It was a perfect evening for Football at Telstra Stadium for the annual u17 clash between Qld and NSW. The game kicked off just over 2 hours before the 2nd State of Origin in front of a reasonable crowd.
The first 10 minutes were very even with neither side trying too much. Prop Dave Taylor started well for the Maroons with a number of charging runs. Queensland's ball security early was better than the Blues and they were rewarded in the 14th minute when a repeat set from a penalty saw Jacob Fauid unload a beautiful ball to Daniel Issac who scored in the left corner. Unfortunately Jacob;s conversion attempt swung wide, but Qld led 4-0. A couple of mistakes became creeping into Queensland's game after the try, and on the back of a great performance by five-eiaght and captain Kris Keating, NSW began to dominate field position. A dropped bomb gave them a scrum 10 minutes out and Keating himself powered over close to the posts. Fulback Jarred Hayne's conversion attempt fom close in swung wide and it was 4-4. NSW continued to look dangerous with Hayne, winger Michael Brophy and centre Shaun Kenny-Dowall prominent, but Qld's last ditch defence hung on, and a great run from Luke Samoa finally saw them back with some field position. Josh Costello entered the fray at five-eight adding some spark, along with Isaac Schwenke and Simona Vavega who made some inroads into the tiring NSW defence. Nathan Strudwick was also causing the Blues defence plenty of worries wth his darts from dummy half. Just before half-time, Qld received a penalty from a play-the-ball indiscretion 30 metres out right in front, and Josh made no mistake with the penalty goal attempt giving Qld a 6-4 lead at the break.
NSW started solidly in the second half, and immediately had Qld pinned in their own territory, courtesy of a great kicking game from their halves. Qld's kicking game had not been great in the first half and proved disastrous early in the second when an attempted grubber on half way, rebounded off legs and was picked up by Blues centre Kenny-Dowall who raced 50 metres to put NSW in front for the first time. A sideline conversion from new kicker, halfback Blake Lazarus gave them a 10-6 with 30 mins to go. Qld steadied however with some strong runs from Junior Seumanutafa and had a chance to equalize when Josh Costello chipped and recovered brilliantly before sending Daniel Isaac away. The NSW cover defence stifled the chance, but more disastrously for Qld, "Jolly" was knocked out after offloading and had to be taken from the field by Medicab, playing no further part in the game. No action was taken from the officials on this late hit either, so this rubbed salt into Qld's wounds. Even worse was to follow for the Maroons only a few minutes later when another tremendous bomb was plucked from the air by fullback Jarryd Hayne with Lazarus's conversion taking the Blues out to a 10 point lead. The NSW attack really swung into gear particularly down the right hand side, and aided by non-stop lock Luke Muttdon, they were really got on top, Another strong try to Keating and yet another from a spilled bomb to Kenny-Dowall saw NSW race to a 28-6 lead with 12 minutes remaining. The Kenny-Dowall try celebrations were cut short by a brief but very willng brawl involving the majority of players on the field. Cameron Heading and Junior Seumanutafa from Qld and Luke Muttdon from NSW were sin-binned for their parts in the brawl. To their credit the Maroon boys lifted though a man down on the Blues and were rewarded when a neat grubber kick by Brady Payne was well gathered by Daniel Issac who scored his second try for the evening. Luke Samoa knocked over the conversion to narrow the margin to 16 points but this was to be the last score of the evening, NSW running out deserved 28-12 winners.
For Qld, I though Nathan Strudwick stood out in the forwards, well supported by prop Dave Taylor. Qld's four backrowers were all fairly quiet as both packs pretty much shut each other down on the evening, although it was to Qld's credit as NSW had a much bigger pack. Junior Seumanatafa was the best of the backs, with some strong running and solid defence, whilst Luke Samoa made the most of limited opportunities. Daniel Isaac was strong in attack, whilst the halves Brady Payne and Jacob Fauid played solid games, although neither would have been happy with their kicking games. It was a pity Josh Costello was injured after only 10 minutes game time as he really had the NSW defence guessing. For the Blues, captain Kris Keating had a great game, as did fullback Jarryd Hayne and centre Shaun Kenny-Dowall. Lock Luke Muttdon was the pick of the Blues' forwards with interchange forwrd Stanley Waqz atching the eye.
