Cometh the moment, cometh the champion

An Origin great, Queensland’s game two saviour, perhaps the best who’s ever done it, no doubt an immortal in waiting… suddenly mortal.

Perhaps he was fatigued by the permanent divot in his chest left by Dragons back-rower Tyson Frizell, who tormented him throughout the opening 40 minutes.

There were other hints the Blues time had come. Debutant Valentine Holmes dropped the ball on his first ever carry for Queensland in just the second set of the game.

Another debutant, Tim Glasby, brought in to tidy up the Maroons defence in the middle, was twice left clutching at thin air as the Blues ran past him for tries to Brett Morris and Mitchell Pearce in the first half.

The Maroons got pushed into touch three times with the football in the first half. Sure, one of those occasions somehow resulted in Valentine Holmes’ first Origin try, but it wasn’t a recipe for success.

With just seconds left on the clock in the first half, Queensland looked certain to peg back a 16-6 deficit after chasing their tails for most of the opening stanza.

It looked classic Queensland, Cooper Cronk burrowing across from close range only to be denied by a try-saver from one of the newest Blue bloods, Jake Trbojevic.

Josh Dugan did the same to Michael Morgan the very next play to preserve a 10-point buffer at the break. The tide had surely turned, lets just get through this second 40 and get to those cold VBs.

But then again you can never doubt a champion. Thurston, carrying that bung shoulder all the way to the end, went back that seemingly empty well and found something.

Did we really think a side featuring the most dominant quartet in Origin history to go with barely a whimper? 

First it was an amazing team try, started deep within their own territory and finished off by Dane Gagai, to cut it back to four with 25 minutes to play.

It seemed a hiccup, little more, but as that clock ticked down those pesky Maroons were still in it. Come the 77-minute mark, they were still there and, out of nowhere via Gagai’s second try, Thurston was there with a chance to win it.

NSW were well in control until suddenly they weren’t.

It was out on near the touchline, on the bad side for a right footer but, where we were certain that the Blues time had come just minutes earlier, we just knew that kick was going over. 

It was another chapter in the legend Thurston continues to write, but for NSW it brings only questions.

It wasn’t like the opening game of the series – there were four penalties in the opening 12 minutes for one.

In game one it was all flash and that great overused rugby league term ‘leg-speed’ (it’s a fact that arm-speed is yet to win any side a single Origin game).

This time it was a grind and the Blues did well. There’s barely a stat-line in which they didn’t come out on top but once again they got a lesson in winning.

As they’ve done so often, Thurston, Smith, Cronk and Slater rode a badly beaten forward pack all the way to the finish.

Now they’re faced with the task of winning game three in Brisbane in what will be Thurston’s swansong, and possibly Cooper Cronk’s.

The Blues have gone from raging hot favourites to despised outsiders in the space of two minutes. You have to wonder what demons could re-surface.

Blues coach Laurie Daley has deliberately ushered in a new, younger generation not scarred by previous defeats. Suddenly the whole squad has some bruises on them. 

Suddenly, Hayne leaping into a sea of traveling Blatchy’s Blues at Suncorp Stadium three weeks’ ago seems very premature. 

Mitchell Pearce may have had thoughts of taking the shield outside Suncorp Stadium after the dead rubber in three weeks’s time to get that photo with Wally’s statue. 

But like Thurston famously suggested back in 2015, he may just have to show up empty-handed.