‘Absolutely stuffed': Maroons icon toppled as bleak Origin reality exposed
Remember when the Maroons were so daunting they'd reduced the Blues to Origin's Washington Generals?
When their side was packed with winners and Suncorp Stadium was such a bear pit that our boys would only leave the sheds to be winched to safety?
FOX LEAGUE, available on Kayo Sports, is the only place to watch every game of every round in the 2025 NRL Telstra Premiership, LIVE with no ad-breaks during play. New to Kayo? Get your first month for just $1. Limited-time offer.
Yep, Origin was once so traumatic for New South Welshpeople that we'd peek through our fingers on one hand while sucking the thumb on the other, and that was just for the coin toss.
But in a long-awaited win for the good guys, these days are officially a thing of the past.
After two straight losses at the Queensland icon of Suncorp Stadium and barely a four-pointer to share between them, you can consider the Queensland Spirit fizzled, Fortress Suncorp a public library, and the Maroons absolutely stuffed.
With an ageing side and depressing lack of replacements, Queensland's Origin team is so shot to bits that the Blues don't even need to convert tries to beat them anymore.
Wednesday's sweat-free 18-6 win was as breezy as it gets for the southern state, a night so relaxing that even a worrywart like Andrew Johns spent most of the night gleefully fixated on balls.
And with coach Laurie Daley declaring in the aftermath 'I think we can get a lot better ', suddenly it's now NSW boasting the softest draw in rugby league.
With the Blues entrenched in a golden window with options coming out the wazoo - and a mulligan at Fortress Perth beckoning - all of Queensland's bunkum about being lowdown underdogs is finally about to come true.
Put simply, Billy Slater's options are so threadbare for a must-win game two that he has nothing to turn to but Maroon hyperbole or the bottle.
The Queensland coach has already hinted at retaining his game one squad, probably just to give this sack of doorknobs one more chance to save face after Wednesday night.
But what's the point?
Such was the walkover at Suncorp, he needs new blood in the forwards and Botox in the backs, and he can start with handing the reins to Tom Dearden in favour of Daly Cherry-Evans.
If Slater doesn't exhibit the intestinal fortitude required to axe a few mates, then Queensland Courage is nothing more than some kinda rum-based rocket fuel.
And if he does choose to walk his state off a cliff, Queensland might as well cut to the chase and pronounce Origin as dead, which is what they usually do anyway whenever their team's completion rate drops below 65%.
Yep, the Maroons need to pull some big kahuna moves because not even Suncorp can save them anymore.
We all recall that horrifically lean time when the Blues could only win north of the border if it was a dead rubber or a pandemic.
But after recording back-to-back triumphs for the first time since 1997/98, this graveyard for the Blues has become a virtual wellness retreat.
Once a venue where futile NSW teams would be haunted by the ghosts of Queensland past, now the only translucent shadows on the paddock at Lang Park are the scared holograms kicking the ball away from Spencer Leniu.
Even the baying locals have become inexplicably sober.
Once so crowding you could taste the halitosis, last night's Suncorp attendance was so silent at times you could hear the clip-clop of all the horse and carts on Milton Street.
In fact, the only stinging verbal attack that came from north of the border all week was from the Courier Mail and to be fair, the impact to Leniu's feelings from the paper's 'grub' headline was harder than any tackle he copped in the series opener.
Even the Maroons once-superhuman attack has become such a flaccid east-west dish for the Blues marauding defence that it can only score provided it's against 12 men.
It means Suncorp is still an Origin graveyard, but only for its hosts.
That's why the Blues should seriously consider transferring all their home games there forthwith.
After all, it's their new spiritual home, plus it's probably easier for fans to commute to and from Sydney than Accor Stadium.
