state of origin

[Ken Gargett]

i see that dear old nathan hindmarsh has declared that hayne is close to regaining the nod as the number one fullback in the game.

has the bloke ever seen billy slater or greg inglis. or even boyd? or possibly ben barba?

first game should be a cracker. hopefully no more injuries to anyone this weekend. if nsw don't win the first one, they are in trouble.

go the glorious maroons!

[Fuzz]

Gonna be 8 in a row... much to my chagrin.

[Guest rob]

I just hope it's a contest...

[Ken Gargett]

that is a seriously good forward pack you blokes have selected. possibly better than the qld pack and certainly no worse. if games are won in the forwards, you'll do more than compete.

that said, if we can match your forwards then we should win it. maroons an utterly awesome back line.

interesting to hear gus saying nsw still doesn't understand. it is what the qlders believe.

also a great article the other day by roy masters - similar stuff.

[Ken Gargett]

interesting reaction down south. had a look at the daily telegraph article and 109 comments from you southerners. not one single positive comment, not one thinking the team can do the job.

only positive comments from souths fans who don't care about origin as they have no one in the nsw team.

a lot of anti daley and anti fulton and anti gidley comments and still quite a bit of bitching about inglis playing for qld. time to get over it?

[Jeremy Festa]

It really has come down to it being competitive! Fingers crossed we can look forward to some quality mid-week entertainment. Maybe Rob can be persuaded to open up the deck for each game? Unless heading to game two! Or maybe if there is a decider for game three? ;-)

[Ken Gargett]

It really has come down to it being competitive! Fingers crossed we can look forward to some quality mid-week entertainment. Maybe Rob can be persuaded to open up the deck for each game? Unless heading to game two! Or maybe if there is a decider for game three? ;-)

i think that past experiences (just ask those at lisa's restaurant on one very out of control evening) might have convinced him that might not be wise.

hope to be at game 2. a mate's brother is the team doctor - last year, front row seats on the half way line. sensational!

[dicko]

I've got a ticket to the first game. Will be my first origin game and first time in Sydney. Will be barracking for Qsld however ;-)

[polarbear]

As an avid QLD supporter I really hope NSW get up this yeR. As long as it goes through to the third game

[tmc123]

Game two is always my favourite, im with PB its no fun when QLD win the first two games.

[Ken Gargett]

As an avid QLD supporter I really hope NSW get up this yeR. As long as it goes through to the third game

i'm completely lost. you are "an avid qld supporter" but you hope nsw win this year. how does thast work? i'm yet to meet a qld fan who wants nsw to win. isn't that the definition of not being a qld fan?

[tmc123]

i'm completely lost. you are "an avid qld supporter" but you hope nsw win this year. how does thast work? i'm yet to meet a qld fan who wants nsw to win. isn't that the definition of not being a qld fan?

Arent you sick of flogging the blues every year? If NSW win this year next year will be so much more exciting. In my opinion.

[Ken Gargett]

Arent you sick of flogging the blues every year? If NSW win this year next year will be so much more exciting. In my opinion.

absolutely not. things turn around. their time will come. enjoy this while one can.

think of the cricket. about 20 years of flogging evryone and people saying, 'oh wouldn't it be good if it were closer or if we lost a few'. NO. see what has happened. now we are crap.

and last year came down to a last minute field goal - hardly a flogging.

and no true qld supporter can possibly ever support the blues winning anything. not in the DNA.

[tmc123]

absolutely not. things turn around. their time will come. enjoy this while one can.

think of the cricket. about 20 years of flogging evryone and people saying, 'oh wouldn't it be good if it were closer or if we lost a few'. NO. see what has happened. now we are crap.

and last year came down to a last minute field goal - hardly a flogging.

and no true qld supporter can possibly ever support the blues winning anything. not in the DNA.

I have enjoyed our winning streak, just less and less each year. I'm not supporting the blues just saying it would make things more interesting if they won a series. We're crap at cricket because we had a whole generation of great cricketers making our current team look rubbish, and now the world has started to catch up. Warne, Mcgrath, Langer, Hayden, Gilchrist, Waugh, Ponting, the list goes on. It was the absolute dream team, Australia versus the world basically. Probably won't see the likes again in my lifetime. Rugby League is a hard game, you just don't get the same shelf life out of the players because it such a more demanding sport physically. Even if the Blues conjuered a dream team it will probably only last a few years before a few shoulders or knees give way.

Sure the last series was close but winning is winning, and the blues don't get any consolation from coming close. As they say close but no cigar. I am a QLDer through and through, born and bred up north, just because i prefer an interesting game over a 3-0 series win might make me some sort of hethen in your eyes but maybe i'm just not as competitive as some others. To me its not going to be the end of the world if the blues win. I know a lot of my NSW mates who have stopped watching it because they havent won a series in years, and frankly i am starting to miss the friendly banter at work.

[Ken Gargett]

i have no issue with that being the view of a fan of the game and while being a fan of the game and a qld supporter are not mutually exclusive, being a qld supporter completely precludes supporting a blues win. that bit is beyond me.

i remember going to the first game in 1980 and the passion of the qld fans to finally turn around decades of floggings.

as the greatest of them all, wally lewis, said the other night when asked about it, 'i don't remember nsw going easy or getting bored when they won 22 in a row'.

simple stats confirm that their time will come. qld provides only 20% of the players in the NRL competition. while that makes this run of dominance even more extraordinary, it also means that over time, we are likely to cop more than our share of thumpings. i'll take every one we can get, in the meantime.

[tmc123]

I can see where your coming from, and NSW time will come but as ours did back then, but to me having one side or the other winning year to year and even decade to decade is just boring, would much prefer a punch for punch style result. I'll admit that i do prefer rugby union over league, mostly because that was what i played during my footy years at boarding school, so maybe i am just not as fanatical about the result as you. Sure i love going to suncorp amd watching the footy but i mostly go for the atmosphere and to have a few beers with my mates, even if they are expensive.

[Jeremy Festa]

I can see where your coming from, and NSW time will come but as ours did back then, but to me having one side or the other winning year to year and even decade to decade is just boring, would much prefer a punch for punch style result. I'll admit that i do prefer rugby union over league, mostly because that was what i played during my footy years at boarding school, so maybe i am just not as fanatical about the result as you. Sure i love going to suncorp amd watching the footy but i mostly go for the atmosphere and to have a few beers with my mates, even if they are expensive.

Punch for punch style result is where it's at. Like I said, hope it's competitive!

Surely we can all be civilized on the deck Ken? Let's work on him for game 3 if it comes down to a decider?

[Ken Gargett]

Punch for punch style result is where it's at. Like I said, hope it's competitive!

Surely we can all be civilized on the deck Ken? Let's work on him for game 3 if it comes down to a decider?

over to you. i have enough black marks!

looking like it might be more than competitive. boyd now looks gone. yow yeh of course still out - so two first choice wingers gone. benny hannatt out. and we might lose cronk (massive blow) and shillington to suspension. i believe those two and maloney are all on report. not to inflame the conspiracy theorists but most north of the border would be stunned if our two were not suspended and their bloke got off (have been a lot of dodgy crap from judiciaries over the years - and qld has pulled a few fast ones as well - but my favourite was the moron on the judiciary who gave gordie three weeks saying he could see the intent in his eyes. what a load of crap.

i would love to have to eat my words but we'll see.

[Dimmers]

Queenslander!!

[Ken Gargett]

i would love to have to eat my words but we'll see.

delighted to say i have to eat my words. surprised, but delighted.

[samreddevilz]

Unfortunately I had failed to miss that ticket :-( missed badly. Will be very careful in the future......