This has probably been said, but...
Where has it gone?
New South Wales were incredibly poor tonight, despite the close scoreline. Queensland wern't much better, but they came to Telstra to do what they had to do to win the series. NSW didn't.
Passion seems to be sadly lacking. We've conned ourselves into believing that a pack full of fringe runners, grafters and tacklers is capable of winning every Origin series it plays. That might have been true a few years back when Queensland didn't have the brilliance they do today and NSW could rely on the creativity of Johns, but it ain't true now.
What NSW needed tonight was passion, intensity and a bit of mongrel. Pull off a few hits, use a bit of niggle, get the crowd working, get into the game - from the opening whistle. Tonight there was nothing.
Punching the ground when you drop the ball isn't passion. Not in Origin. These blokes clearly do care, but they don't play like it. Nobody looked particularly interested in the result until about the 70th minute. No heart in that performance.
The selection issue is for another thread but I think the time has come for some fresh blood and some blokes that can offer something new - not the least of which is a bit of genuine enthusiasm, which is anything but apparent at the moment. NSW can kid themselves which bullsh*t about how close the games have been - but the reality is we are miles away, and that we are playing with a level of intensity which is far short of what Origin requires.
Enough of the same old, same old - let's get some heart and some fire back into the thing.
Where has it gone?
New South Wales were incredibly poor tonight, despite the close scoreline. Queensland wern't much better, but they came to Telstra to do what they had to do to win the series. NSW didn't.
Passion seems to be sadly lacking. We've conned ourselves into believing that a pack full of fringe runners, grafters and tacklers is capable of winning every Origin series it plays. That might have been true a few years back when Queensland didn't have the brilliance they do today and NSW could rely on the creativity of Johns, but it ain't true now.
What NSW needed tonight was passion, intensity and a bit of mongrel. Pull off a few hits, use a bit of niggle, get the crowd working, get into the game - from the opening whistle. Tonight there was nothing.
Punching the ground when you drop the ball isn't passion. Not in Origin. These blokes clearly do care, but they don't play like it. Nobody looked particularly interested in the result until about the 70th minute. No heart in that performance.
The selection issue is for another thread but I think the time has come for some fresh blood and some blokes that can offer something new - not the least of which is a bit of genuine enthusiasm, which is anything but apparent at the moment. NSW can kid themselves which bullsh*t about how close the games have been - but the reality is we are miles away, and that we are playing with a level of intensity which is far short of what Origin requires.
Enough of the same old, same old - let's get some heart and some fire back into the thing.
