Oh New South Wales, What Could Have Been...

On Wednesday night at a very dewy Suncorp Stadium we saw the final game in the 2009 State Of Origin Series. There were some great tries, some brutal defense, and even a traditional State Of Origin punch up!

These two great teams proved that there is no such thing as a "dead rubber". Even though the series had already been won by Queensland for a record 4th time in a row at 2-0, New South Wales proved that they will not stand down for their northern rivals.

The first try went to QLD's Dallas Johnson after a dubious video ref decision. He was ruled  to have grounded the ball with his torso, which I think is one of the most ridiculous rules in the game today. The player needs to have control of the ball for the try to count in my opinion. Jonathan Thurston then converted the try. QLD 6-0.

Next we saw NSW's Ben Creagh run a perfect line through a hole in the defense and cross the line. Michael Ennis made the conversion look easy. 6-6.

The next scoring opportunity went to David "Wolfman" Williams, where after he had placed the ball on the ground, Thurston ran across and accidentally kicked him in the head resulting in a very rare eight point try. NSW 14-6.

A special mention has to go to one of the most spectacular no try rulings that you'll ever see in a game of Rugby League. The ball was kicked into the NSW try area and it was chased down hard by QLD's Justin Hodges, who leaped into the air and performed some sort of a somersault to try and ground the ball. He was unsuccessful, but it looked great!

Hodges soon got another chance at the try line and this time he got through. He had to beat four NSW defenders, but he showed some awesome strength to get there. NSW 14-10.

Dragon's superstar Josh Morris was next to cross the chalk for NSW. He showed some real tenacity and desperation to gain some hard earned points for his team. Gidley converted the try. NSW 20-10.

Arguably the fastest man on the park, Billy Slater, proved yet again why he is the best fullback in the NRL today. He chased down a ball with blistering speed and forced the ball down just short of the dead ball line. I personally think he knocked it on, but the game goes on. Thurston kicked the goal. NSW 20-16.

Ben Creagh got his chance in the spotlight next for NSW. He grabbed the ball in both hands and jumped towards the line in a superman-like effort. The ball somehow landed on the try line as Creagh landed on the grass outstretched. Ennis kicked a successful conversion. NSW 26-16.

Sometime after that, NSW was awarded a penalty close to the QLD try line. NSW elected to kick and earned another two points to now lead 28-16.

The game seemed to wind down somewhat once it was clear that NSW had the game wrapped up. That was clearly not the case when a fight broke out involving veteran Queenslander Steve Price. He was eventually laid out and had to be taken off the field by a medicab.

In the last minute of the game alone, one player was sent off (Trent Waterhouse), and two others were sin-binned (Ben Creagh and Sam Thaiday). Not since Gordon Tallis in 2002 had a player been sent off in State Of Origin.

Tensions flared yet again at the end of the match as the final buzzer went off. Both teams settled down and ended up shaking hands, like all good sportsman do. The final score: NSW 28 - QLD 16.

These players, these warriors, showed no fear and absolutely no self preservation. They provided the fans with a classic State Of Origin match that won't be forgotten anytime soon. There were a few interesting things to come out of the game.

Brett Kimmorley seems to have made up for "that pass" that lost NSW the series in 2005. He played a very good game for the blues with easily the best kicking game of the night. It's a shame that NSW hasn't stuck by him for the last few years.

It's great to see that the NSW assistant coaches, Laurie Daley and Andrew Johns, still have all the passion they had when they were playing. They rode every play during the game from on the end of their seat.

Jared Hayne would have to be the NSW player of the series. He literally carried the blues through the first two games and had another solid game this time around.

Queensland definitely got revenge on Trent Barrett for what he did to Greg Inglis in game two. The first time he hit the ball up, there was a wall of maroon to drive him into the ground.

The State Of Origin series has finished for another year, but the rivalry will never be over.