broncos’ coach for 2021) at the last minute by Wayne Bennett.
New South Wales dominated the first 20 minutes of the opener, before the steadying influence of Daly Cherry-Evans got the Queenslanders home 18-14.
Game two was one-way traffic as the Blues leveled the series with a convincing 34-10 win.
Queensland played the role of frontrunner in a Suncorp Stadium decider that went down to the wire, won by the home side 20-14.
Harry Grant furthered his credentials as an outstanding number nine with a sensational game coming off the bench. The Melbourne Storm are in good hands with the cloud of Cameron Smith’s future leading into the new year.
[…] Five Feel-Good Rugby League Stories of 2020 […]
Comments are closed.