State of Origin 2026

[innsaneink]

Our forwards suck.. without the Ponga send off I reckon we get kept to 6

We will never know eh?
We had the momentum in the 2nd half regardless of the send.off

And everyones forgetting the techincality no try to murray...he is always going for the ball

 

[Yossarian]

Weird game. Certainly not a classic in terms of quality.

 

[Strider]

I cant stand watching footy on 9. Hopefully next deal 9 doesnt get exclusive rights ant more

 

[Yossarian]

Big impact props never work in origin, and no idea why Barnett is so highly rated. He’s just a plodder with a high work rate

To be fair with Chrichton he has the runs on the board but this year he seems really off. Hopefully we make changes despite the win, we were hot garbage for 60 minutes and only looked decent against 12 players

He was a massive speed hump in the attack at the end. Couple of times when they needed ball movement he took a plod for a few metres.

 

[Strider]

Twal would be better than some of the forwards tonight.

 

[Glenji95]

He was sent for direct contact to the head with his shoulder , and ref also said no attempt at a tackle , he will get 4 more weeks

Where was the shoulder contact? Because all I saw was KP’s head hitting Koula’s head. I have no doubt that he was going to use his shoulder, but still there was actual no contact from his shoulder on his head. 10 in the bin as best it wasn’t sent off worthy given the shoulder wasn’t technically used. No doubt it was intended but.

 

[Tucker]

NSW won but the forward pack was non existent

We're not winning the series if we dish that up again

They won’t play that poorly again Id suspect.

 

[Glenji95]

Well never know.
We were outplayed because we were our own worst enemy...give away as much ball as we did you will always pay..WTs fans should know this

Overall NSW got lucky tonight that’s it. QLD will be fired up to recover from this tonight, and I don’t blame them.

 

[Tucker]

Im sure nsw and koula are really upset about that

Have you ever played this game? Serious question.

 

[Yossarian]

We will never know eh?
We had the momentum in the 2nd half regardless of the send.off

And everyones forgetting the techincality no try to murray...he is always going for the ball

That was a terrible call. We were creating a stack of half chances but taking dumb options or making basic errors. Playing against 12 significantly lowered the bar for what the NSW attack had to do and we still needed a contested bomb to win. Really they should have won 28-20 or more.

 

[TYGA]

Happy with the win but that was a disgrace. We deserved to lose and officials gave the game to us. Embarrassing for the game. QLD were robbed blind not just the send off but the entire second half.

 

[Jedi_Tiger]

I am so sick of NSW selectors picking 'Origin players'. Laurie is coaching like its the 90s. Slater like its 2026. Thanks to the refs for giving us the win, and Tedesco for that try, but

Gotta go Tedesco he was so terrible except that.

Reese Robson gotta go, terrible , outclassed.

If NSW dont make big changes they will be wrecked so hard.

Just pick the best players. Its not 1994

drop Robson
brailey to start Api on the bench

 

[old_man_tiger]

When the commentator started saying challinge instead of challenge I had to go vomit repeatedly....what did I miss?

 

[innsaneink]

The discussion in my group chat was bin or sent. Whilst opinions were split most thought bin, all thought could go either way.
Harsh call but by no means the howler people are acting like it is in my opinion.

Lockyer not surprisingly just blamed the loss on the send off

I couldnt hear the commentary too.many here yapping...some saying klein over ruled the bunker?
Didnt think a ref could do that once it was sent up

 

[stevied]

I think the send off ruined the game. NSW were fighting there way back into the contest and may have made a game of it without the dismissal. It's surprising how difficult it can be to beat a team that is one player down and the Blues definitely made hard work of it with a series of wrong options. Regarding the send off, I'm not sure, it was a dog shot, as some people describe it. Ponga was coming across and was determined to stop Koula whichever way he could and got careless, attempting a shoulder charge but not necessarily intended to be at the head. Sin bin for me and let the judiciary decide his fate.

 

[gregjm87]

Where was the shoulder contact? Because all I saw was KP’s head hitting Koula’s head. I have no doubt that he was going to use his shoulder, but still there was actual no contact from his shoulder on his head. 10 in the bin as best it wasn’t sent off worthy given the shoulder wasn’t technically used. No doubt it was intended but.

Did you watch the link @Craegus posted. Clear contact of shoulder to head.

 

[upthetigers]

What I don't get about QLD is their players always lift in Origin but are never as good for their club teams

 

[Wiz]

Overall only reason we won is because of the so called send off. NSW were outplayed 95% of this game.

Two dubious disallowed tries before QLD went down to 12 men.

 

[Lestronge]

Happy with the win but that was a disgrace. We deserved to lose and officials gave the game to us. Embarrassing for the game. QLD were robbed blind not just the send off but the entire second half.

The only thing I will say to this is … I didn’t feel too much tears and empathy going the other way over the years with the endless one sided referee “decisions” that seemed to always favour a jersey of the burgundy persuasion .
That was horrendous and a huge LOL Klein moment . Probably will be on his mount Rushmore of horrendous , “ are you literally refereeing another sport right now “ decisions . Right up there with the NQLD short whistle.
I’m 💯 certain no one is that out of touch . That guys absolutely reeks of Tim Donaghy like energy …

 

[Tucker]

NSW was poor for majority of the game. If KP stayed on NSW don’t win, and that’s coming from a Blues fan. We didn’t deserve the win, but it is what it is. The commentary was abysmal tonight from just about everybody. The 9 commentary team hasn’t been the same since Ray, Sterlo and Fatty retired.

When NSW were putting back to back sets together, they were very dangerous. Their problem was that their handling and passing was terrible.
In the end, the send off did decide the victory, however QLD made a tonne of unforced errors themselves in that second half and certainly let the pressure off NSW that their defence was creating.