- Dane Eldridge is a warped cynic yearning for the glory days of rugby league, a time when the sponges were magic and the Mondays were mad. He's never strapped on a boot in his life, and as such, should be taken with a grain of salt.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
News.com.au
13 minutes ago
- News.com.au
Trainer Joe Pride expects another bold showing from 2025 Civic Stakes favourite Headley Grange
Trainer Joe Pride is yet to find Headley Grange's ceiling but expects the bombproof galloper will be up to the challenge of Saturday's Listed $200,000 Civic Stakes (1400m) at Royal Randwick. Pride will launch a three-pronged attack in the feature with Headley Grange the clear pick of the litter in the main event of the 10-race card alongside Cool Jakey and Estadio Mestalla. Headley Grange has been a revelation for Pride over the past 12 months and hasn't finished worse than second in nearly a year with four wins in his past eight starts. The son of Exosphere was a well-backed favourite when scoring first-up from a break with a strong victory in Benchmark 94 grade at Randwick. 'I can't remember the last time he missed the place, he is very honest and genuine,' Pride said. 'I think he is one of those ones where you don't need the trainer to recommend him to punters. I am sure they will all pile in. 'He is the clear favourite for a reason, very consistent. I guess if you have to pick holes in what he has to do on Saturday, it's his first time in Listed grade so that has to be against him. 'The conditions of the track are neither here nor there for him. He goes just as well on wet or dry. 'The 1400m is spot on so there's seemingly not many chinks in his armour.' Headley Grange wins first up to give @PrideRacing a Randwick double! 🙌 @aus_turf_club — SKY Racing (@SkyRacingAU) June 7, 2025 The Civic Stakes will be the first time in his 17-start career that Headley Grange has been tested in stakes grade but Pride believes his four-year-old is more than worthy of the opportunity. Headley Grange has been one of the most consistent horses in Pride's stable and has continued on an upward trajectory. 'He could well go to another level. I figure he has a ceiling there somewhere,' Pride said. 'He has got the engine there and he won like a Listed race would be well within his mark. He is a going well.' Headley Grange, to be ridden by Jason Collett, is the $2.70 favourite for the Civic Stakes with Cool Jakey at $10 and Estadio Mestalla at $23. Cool Jakey is dropping back in trip with Reece Jones aboard after leading from the front and tiring late in a mile event at Randwick a fortnight ago. • Ray & Duff's Randwick tips: Punters should plan their Exit on Saturday 'It was a mile race and he was OK at the mile on a leaderish track two starts ago but last start at a mile at the pace he went it was too far for him,' Pride said. 'Back 200m here. He has been fortunate enough to race on some wet tracks of late and it's been to his advantage. 'Saturday will be the driest he has had. It could be an issue for him.' While Estadio Mestalla is the outsider of Pride's trio, he's expecting an improved effort from the gelding. Estadio Mestalla finished five lengths off Headley Grange first-up from a break with Chad Schofield to take over the ride. 'He will run much better than his place in the market suggests,' Pride said. 'I can't quite put my finger on what happened to him first-up but he has pulled up well and is a horse that is very capable at this level. 'He has run second in a Little Dance and placed in this race last year. 'I am not asking him to do anything he hasn't before and I think he can get back to that form on Saturday.' He will saddle up another in-form galloper when Storm The Ramparts ($4.20) goes in search of a third consecutive victory in the Asahi Super Dry Benchmark 78 Handicap (1000m). Storm The Ramparts will have to lug the topweight of 61.5kg after scoring back-to-back victories at the same venue this prep. 'He keeps creeping up in the weights but weights in 1000m races don't matter as much,' Pride said. 'I am happy with him. He is honest and genuine. 'He is another one that has been able to hit those soft and heavy tracks at those last three runs. 'Coming back to a track that is a soft 5 is he disadvantaged? Probably.'
News.com.au
13 minutes ago
- News.com.au
South Australia shaken by jobs challenges and Premier Peter Malinauskas must be at top of his game
South Australia's foundations are being shaken by global and natural forces, with tempestuous times ahead. In a tumultuous past fortnight, bedrocks of the state economy, employing thousands of people, have been plunged into doubt. Santos, the state's biggest company by far, is the target of an almost $30bn takeover bid by an Abu Dhabi raider, casting great uncertainty over the future of its Adelaide head office. The $368bn nuclear-powered submarine project centred on Adelaide is under threat from a 30-day United States review assessing its alignment with President Donald Trump's America First agenda. Despite some heartening rain, the drought continues to ravage the state's farms – SA primary industries generate $17.1bn annually. State debt was forecast to soar to $48.495bn in the state budget unveiled on June 5, after which the influential S & P Global Ratings warned big new spending ahead of next March's state election could trigger a credit rating downgrade. The purse strings will continue to be tested by the Whyalla steelworks and mine, as the budget set aside $384m in state and federal funds for a potential six-month extension of the state-induced