Blues Salvage Some Pride

New South Wales has managed to salvage some pride by winning the third State Of Origin game at Suncorp Stadium tonight.
The Blues ran out fairly convincing winners in the end, 28-14. Trailing 6-0 early, thanks to an error that led to Queensland's Dallas Johnson scoring the first points of the game, the Blues hit back courtesy of Ben Creagh in the 19th minute.
A fairly dubious try was then awarded to 'Wolfman' David Williams in the 37th minute, although replays suggested the Benefit Of The Doubt ruling was correct.
While going into the break 14-6 up, NSW coach Craig Bellamy and indeed his counterpart Mal Meninga, would have been concerned over the slippery conditions which caused plenty of errors and dropped balls.
The Maroons came out firing in the second 40, Justin Hodges scoring in the 43rd minute through some soft NSW defence before Josh Morris hit back three minutes later for NSW.
Open play and plenty of excitement and enthusiasm were the order for much of the game, so it was no surprise to see Billy Slater cross for the home side to reduce the deficit to four points on 53 minutes, however, that is as close as they would come.
Creagh crossed for his second in the 63rd minute, while a Michael Ennis penalty goal on 67 minutes sealed the win.
The last few minutes provided plenty of fireworks, with NSW forward Trent Waterhouse sent off and fellow Blue Ben Creagh sin-binned, while QLD's Sam Thaiday also suffered the same fate as Creagh.
It all blew up over a fight between Steve Price and NSW forward, Brett White.
The pair exchange blows, with Waterhouse then coming over the top and knocking Price out cold, seemingly, after his head made contact with the ground.
A few plays later, when QLD were given back the ball, another brawl erupted, this time sparked between an altercation between Creagh and Hodges. Creagh and Thaiday were subsequently binned for the involvement.
"It was good to get back into the team and help NSW get a win," victorious halfback, Brett Kimmorley said.
"The boys played really well and I was determined to have a good game and I didnt want to let anyone down," he said to Channel 9 after the match.
Victorious series captain, Darren Lockyer, while disappointed with the loss, said the team would bounce back and enjoy their fourth series win in a row.
"It would have been nice to win in front of our fans but it wasn't meant to be," he said.
"We've had a good series overall and we'll celebrate the series, but it will be on a bit of a mellow note because of this."
Reports on Price's conditions were unavailable at the time of writing.

 

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