By Oliver Caffrey
Queensland will have the chance to win the State of Origin series on home turf after a second-half onslaught, including a Selwyn Cobbo hat-trick, secured a 44-24 victory over NSW.
The teams will head to Suncorp Stadium for game three on July 8 with the series split after the Maroons levelled with a rare win in Melbourne, scoring six tries after halftime.
The most recent Queensland team to savour a victory at the MCG was in 1995, coached by Paul Vautin, with this year’s side delivering in front of a record Origin crowd of 91,671.
Cameron Munster put on a play-making masterclass to orchestrate the second-half domination while halves partner Sam Walker was similarly impressive, also flawless with seven conversions and a penalty.
Selwyn scored twice early in the second half with fellow winger Jojo Fifita leaping high to add a third within 11 minutes as Queensland snared a 14-point lead with 25 minutes to play.
That turned around a four-point halftime deficit, the Maroons having been down 12-8 with the Blues’ finally getting their start right to score through centre Kotoni Staggs.
Debutant NSW winger Mark Nawaqanitawase also touched down early, looking right at home on the Origin stage as he passed a number of early high ball tests.
Queensland did well to keep NSW in check, especially with another raft of dubious refereeing decisions, with both skipper Munster and prop Tino Fa’asuamaleaui tested for a HIA during the first half.
Despite the disruption, Queensland were able to keep NSW scoreless during that time and instead crossed themselves through Trent Loiero.
Rugby convert Nawaqanitawase showed his freakish finishing prowess to bag a second in 59th minute to put NSW back in the hunt at 26-18.
But they lost Staggs to the sin-bin for a high-shot on Kalyn Ponga as the fullback off-loaded to tryscorer Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow, putting a dent in their hopes of a fight-back.
Cobbo then capped the night in the 71st minute, diving over for his third
A new State of Origin crowd record has been set after 91,671 fans turned out to watch Queensland level the series with a game-two win at the MCG.
Eleven years after Origin made a triumphant return to Melbourne’s sporting colosseum with a then-record of 91,513, rugby league’s showpiece again stamped its mark in Victoria on Wednesday night.
It continues a stunning turnaround for Origin in Melbourne, the storied rivalry first played at the MCG back in 1994 in front of a bumper crowd of 87,161.
But those numbers fell dramatically three years later with a paltry figure of 25,105 watching NSW win game two of the 1997 series at the biggest stadium in Australia.
Origin didn’t return to Melbourne for another nine years before sold-out games were played at the 56,000-seat capacity Docklands venue (now Marvel Stadium) in 2006, 2009 and 2012.
This record night will give Australian Rugby League Commission chairman Peter V’landys more ammunition in his ongoing war of words with the AFL to be the biggest code of football in the country.
The Origin crowd almost beat the biggest AFL figure so far this year, 92,231 people attending the Anzac Day classic between Collingwood and Essendon at the MCG.
Crowds moved into their seats just before the start of the Blues-Maroons battle, streaming in from pubs in Richmond and the CBD.
Even with only 30 minutes until kick-off, the MCG was barely half-full.
But the atmosphere suddenly lifted when John Denver’s classic Take Me Home, Country Roads and Sweet Caroline by Neil Diamond got belted out.
There was no hint of neutrality – Victorians almost always prefer Queensland over NSW – when Blues star Nathan Cleary received a chorus of boos when his name was read out pre-game.
The “Queenslander” chant also got a mighty run during the Maroons’ second-half avalanche.
Having the majority of support helped Queensland lift a 31-year hoodoo, beating NSW at the MCG for the first time since 1995 when Paul Vautin coached the Maroons to a stunning 3-0 series win.
Origin will again go on the road next year when Auckland’s famous Eden Park hosts game two in the first NSW-Queensland match in New Zealand.
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