New South Wales has caused a massive boilover by producing a spirited second half fight back to down defending University rugby league champions Queensland, 19-18 at Suncorp Stadium last Friday night.
Buoyed by a stellar individual performance from skipper Drew Dalton, the Blues courageously fought back from an early 12-0 deficit to come away with a gutsy victory in front of 500 parochial Maroons supporters.
The Blues one-point triumph ended the Maroons hopes of recording a third straight season victory, and should boost their credentials for selection in the Australian tertiary’s squad to tour South Africa later this year.
Pre-game favourites Queensland shot out to an early 12-0 lead thanks to tries to Adam Cronin and Martin Cordwell, before constant pressure from the Blues allowed hulking replacement forward to barge over and narrow the gap after 22 minutes of play.
The home side extended their lead just five minutes later however thanks to the creativity of hooker Brenton Stonier, with the crafty number nine darting through the heart of the Blues defenders to crash over under the posts for an 18-6 lead.
Both sides produced some enterprising attacking raids before the break much to the delight of the growing Suncorp Stadium crowd, but were continuously thwarted by some desperate last-ditch defence.
New South Wales had the better of proceedings after the resumption, with the visitor’s finally posting points from a blind side raid to close the gap to 18-12 inside the last half hour.
The Blues first try enabled them to gain some ascendancy, with a booming 40/20 kick from Dalton from the ensuing kick-off gifting the visitor’s another point scoring opportunity. And it was Dalton again who produced the magic, with the nuggetty half pulling off a majestic scrum base manoeuvre to allow the Blues to level the scores in the 57th minute.
But Dalton again proved to be the difference, with the former Parramatta Eels junior breaking the deadlock thanks to a close range field goal to hand the Blues a 19-18 lead with 11 minutes left on the clock.
Queensland threw everything at the their interstate rivals over the ensuing final minutes only to be repelled time and time again, and it was the underdog visitor’s who were able to hold on to secure just their third victory in the past nine years.
New South Wales 19 ( try scorers unkown; Drew Dalton 3 goals and field goal)
defeated
Queensland 18 (Adam Cronin, Martin Cordwell, Brenton Stonier tries; Adam Wright 3 goals)
At Suncorp Stadium