administration. The Malinauskas government might have repeatedly ruled out an ownership stake in Whyalla's steelworks but a $2.4bn state/federal rescue package leaves both on the hook until a new owner is found. Public sector unions are restless. The SA Salaried Medical Officers Association on Thursday rejected a 10 per cent pay rise over three years and recommitted to walking off the job on Wednesday. These are extraordinary and foundational challenges, of varying degrees of concern, to the state economy and, most particularly, the potential for today's aspirational young South Australians to find well-paid, challenging jobs. The risk of Santos's head office leaving Adelaide should not be dismissed lightly. A foreign takeover, as my colleague Giuseppe Tauriello observed on Wednesday, would significantly diminish the last corporate heavyweight left standing in South Australia. Santos dwarfs other SA companies for jobs, investment, sponsorship and general corporate clout. It is four times the size of the state's second biggest firm, Argo Investments, and more than eight times the size of third-ranking Codan. Business success matters in a state where the population is overwhelmingly concentrated in the capital, and most jobs are underpinned by state and federal government spending of some form. Santos and partner Beach Energy in January officially opened a nation-leading Moomba carbon storage project, billed as kickstarting a $600bn industry and hailed by Premier Peter Malinauskas as a 'historic day for our state'. Mr Malinauskas responded to the Santos takeover bid by declaring his government's 'priority at all times is to ensure that South Australian jobs remain in South Australia, and to maintain Santos' headquarters in Adelaide'. This will be a test of his government's mettle and resolve, along with its legislative levers that include ministerial approval for a change in controlling interest of a petroleum resources licence holder, like Santos. Opposition Leader Vincent Tarzia, in his Tuesday budget reply speech, predictably painted a bleak picture of a state ravaged by debt, skyrocketing costs, unaffordable homes and a floundering health care system. Nine months out from the next state election, he vowed to deliver a 'debt management plan' to ensure this was at 'a sustainable level'. Mr Tarzia declared the state was 'at a crossroads'. He was right, although the future is always uncertain. Mr Malinauskas has a strong story to tell on economic confidence, a historically low jobless rate and the state's standing in the nation. But he will be justifiably wary of overconfidence ahead of the state election, even if his opponents are at a historically low ebb in their standing. The state is facing some serious challenges and the Premier will need to be at the top of his game.
News.com.au
13 minutes ago
- News.com.au
‘As a party, it stands alone': Ipswich Cup meeting bounces back from grandstand fire
There were the dramatic scenes of a burning grandstand in the lead-up to last year's Ipswich Cup, but it has been far more smooth sailing this time for officials who are expecting a bumper crowd of more than 12,000 on Saturday. An electrical fire on Cup eve last year saw extraordinary scenes at the popular meeting with the main grandstand empty apart from the racecaller. 'Obviously one aspect we are looking forward to is having people back in the grandstand following the Cup eve fire last year,' Ipswich Turf Club CEO Nathan Exelby said. 'Broadcaster David Fowler cut a lonely figure as the only person in that stand last year. 'Restoration works were completed in October and we're looking forward to seeing our members and guests back in that stand for the 2025 Cup. 'The crowd last year was 12,500 and we are expecting a similar number this time around based on ticket pre-sales. 'The Ipswich Turf Club is proud of the role its TAB Cup meeting plays in the winter carnival landscape. 'It's not a Group race meeting, but as a party, it stands alone. Sean Tou played the role of fireman when he charged into a burning grandstand at Ipswich to save the club's biggest race meeting earlier this year and has pulled off recovery work of a different type in reviving the track after a recent renovation. ðŸ'‡ — Racenet (@RacenetTweets) September 15, 2024 'The combination of the infield festival and the 200m-plus marquee line along the home straight, it is a sight to behold and newcomers to the Cup meeting are consistently amazed at the scope of the event. 'The Brisbane Racing Club do a super job with their carnival, having positioned it as the launching pad to future stardom. 'Ipswich doesn't attract that same level of horse, but we run three very competitive stakes races and another (the TL Cooney) that is knocking on the door of being upgraded to black type status.' While the race day is known for the $250,000 Ipswich Cup, the Listed Gai Waterhouse Classic and Listed Eye Liner Stakes are also key races. It might not be the Group 1 Stradbroke day that we saw last Saturday, but Ipswich has its own iconic spot. 'The weather gods finally tipped their hat to the Brisbane Racing Club and the Stradbroke meeting was simply outstanding,' Racing Queensland CEO Lachlan Murray said. 'Attention now turns to Ipswich Turf Club. 'Nathan Exelby hosted a Calcutta on Thursday night, the first time it has ever been held at the Turf Club itself and it was a good warm up for the Ipswich Cup meeting. 'The weather gods are smiling and the fields are looking good; I expect a great day of racing.' The Ipswich Cup is one of the most attended race meetings in Queensland every year.
