MATCH REPORT
Sims stars as NSW thumps QLD
Author
Dan Walsh NRL.com Reporter Timestamp Wed 9 Jun 2021, 10:25 PM
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Latrell Mitchell mastered, blasted and only needed a bit of backfield chewing gum to confirm his status as rugby league's answer to Viv Richards.
Yet for every moment of Mitchell brilliance, fellow NSW makeshift centre of excellence Tom Trbojevic answered with his own magic and another Origin hat-trick as the pair tore Queensland to shreds in a record 50-6 triumph.
Repeatedly the regular No.1s turned Origin centres found themselves linking in the backline and by midway through the second half, they were laying on tries for each other.
Three first-half tries in nine blistering minutes set up the Blues' biggest winning margin in Origin history – their 44-point thumping trumping the famous 'hand grenade' 56-16 victory of 2000.
While Trbojevic roamed wherever he pleased – from left to right, first receiver to edge finisher – Mitchell produced the moments that mattered most when the game was still alive as a contest in front of a Maroon-washed 27,533-strong crowd.
Match: Maroons v Blues
Game 1 - Wednesday 9th June
Full Time
Home Team
Maroons
Scored 6 points
Away Team
Blues
Scored 50 points
Venue: Queensland Country Bank Stadium, Townsville
By the end of proceedings the pair finished with five tries between them on top of 14 tackle busts, three try assists and 376 running metres.
Trbojevic claimed man of the match honours while NSW coach Brad Fittler said Mitchell was one of several others who stood out in the win.
"He's been good without a doubt. His last game when they played Parramatta he was good," Fittler said of Mitchell.
Turbo Tom at it again as he kicks for Mitchell
"When everyone works together I think everyone stood out. I thought Tariq Sims was outstanding. There was a few players there missing along the way that had huge impacts on the game.
"Latrell's run early in the game where he went up the sideline was a big moment in the game and his tackle where he came in as well. Couple of huge plays."
By the time Trbojevic popped up alongside Mitchell on the left edge in the 48th minute it had simply become part of the regular programming, with the Manly maestro grubbering for Mitchell to score and put to bed any thought of a Queensland comeback.
Not even Trbojevic's teammates were safe from the destruction he left behind, with
plenty of Nathan Cleary claret soaking into the Townsville turf courtesy of a stray Trbojevic elbow.
While Trbojevic went wherever he wanted Mitchell made the Blues' left edge his own, even if great mate Josh Addo-Carr and Brian To'o switched wings as a suspected pre-game Blues ruse came to be.
Back in sky blue for the first time since being controversially dumped after Origin I, 2019, the talk about Mitchell from NSW camp couldn't have been more effusive. Or ominous.
In the 15th minute the Blues weren't so much going nowhere as backwards in a real hurry.
It was Mitchell who stood tallest, producing an audacious 40-metre bust down the touchline that was equal parts tip-toeing ballerina and brutish strength as he swatted defenders away.
Coach Brad Fittler described it as a momentum-changing moment when Channel Nine's commentators crossed to him. There was no arguing when Trbojevic plated up points soon within two minutes.
For once he was to be found in his slated right-centre position and with plenty of time and space poor old Kurt Capewell had no chance marking the Blues thoroughbred.
With an 8-0 advantage courtesy of an early Cleary penalty goal, the Blues doubled down when Damien Cook sprinted into the backfield.
The Maroons found themselves caught short on the left this time, with pint-sized rookie To'o making the most of his switch of sides to tumble over for a 14-0 lead.
The Blues blitz only continued when Trbojevic lobbed on the left again, looming large in the 26th minute even when he didn't get his hands on the ball.
Instead it was Tariq Sims with a bit of brilliance. Standing in the tackle of Dane Gagai, the big man piloted a ball no-one thought he would – right across the face of Mitchell and a few Maroons for To'o to score untouched again.
As the Maroons dropped like flies, prop and defensive leader Christian Welch failed a HIA after just 12 minutes, while David Fifita also underwent his own first half assessment, Trbojevic's one blight gave Queensland rare cause for celebration.
Capewell was able to deliver a rare taste of Trbojevic's own medicine, some rarely seen footwork from the Panther leaving Turbo cooling his jets as the Maroons registered their first try.
But it proved just a blip in the Blues onslaught.
From a 20-6 half-time advantage NSW simply rolled on unabated, while Queensland only managed to land themselves on report – Moeaki Fotuaika, Kyle Feldt and Cameron Munster were all cited for late, dangerous or high contact.
Mitchell's second-half double and another two support tries to Trbojevic came as debutant Jarome Luai made himself more and more at home in the Origin arena.
Cleary meanwhile didn't miss all night off the tee, kicking nine goals from as many attempts, while his own in-play kicking game left the efforts offered up by Daly Cherry-Evans and Munster for dead.
In the 77th minute though with the half century raised came the play that had Fittler banging his coach's box desk in triumph.
Yeo with a huge Origin play
A forlorn Queensland crossfield kick sailed its way into the arms of Xavier Coates, who had flown high above To'o with a consolation try seemingly waiting to be scored.
Waiting for him to come down to earth though sat a small sky-blue army, duly bundling Coates into touch and the Maroons truly into submission.
In three weeks' time rookie coach Paul Green has to somehow lift his side up from six feet under at Suncorp. Or the Origin shield will be travelling back south, with a couple of No.1s front and centre.
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