3 minute read
A look at the facts and figures and where the State of Origin I opener will be won and lost.
THE 10 FACTORS WHICH WILL DECIDE STATE OF ORIGIN I:
* No such thing as too much Cook - After breaking open the Maroons in his Origin debut last year, South Sydney No.9 Damien Cook has added new dimensions to his game and leads the league in try assists with 16. At the same point last year, he had four
* The Cauldron - Queensland have won 10 of the past 12 matches at Suncorp Stadium, including the two most recent
* The Blues' bash brothers - As a collective unit, NSW props David Klemmer (171m per game), Payne Haas (167m) and Paul Vaughan (138) have carved out more metres for their club sides this year than their Queensland counterparts Jai Arrow (147), Josh Papalii (127) and Dylan Napa (100)
* The end of the Maroon's golden era - Origin I will represent the first time since game two, 2003 that Queensland have been without at least one of Billy Slater, Greg Inglis, Cooper Cronk, Johnathan Thurston or Cameron Smith
* Game one to prove decisive - The team winning the series opener have gone on to lift the Origin shield on 27 of 37 occasions. In addition, when Queensland have drawn first blood in Brisbane, they have lost just one of nine series
* Fast start - In the past 42 Origins, the team scoring the first try have won 32 times
* The Blues' cardinal and myrtle connection - In Cody Walker, Cameron Murray and Damien Cook, South Sydney have three players representing NSW in the same Origin for just the second time. The only other occasion was game two, 1982 when they were represented by Tony Melrose, Ziggy Niszcot and Tony Rampling
* The Hunt gamble - The St George Illawarra halfback will start at hooker having played just six NRL games at dummy-half, the last being in 2017. He tallied 49 minutes there in last year's dead-rubber game three
* Expect a close one - Twenty of the past 25 Origins have been decided by 10 points or less
* Goalkicking - Kickers Nathan Cleary and Kalyn Ponga have proven themselves as two of the league's best sharpshooters this year. According to Fox Sports Stats, for kickers who have had more than 22 attempts, NSW's Cleary (23 from 27, 85.2 per cent) and Queensland's Ponga (44 from 52, 84.6 per cent) sit inside the top three for best success rate.
