State of Origin 2015: Date, Start Time, Live Stream for Blues vs. Maroons
The opening game of the 2015 State of Origin series will be a monumental collision as Queensland Maroons seek revenge against the New South Wales Blues.
The Blues won in 2014, per Nick Tedeschi of the Guardian, to end a run of eight successive series wins for the Maroons.
Blues coach Laurie Daley will expect another resolute performance from his players over the three-game series, starting with the opener at the ANZ Stadium in Sydney on Wednesday.
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Daley’s Maroons counterpart Mal Meninga, meanwhile, will look to his experienced group of players to turn on the style.
Here is all the information you need on the opening game of the State of Origin series, including live stream info and a match preview:
Date: Wednesday, May 27
Venue: ANZ Stadium, Sydney
Time: 11 a.m. (BST)/6 a.m. (ET)
Live Stream: NRL's live stream/Fox Sports (U.S.)
Match Preview
Blues are not known for scoring lots of tries in recent series. In winning the series last year, NSW mustered just four tries in three games, per Tedeschi. The way they won the series was through dogged defence.
Captain Robbie Farah knows his team are going to have to produce the same again after winning the opening two games last year 12-8 and then 6-4, per Chris Kennedy of the NRL’s official website. Farah said, per Kennedy:
"Last year's series – those games went down to the wire, we were defending our tryline over and over and I think that's what Origin football comes down to in the end. You can have all your fancy plays and you can train all you want but when times are tough out there and you've got to defend your line five or six sets in a row or the penalty count goes against you do you quit or do you keep going? That's what Origin footy is about.
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Blues coach Daley has turned to a player who missed the 2014 series to guide his team’s attacking play.
Mitchell Pearce has previously struggled in Origin games and was overlooked in favour of Trent Hodkinson and Josh Reynolds. However, Pearce has been drafted back into the squad and he has been backed to deliver by Jarryd Hayne.
Hayne was a try scorer in last year’s Series win, but the former Parramatta Eels winger is now in the NFL with the San Francisco 49ers. Hayne wrote in the Sydney Morning Herald:
"He needs to realise that he belongs and remember why he is there and why Laurie believes in him and why I believe in him. He plays his best when he plays his natural game. As a halfback, he ticks all the boxes. He's a phenomenal athlete with a great kicking game, an incredible passing game and a strong defensive game.
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The Maroons have had injury concerns in the build-up to the game, due to doubts over the fitness of Greg Inglis and Billy Slater, per Peter Badel of the Courier Mail.
That has forced Meninga to call up Dane Gagai as cover, but the Maroons' coach will expect to be at full strength.
Queensland have talent and experience in abundance, with Inglis and Slater joined in the squad by the likes of Johnathan Thurston, Cooper Cronk and Cameron Smith.
Captain Smith will equal the mark of Allan Langer when he makes his 34th Origin appearance for the Maroons, per Badel.
The Maroons also have Michael Morgan primed for his debut off the bench after he was called up to replace Daly Cherry-Evans, per ABC.
The Blues have won the last three series openers and will again prove tough to beat, in both this match and the series itself.
But the Maroons will be wounded animals after their surprise defeat last year and, even though their key players are over 30, they are still in form. The combination of experience and ability will likely prove to be too much for the Blues.
Prediction: Maroons to win
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