Oh man, I really need to stop drinking on Origin night. For me, the tradition is go to the pub straight after work for a few jugs, then back home for the game with heaps of mates coming around. That was the same last night except we went out again last night and didn't get home until super late. Luky I have the day off today. Only been up for a few hours so apologies for my late reaction to Origin,
But man, what a night man! What a night! Great game, probably the best of the three games in terms of inensity, speed and skill. Both sides went at it, and it was end-to-end at times. A great spectacle that was very enjoyable to watch. A great product.
I go for Queensland so it was a bit of a bummer to see them lose. They got completely outplayed for once. However, they still won the series over all so gotta be happy with that.
But you know what? If someone said to me Queensland were going to lose, but all the Souths boys would star, I would have taken that every day of the week! How good were all four?! Absolutely amazing, they all played starring roles.
Cody firstly, my god. Man of the match in his Origin return under pressure. Just an amazing performance. Dominated with almost every touch of the ball and he was classic Cody on the biggest stage. He tore Queensland to shreds, especially in that first half. He was the difference that's for sure. I couldn't be happier for him, he deserves this and all the praise that comes with it. An absolute superstar, one of the best in the game at the moment and he just showed it in the Origin arena.
Cam was the other big difference maker with his speed through the middle, ball playing, and the usual tough carries and clean up work. You could just see the difference he made to NSW's attack because he free'd everyone up beautifully. He must have been close to many of the match surely. Awesome to see basically everyone finally agree that he should be the 13 going forward.
Cooky was great and did his bit to help spark the attack. Cam and Cody aren't able to do what they did without Damien's brilliant service. He was classy.
And what a debut for Keaon!!! Man, I'm extremely proud of him. He was massive for the Blues and looked like he'd been playing Origin for years, didn't look out of place at all. Extremely busy in defence and had to take a lot of big carries. Handled it all extremely well and didn't look overawed at all. His bat-on for To'o's try will be shown for years. Amazing play. So proud of him man!!
Basically, it's just great to see our boys contribute so heavily and genuinely influence a result obviously. It's equally as great to hear everyone finally acknowledge that and give them the praise they all deserve. Makes you wonder what might have been if Fittler had picked it earlier in the series?
From a Souths point of view, that is basically the best possible result in Game 3 we could have asked for. No injuries and the boys will all come back to us happy and full of confidence. They'll all come back better players. It's particularly big for Cody. This could be big for our Season and our run home because he's now extremely confident and he's finally carried a team to a 'Grand Final-like' win. Hopefully this propels us as a side even further this year. I'm excited.
Anyway, great game! Congrats to NSW on winning Game 3 but a huge congrats to Queensland who are the weel deserved 2023 Origin champs!!
Been an interesting series but I'm just glad it's all over now and we can get to the run home which is what really matters.
