Rugby league supremo Phil Gould has declared the Blues’ triump in the Decider as the greatest in New South Wales State of Origin history.
It’s a huge call from Gould and comes with a lot of weight considering he is the most successful NSW coach and the first to guide a Blues team to a victory in a Decider in Brisbane in 1994.
Ricky Stuart achieved the same feat in 2005, however, Gould rates last Wednesday’s 14-4 win against the Maroons their best.
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Michael Maguire’s side lost Game One 38-10 which can be largely attributed to the fact they played with 12 men for 72 minutes after Blues centre Joseph Suaalii’s eighth-minute send off for his sickening hit on Queensland fullback Reece Walsh.
The Blues rallied to blow the Maroons off the park 38-18 in Game Two after taking an Origin record 34-0 lead into the break.
And they kept the momentum going in Game Three as Maguire became just the third coach in history to lead the Blues to a Deciding win in Brisbane.
“I’ve said it religiously – a decider at Lang Park is the greatest test that any NSW player or coach will ever face,” he said on Wide World Of Sports Six Tackles with Gus
“We’d only done it twice in history prior to the other night. NSW was facing three Origin series losses in a row, the pressure on them was enormous.
“New coach, new-look team, new attitude, the whole thing. In that respect, not that 1994 or 2005 were seen to be easier … but those teams had some dominance and series wins over Queensland.
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“This was a new coach and a new team that had been beaten two years in a row and they got flogged in game one – they had to resurrect themselves.
“In that respect, it’s probably one of NSW greatest ever moments, so I will say it was their greatest ever win.”
NSW were staring down the barrel of a third successive series defeat before rookie Blues coach Maguire rallied his troops to claim a series victory that will go down in Origin folklore.
“We’ve gone up there and had some terrible losses in that environment,” Gould said.
“We’ve had some narrow losses too, but the beauty of the NSW win for me and where the coaches and the players have done well is that they got ready for what happened.
“They were ready for what happened and it probably leads to the melee and their involvement in the melee and blokes in the suits jumping out too. I loved it how they went to the Caxton for dinner in the lead up, putting them right in middle.
“There’s a saying that we use, you run towards the danger, run towards your fear, run towards the challenge – NSW ran towards Lang Park. They wanted to take it on.”
Source Agencies
