State of Origin 2022 Game 2: NSW Blues v Queensland Maroons – live!

CONVERTED TRY! NSW 38-12 Queensland (Cleary, 67)

Another six points for Nathan Cleary. The Blues rumbled downfield following the kick-off schmozzle and by the time they get to the right corner the ball infield finds Cleary with time to pick a line through the broken Queensland defence and skip under the posts. It is now a rout.

66 mins: Holmes makes a mess of the attempted short restart. It’s all gone Pete Tong for the Maroons.

GOAL! NSW 32-12 Queensland (Cleary, 65)

A couple more points for Cleary.

TRY! NSW 30-12 Queensland (Cleary, 64)

… and after Burton’s brilliance, NSW waste no time. Cleary accepts the pass from dummy half, steps off his left, carves a beautiful angle infield towards the posts, accepts contact, reaches over and touches down. Clinical from Cleary, and sweet redemption following Origin I criticism.

64 mins: NSW are making gains with every carry. Tedesco is everywhere, playing at warp speed. Queensland are out on their feet. Cleary lets them off with a loose play the ball, but the superb Burton soon continues the mauling with a 1-1 strip of Gagai.

62 mins: Burton’s left boot is a serious weapon. Again he makes Ponga’s life uncomfortable and means Queensland are attacking from 98m out. They make few inroads and NSW are rolling. This could end up a rout.

GOAL! NSW 26-12 Queensland (Cleary, 60)

Cleary kicks a couple more points. The series will be alive in Brisbane.

Updated at 07.30 EDT

TRY! NSW 24-12 Queensland (Luai, 59)

That’ll do it. From the drop-out, Burton bursts down the left, and from the play the ball the game is static with Luai looking to pass infield, but Gagai and Nanai go to sleep as markers, the NSW half spots the gap, darts through it and dives over. Schoolboy stuff in isolation, but the product of an hour of agonising mental and physical effort for the Maroon defence.

Lindsay Collins looks dejected. Photograph: Mark Kolbe/Getty Images

Updated at 07.24 EDT

59 mins: NSW are controlling the game superbly, and it’s Cleary again, kicking on tackle four, turning Ponga, and Crichton chases like a Cheetah mauling an antelope and earns the first line drop-out of the night.

57 mins: Hunt kicks on three, turning To’o into his left corner. It needs a strong defensive set to back up that concession of possession – and the Maroons deliver – but Cleary is undeterred, belting a magnificent attempted 40-20 that goes inches from an Origin highlight reel. Even so, Queensland have a full set deep in their own half and the Blues re-establish supremacy in midfield.

55 mins: NSW taking no risks with ball in hand, but they still pound the middle through Tedesco, and with Burton’s left boot and Cleary’s right, they have a menacing and penetrating kicking game which almost pays dividends again.

54 mins: What have Queensland got in response? It’s up to them to set the terms now after that NSW onslaught either side of half-time. Ponga, Carrigan, and Hunt all make handy yards down the middle, but it still leaves DCE with a lot to do from his kick, which is easily gathered by To’o.

GOAL! NSW 20-12 Queensland (Cleary, 52)

Cleary kicks NSW beyond a converted try. It looks a very handy margin right now the way the game has evolved.

TRY! NSW 18-12 Queensland (Tupou, 51)

Still they come! Another NSW bomb goes to ground and the pressure will not relent. And this time it pays! Cleary spots the overlap on the right, waits for the moment to pick his pass and cuts out two blue jerseys with ease, spinning the ball into the chest of his right winger who has the easy job of touching down.

50 mins: NSW are determined to score early in this half and hammer at Queensland at pace. It takes superb defence to keep them at bay, including a miraculous scoop off the ground form Munster to collect Tupou’s chip through and avoid the drop-out concession. Kaufusi is welcomed to the field with a massive Paulo hit. I could feel that from my sofa. The Blues are pushing hard.

48 mins: A much safer set run out of defence from Queensland ends with NSW almost conceding the sloppiest of tries when Tupou hurled a loose pass infield to Tedesco, but no harm done… but it does eat up valuable seconds to allow Kaufusi to return to the field and we’re back to 13 v 13.

46 mins: Spillage in contact on halfway and NSW pounce! Agonising for the Maroons trying to wind the clock down with 12 men, but the Blues capitalise and almost cross in the right corner through Tupou. They probe to the left, then to the right, pressure mounting and a try surely imminent against the undermanned defence – but there’s a forward pass! Awful from Crichton behind the play-the-ball, lobbing to Paulo and coughing up a guaranteed six points. Queensland survive!

44 mins: Queensland make good yardage but then fail to execute on the last. Taulagi keeps the ball alive and NSW look nervy in broken field defence. A kick through causes panic but it’s eventually claimed and cleared. Can NSW make gains against 12 on this set? No. Good central defence from the Maroons forces Cleary to kick from range.

42 mins: Queensland survive the restart set with NSW taking no risks through the middle. It is a set that ends with the most incredible kick from Burton though, left-footed miles into the air and spinning like a bouncing bomb, impossible to grab, and Taulagi has to accept it on the bounce near his line. However, the Blues soon transgress in defence and the Maroons accept a penalty with relish.

The teams are out for the second half. Can Queensland survive with 12 men for the next eight minutes?

“The Blues deservedly lead at half time,” emails BTL regular HarryofOz. “The Maroons won the forward battle in Game 1, and we are winning it so far in Game 2.”

“The effort is definitely there, as is the intensity but the quality I feel is down from the first game overall. Maybe the pitch is making it difficulty to run properly – there have been a few slips – so that may be a factor. We did look somewhat disorganised in our sets deep in the Queensland twenty.” Agree on all fronts. The NSW bench has also clearly made an impact. Luai remains below par. I wonder if his position comes under threat when Wighton is fit again? Burton has started superbly.

