Don't believe the lies, critically analyze!: State of Origin 2: Fast and furious ... Stuart's bold gamble puts Blues on the brink

Phil Gould

The Blues were brilliant. They were tough, resilient, creative, explosive, and above all, relentless. The NSW boys finally broke free of the shackles of self-doubt. They played with a confidence and maturity not seen for many years.

The most pleasing part of the whole game was the way they went about the latter stages of the contest when they held a narrow four-point lead. Gone was the nervousness and negativity of previous games when they held a lead going into the back end of the contest. Gone was the submissiveness of waiting for the famous Maroons comeback. Gone was the attitude of trying to protect the narrow margin and hoping for the siren to sound early.

This time the Blues looked hungry and full of self-belief. This time they took the fight to their opponents and played at full tilt for the entire 80minutes. The professional and confident way they dominated the final 10 minutes and the fact they scored the final try of the match after a period of sustained pressure was inspiring. It was like they did a Queensland on Queensland.
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My only disappointment of the evening was the fact this series should be over. I stated after game one that NSW were the better team in that match and should have won.

Last night's victors should have had their names engraved on the Origin trophy. However, it does set up a mouth-watering decider for game three, and the Blues are in this one right up to their eyebrows.

The key feature of last night's performance was the success of the team selections. Many saw it as a gamble to choose only two front-row forwards and surround them with seven tough, skilful, quick, nimble-footed, workaholic back-row forwards.

The plan worked to perfection.

Paul Gallen, playing his first game as a front-rower, was simply outstanding, while Ben Creagh, Greg Bird, Beau Scott, Luke Lewis and Anthony Watmough provided tremendous support.

In attack, the extra leg speed and footwork of these athletic types kept the bigger Queensland forwards chasing all night. In defence, the extra mobility of these boys had Queensland's long side attacking raids covered at every turn. Their ability to scramble and regroup after Queensland made line breaks managed to close down a number of potentially dangerous situations.

Their ability to keep getting off their defensive line on the fifth tackle to pressure the Maroons' kickers, Jonathan Thurston and Darren Lockyer, was a huge feature of the play.

The NSW halves, Mitchell Pearce and Jamie Soward, came of age last night. They were targeted by the big Queensland forwards but bravely stood their ground to make the important tackles. In attack they provided plenty of ball movement to ignite the quicker men out wide.

Pearce had a hand in two tries. Soward set up the clincher in the final minutes to put an exclamation mark on the win. These boys will derive a lot of benefit from this hard-fought success.

Queensland tried hard, as they always do. They didn't appear comfortable with the extra pressure being applied by the faster moving Blues' defensive line. They never really had any rhythm in their play.

Their normally composed execution in tight finishes escaped them last night. They will learn from the error of their ways, and provide even sterner opposition in the decider. They are a champion team with plenty of pride. They will not surrender their title cheaply. Nevertheless, they now know they are in a real fight.

Mark down the date July 6 in your diaries. Do not miss – I repeat – DO NOT MISS, Origin III 2011. This could well be one of the greatest Origin matches of all time.

NSW players have rattled the sabres and staked their claim as worthy contenders for this year's Origin trophy.

If the Blues were to win game three in Queensland, against this champion Maroons team, on the night Darren Lockyer, one of the greatest Queenslanders of all time, plays his final match in these famous colours, it could well go down as one of the greatest coaching and team performances in Origin history.