In the final washup, NSW made 9 line breaks to 2, virtually all in the backs and this pretty much summed up the game, as the Queenslanders struggled to contain their speed and ball skill. They were beaten but certainly not disgraced.
Minute by minute:
14th min: Daniel Issac try; Qld 4-0
19th min: Kris Keating try; 4-4
34th min: Josh Costello p.g.; Qld 6-4
FIRST HALF STATS: Penalties: Qld 5-1; Completions: Qld 14/17 (82.3%); NSW 13/16 (81.3%)
40th min: Shaun Kenny-Dowall try/Blake Lazarus conv; NSW 10-6
50th min: Jarryd Payne try/Blake Lazarus/conv; NSW 16-6
54th min: Kris Keating try/Blake Lazarus conv; NSW 22-6
58th min: Shaun Kenny-Dowall try/Blake Lazarus conv; NSW 28-6
61st min: Daniel Issac try/Luke Samoa conv; NSW 28-12
SECOND HALF STATS: Penalties: Qld 5-3; Completions: Qld 10/16 (62.5%); NSW 10/15 (66.7%)
TOTAL STATS: Penalties: Qld 10-4; Completions: Qld 24/33 (72.7%); NSW 23/31 (74.2%)
OTHER STATS:
Scrums: NSW 5-4
Handling Errors: NSW 6-5
Handovers: NSW 3-1
Missed Tackles: Qld 25-16
Line Breaks: NSW 9-2
Kicks Genl Play: QLD 15-13
Goal Kicking: Qld: Josh Costello 1/1; Luke Samoa 1/1; Jacob Fauid 0/1; NSW: Blake Lazarus 4/4; Jarryd Hayne 0/1.
Full Teams:
QUEENSLAND:
1. Esi TONGA (Logan Bros/Wynnum Colts)
2. Cameron HEADING (NQ)
3. Junior SEUMANUTAFA (Logan Bros)
4. Daniel ISAAC (Arana-Springwood/Norths Colts)
5. Luke SAMOA (Norths)
6. Jacob FAUID (Norths)
7. Brady PAYNE (NQ)
8. Dave TAYLOR (CQ)
9, Nathan STRUDWICK (Arana-Springwood)
10. John CLAYTON (Hills District Colts)
11. Matthew HANDCOCK (Redcliffe)
12. Nathan BECKETT (Wynnum Colts)
13. Joel MOON (Wests Colts)
14. Josh COSTELLO (Norths)
15. Isaac SCHWENKE (Norths)
16. Simona VAVEGA (Wests Colts)
17. Jay ASTON (Arana-Springwood/Norths Colts)
NEW SOUTH WALES:
1. Jarryd HAYNE (Parramatta Eels)
2. Michael BROPHY (Canberra Raiders)
3. Shaun KENNY-DOWALL (Sydney Roosters)
4. Callan RICHARDSON (Newcastle Knights)
5. Junior TIA KILIFI (Penrith Panthers)
6. Kris KEATING (Parramatta Eels)
7. Blake LAZARUS (Canterbury Bulldogs)
8. Matthew HALL(Sydney Roosters)
9, Ryan CARR (Cronulla Sharks)
10. Craig WOODLAND (Canberra Raiders)
11. Jay HEMMING (Sydney Roosters)
12. Jordan TUA'AU (Parramatta Eels)
13. Luke MUTTDON (Illawarra Steelers)
14. Zac RUSS (NSW Country)
15. Tim GRANT (Penrith Panthers)
16. Lucas MILLER (Manly Sea Eagles)
17. Stanley WAQA (Sydney Roosters)
Brad T
16/6/2005