That came to life all of a sudden. NSW controlled the opening 20 minutes without looking overly threatening. The Queensland bench again freshened things up and the Maroons hit the front courtesy of a couple of tries, the second of which was a beauty. But they couldn’t withstand a long sustained spell of pressure in the shadow of half-time, and not only that they lost Kaufusi to the bin. Advantage NSW with 40 minutes remaining.

Half-time: NSW 14-12 Queensland

Cleary curls the touchline conversion over to send NSW to the sheds with their noses in front.

Updated at 06.53 EDT

TRY! NSW 12-12 Queensland (To’o, 40)

… and they do. A couple of tackles under the posts then catch-pass to the left ends with Burton offloading beautifully for To’o to scamper around the outside.

To’o celebrates with his great mate Jarome Luai. Photograph: Mark Kolbe/Getty Images

Updated at 07.11 EDT

Sin-bin! Kaufusi (Queensland)

39 mins: Queensland stand firm on the right. Burton changes the line of attack jinking infield. Paulo hammers the line. A try is surely coming. ANOTHER SIX-AGAIN! And Ashley Klein has had enough. Kaufusi is sent to the bin for the latest infringement. Surely, surely, the Blues score now.

37 mins: A full set 20m out becomes a full set 10m out, becomes a full set 5m out as the six-again klaxon reverberates around Optus Stadium. NSW probe to the left, then look to use the space on the right but rely on Tupou’s superb hands to avoid a breakaway counterattack try. The focus turns to the left but there’s no space. Cleary kicks crossfield to the corner and Taulagi climbs above Tupou to defuse the bomb and the Maroons survive. But do they? There’s a penalty against Holmes for impeding Tupou’s leap! More pressure to come from NSW.

35 mins: The first mistake in the air from Queensland in almost three halves of Origin footy with Cobbo failing to grab a Cleary bomb. NSW try to exploit broken field but the Maroons scramble defence superbly – yet again. However, the play returns to the original knock-on, the Blues have A1 field position.

34 mins: Queensland have scored two lovely tries, the second especially, but both have originated from unnecessary NSW penalties. Brad Fittler must be fuming towards the end of a half his side have largely controlled.

GOAL! NSW 8-12 Queensland (Holmes, 32)

Holmes makes no mistake.

Updated at 06.42 EDT

TRY! NSW 8-10 Queensland (Munster, 31)

Magnificent try from Queensland! Liquid rugby league! Hunt controls the tempo near halfway but it’s Ponga who makes it, dashing on the angle to the outside left, creating the half-space. At the last moment Ponga offloads to Holmes, who feeds the ball back inside to Munster on the shoulder who has 25m to travel next to the posts. That was exhilarating, incisive, and technically precise. Superb try.

Munster with the early celebration. Photograph: Mark Kolbe/Getty Images

Updated at 06.40 EDT

30 mins: Back to the arm-wrestle either side of halfway, and after a solid set from NSW the Blues concede a cheap penalty for not releasing Carrigan in the tackle.

Lindsay Collins is off for an HIA

GOAL! NSW 8-6 Queensland (Cleary, 28)

Cleary kicks the Blues back in front with the minimum of fuss.

Updated at 06.43 EDT

TRY! NSW 6-6 Queensland (Burton, 27)

With Cleary as point guard NSW cut to the right but Queensland scramble well. The ball comes back infield but Cleary and Luai lack momentum and play stalls. But that pause suits Cleary who draws DCE in towards him before kicking around the onrushing defender for Burton to pounce, collect the bouncing ball and dive over. Excellent improvised footy from the NSW half.

Matt Burton is mobbed after scoring on debut. Photograph: Mark Kolbe/Getty Images

Updated at 06.35 EDT

26 mins: Queensland back up their try with a solid set near halfway, but they invite pressure with a ruck infringement on Paulo signalling the six-again klaxon.

Cam Murray is back on following his HIA.

GOAL! NSW 2-6 Queensland (Holmes, 24)

Midway between the right touchline and the right upright Holmes makes no mistake.

Updated at 06.43 EDT

TRY! NSW 2-4 Queensland (Kaufusi, 23)

Queensland have only felt in this game for about three minutes, and that phase of play ends with a try! From the penalty, the Maroons control the ball from the middle to the right through multiple pairs of quick hands until Ponga delays his pass superbly for the onrushing Kaufusi to burst through the line then have enough strength to accept contact near the line, reach over and score.

Kaufusi can’t hide his delight at scoring a try. Photograph: Mark Kolbe/Getty Images

Updated at 06.26 EDT

22 mins: Carrigan has made a difference in his short time on the field and the midfield is now more even with Queensland gaining momentum in the guts. Two sets in a row now NSW have done little more than clear their lines. Their work is only going to increase after Trbojevic is penalised for tipping Cobbo on the 30m line. Very un-Origin-like, the NSW enforcer immediately apologises to the Queensland winger.

21 mins: Another harmless, aimless Queensland attack ends with little threat to the NSW line. The Blues cruise to halfway but Luai’s kick is poor.

19 mins: To’o does well to accept contact and find the offload but with space opening up down the left Luai can’t hold onto a juggling ball. NSW are threatening to break this game open but Queensland are just hanging in.

18 mins: Queensland march downfield and on the last Tedesco tries to step inside but he slips on this greasy surface and concedes the turnover. The game is very much on the Blues’ terms. Grant and Carrigan are again required to make an impression off the bench.