Laurie Daly will try to defy history on Wednesday night when the NSW Blues take on the Queensland Maroons in Wednesday night’s decider at Suncorp Stadium.
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Daly has lost his previous four crucial players as NSW coach but he will be keen to reverse that dire trend and, despite all the talk, he has resisted the urge to make a late change.
In fact, both teams will remain unchanged despite speculation that Daly could finally make the changes so many have been calling for and put Cameron Murray ahead of Isa Yeo.
Suggestions of a possible late change only intensified after assistant coach Boyd Cordner was “silent” when asked about the possibility of Murray starting on Tuesday night’s NRL 360.
“I’m not going to give too much away, but (they’re) both world-class castles. It’s a really difficult decision, but that’s all I’ll say about it,” Cordner said.
Braith Anasta, who has been adamant about bringing Isaah Yeo back to the bench, said on Tuesday it was a “no-brainer” for Murray to start.
“Look at these carries by Isa Yeo when Murray started at 13. Yeo was obviously put here by Michael Maguire just to run the ball, not look at the pass, make meters, find elbows and knees,” Anasta added.
“Look at those carries when they won the series against Suncorp, he was outstanding. He doesn’t want to pass, he’s not worried about executing the game plan or getting the ball to Nathan Cleary.”
Daley will have to hope it pays off because otherwise the decision to keep Yeo as a starter could be one of the more controversial issues that will continue to be debated beyond the series.
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Elsewhere, Queensland Maroons legend Gorden Tallis gave NSW Blues fans a brutal reality check ahead of the decider, claiming you “don’t know” State of Origin is on when the game is played in Sydney.
The Blues will be looking to defy the odds on Wednesday when they take on a red-hot Queensland team on home soil, with the entire state of Queensland behind the Maroons.
Tallis said he felt the strength of that connection between fans and players throughout the week, but wondered where Blues fans had that connection throughout the series.
“You walk through Brisbane. They’ll punch you in the face, they’ll wear their jerseys. There’ll be a hell of a lot of Maroons walking around,” Tallis said on Triple M.
“All the pubs have T-shirts up and flags up… You can walk around in Sydney, and I did around the Origin days, and you don’t know it’s on. So who are you playing for?
“In Brisbane, you know it’s State of Origin time. Every person in New South Wales says, ‘Queensland is so good’, but your fans here don’t do it that well for you. That’s about as deep as it gets.
“Leave them alone.”
There was a similar message from south of the border, with Laurie Daly’s former Origin teammate Ben Elias leading a call for fans to support the under-fire Blues manager ahead of what could be his final game.