Blues eye ruck fix to defy Origin history

NSW must find a way to match Queensland’s ruck speed if they are to defy history and fight back to win the State of Origin series.

Queensland’s 16-10 win in Wednesday night’s opener has left NSW needing to win two on the road to retain the Shield, ahead of games in both Perth and Brisbane.

Only three NSW sides in Origin history have come back to win the series after dropping the first game, in 1994, 2005 and 2019.

And the Blues are aware it must start in the ruck.

While Queensland found spark through the middle after the opening 20 minutes, NSW had no such joy until late in the match.

Nathan Cleary looks on after the Blues conceded a second-half try. Photo by Cameron Spencer/Getty Images

Blues hooker Damien Cook was unable to run the ball at all in the first half, while no NSW forward topped 100 metres for the game.

That came in direct contrast to last year, where NSW dominated Queensland in the middle and gave their speedy outside backs the space and time to dominate.

“They won the ruck. They did a really good job there,” NSW coach Brad Fittler said.

“They held on and (referee) Ashley (Klein) didn’t want to give penalties away.

“We got a penalty with 17 minutes to go, it was the first penalty.

“We should have done a better job. We should have held them down longer – simple.”

NSW were awarded four set restarts for ruck infringements, but struggled to slow down a Queensland attack that played direct with Cameron Munster and Daly Cherry-Evans on the front foot.

Notably, Queensland’s domination of the ruck came with the return of the likes of Cameron Smith and Billy Slater into the Maroons camp, with the play-the-ball an area they dominated during their decade of success.

Captain James Tedesco admitted he was unsure if Queensland had simply grown better in the tackle or if officials were not as stringent as in last year’s lightening-paced series.

“It’s hard to tell. There were no penalties,” Tedesco said.

“They were probably holding us down for that extra second. It didn’t allow us to free that space around the ruck and play with the freedom we wanted to.”

Meanwhile Fittler also said he would await a response from the NRL on other crucial calls.

The Blues believed a forward-pass call that denied Tedesco a try that would have put the hosts 8-0 up was line ball, and claimed Kalyn Ponga’s ball in the lead up to Dane Gagai’s try moments later was also marginal.

Tedesco also questioned on field whether Daly Cherry-Evans’ second-half try had come after Junior Paulo had been illegally held back in a scrum.

“I thought Junior Paulo’s one, he was held in the scrum,” Fittler said.

“It will be interesting to speak to Jared and his view on the ball going forward and Junior being held.

“But at the end of the day I don’t know if it made a difference.”