State of Origin 2015’s deciding Game III is Wednesday night at Brisbane’s Suncorp Stadium. On one side you have this legendary band of Maroons, trying to rip back supremacy after going down last year. On the other are the Blues, young and brash.
It’s that youthful fearlessness of the New South Welshman that has many good pundits tipping them to go back-to-back and finally put this Queensland legacy to bed.
There is no argument the Maroons are an ageing bunch, they admit it freely themselves. Yet the last thing to go on a veteran boxer is his knockout punch and this, my friends, is a tied series with only eighty minutes to play.
Forget Origin I where the Blues were the better team for long periods only for Cooper Cronk to kick his team to victory. In Melbourne, NSW were far superior.
It’s all forgotten now though, this game, on Wednesday night is the one that will be remembered.
Either Cameron Smith or Paul Gallen will hold up the shield.
The build-up has again been fiery and much of that can be attributed to Canterbury prop David Klemmer who so eloquently let Corey Parker know how he felt at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.
Workhorse Parker told young tyro Klemmer to “show some respect”.
Klemmer snapped back, “F*** you, you c***”.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gJ3QdwW8bH4
Unfortunately with the punching rules the way they are, Klemmer and Parker couldn’t settle their differences with fisticuffs. Instead we get pushing and shoving and name calling.
The young Bulldog heads into his first match at Suncorp Stadium as the new villain, headlining alongside Gallen.
“Klemmer can be aggressive and get in a bloke’s face, but what can you do to the bloke?” Queensland legend Wally Lewis asked.
“You can’t say shut your mouth, go whack and put him on his arse because of the rules these days.
“He’s gained plenty of press coverage for one performance and I’m sure he’s confident he can repeat it. We’ll see what he does.”
Perhaps it’s time for a meeting between Klemmer and Parker. Tommy Raudonikis can pick the spot, a secluded Brisbane watering hole and a plan can be hatched. A handshake agreement between the two to pick a spot on the field on Wednesday night and go berserk. Sure they’ll get sin binned, but at least it will be fair. Both can spend ten minutes on the sidelines.
You can hear the cheers from here; Gorden Tallis’ eyes just started rolling in his head. Or maybe it was the ghost of legendary hard man Frank “Bumper” Farrell?
Now there’s a question.
What would Bumper Farrell think of today’s game, today’s State of Origin?
The fact remains there’s a game to win but there is also a violent battle to take place first.
Klemmer is going to run the ball as hard as he can, hatred from the packed crowd around him and he’s going to charge into Parker and his teammates. There’ll be elbows and scratching and all the niggle you can handle.
But until these guys can stand up and settle their score, what do we really know about David Klemmer?
What do we know about this new version of Origin?
Maybe all 34 players should rendezvous with Raudonikis and agree to an all-in.
After all, what referee is going to sin bin everyone?
That would make Bumper happy.
@curtiswoodward1
Video Source: NZAUTV Rugby League
great stuff curtis! origin is about the biff and it certainly would sort these two out