QLD were behind on the scoresheet and down to 12 men, had no wingers, Hunt and Fifita in the outside backs.
If those aren’t the perfect conditions for a pair of halves to ice the game with a fairly basic attacking structure and kicking game, I don’t know what is. Cleary shat the bed and provided ZERO creativity, ZERO variation and did nothing to target the QLD weaknesses.
Scoring points when dominant has been an issue for Penrith all year this year, and it was with SOO last night. At club level many on the Penrith forum have suggested losing Api is the challenge, and while there is a drop in class from an Api/Kenny rotation to a Kenny/Luke rotation, the evidence of Wednesday suggests there is more to it than that. While Cleary (and more latterly Luai) have had big moments and good games this year, they are well behind where they finished the season last year. For Penrith fans there is the hope that they can build up their form over time to be peaking for finals, obviously Blues fans don’t have the luxury of the patient approach.
However, to look at the last 10 minutes of the origin the other night and paint it as some massive failing in the part of the Penrith halves is disingenuous. This is what happened in the last 13 minutes:
- Luai try assist to Crichton of Cleary’s best kick of the night. Cleary hit the wide-ish conversion to put us in front.
- second tackle off the kick-off Flegler is sent to the bin and Turbo subbed for Nicho.
- NSW March down to the 20 and Luai kicks to the in-goal, trapping QLD
- QLD get the short drop-out.
- Crichton penalised for a great legs tackle on Walsh for holding on for a quarter of the time it takes the average 4 person tackle to untangle itself
- off the following six QLD is held out, including the Hynes/Fox tackle on Tualagi where he tombstones himself on the ground. NSW field the kick a few metres out from their line.
- NSW March up field and Cleary kicks from the 50. Lands on the 10 metre line with QLD tackled within the 20.
- Game is stopped for Tualagi to go off for HIA.
- Fourth tackle is QLD inside the 50. Cleary and then Nicho fail to stop Munster who puts away thr Hammer for the try. Tackle Munster and they are kicking from inside their 40.
-with QLD now ahead, QLD recover the short kick-off. March down the field and DCE’s bomb is taken by Collins, who passes to Munster for the sealing try.
When the game was there to be won the halves put the team in a position to win. That the team didn’t wasn’t solely down to the halves.