THE RUN-ON SIDES

NEW SOUTH WALES (* - on debut)

1 – Brett Stewart (Manly-Warringah), 2 – Jarryd Hayne (Parramatta) *, 3 – Mark Gasnier (St. George-Illawarra), 4 – Matt Cooper (St.George-Illawarra), 5 – Anthony Quinn (Melbourne) *, 6 – Greg Bird (Cronulla-Sutherland), 7 – Peter Wallace (Brisbane) *, 15 – Craig Fitzgibbon (Sydney Roosters), 9 – Danny Buderus (Newcastle – c), 10 – Brett White (Melbourne), 11 – Willie Mason (Sydney Roosters), 12 – Ryan Hoffman (Melbourne), 13 – Paul Gallen (Cronulla-Sutherland).
INTERCHANGE: 8 –Ben Cross (Newcastle) *, 14 – Ben Hornby (St. George-Illawarra), 16 – Anthony Laffranchi (Gold Coast) *, 17 – Anthony Tupou (Sydney Roosters),
COACH: Craig Bellamy.

QUEENSLAND (* - on debut)

1 – Billy Slater (Melbourne), 2 – Brent Tate (NZ Warriors), 3 – Greg Inglis ( Melbourne), 4 – Justin Hodges (Brisbane), 5 – Israel Folau (Melbourne) *, 6 – Karmichael Hunt (Brisbane), 7 – Johnathan Thurston (North Qld), 8 – Carl Webb (North Qld), 9 – Cameron Smith (Melbourne – c), 10 – Petero Civoniceva (Penrith), 11 – Michael Crocker (Melbourne), 12 – Sam Thaiday (Brisbane), 13 – Dallas Johnson (Melbourne).
INTERCHANGE: 14 – PJ Marsh (Brisbane), 15 - Ben Hannant (Brisbane) *, 16 – Nate Myles (Sydney Roosters), 17 – Jacob Lillyman (North Qld).

DEBUTANTS LEAD BLUES TO VICTORY

By Andrew Pelechaty.

Superb performances by debutants Peter Wallace and Anthony Quinn gave NSW an 18-10 victory in Game One at Sydney’s ANZ Stadium tonight, Craig Bellamy’s first win as NSW coach. The final margin didn’t reflect NSW’s dominance (they outpointed Queensland in every facet), with Melbourne wonderboy Israel Folau scoring a late try for Queensland. Amazingly, NSW’s win means both states have won 40 games, with two ties. Wallace, who made his NRL debut in 2005 - belied his inexperience – and any first game nerves – to lead the Blues around the park in front of 67,620 fans. His kicking game – in concert with man-of-the-match Greg Bird - was instrumental (Wallace had 19 general kicks, the most for NSW). Melbourne’s Anthony Quinn scored NSW’s first two tries to give them a 10-0 lead inside the first twenty minutes. He didn’t neglect the other side of the ball, saving a couple of potential Queensland tries. Quinn’s first try came in the fourth minute. Wallace began the move by throwing a pass to Bird down the left-hand side, who threw a cut-out ball to Ryan Hoffman, who gave a one-arm pass to Stewart, who offloaded to Quinn. Thirteen minutes later, Quinn had his second, this time catching a Wallace kick, beating his opposite winger Brent Tate. NSW defended strongly in the first half (helped by Queensland bombing a couple of tries) before Brett Stewart scored. Another debutant, Anthony Laffranchi began the move by drawing a couple of Queensland defenders, passed to Stewart, who passed to Gasnier. The St. George-Illawarra veteran fended off Queensland pivot Johnathan Thurston then threw back to Stewart who scored down the right hand side, giving NSW a 14-0 advantage. Just when NSW looked to hold their lead into halftime, Queensland - as they’ve made a habit of doing since 1980 – scored right at the death. Attacking deep in NSW territory, Thurston took on the line, strung through a grubber kick which was touched down – but only just – by Brent Tate.

Trailing by 10, Queensland needed to score first in the second half, and they almost pulled off a try reminiscent of Mark Coyne’s match winner in 1994. Recovering a kick close to the touch-line, Billy Slater took off down the left, offloaded to Inglis, who managed to hook the ball back infield. A fumbled NSW reception gave Qld six more tackles, and they proceeded to move the ball downfield in a flurry. Somehow, NSW were able to hang on, with Danny Buderus intercepting a stray Nate Myles offload close to the line. After an open first half, the second half became a struggle, as NSW tried to put the game to bed and Queensland tried to get back in touch. While Queensland had plenty of chances, strong NSW defence (especially from Quinn) kept the Maroons at bay. Finally, with 12 minutes left, NSW secured victory, with Laffranchi scoring. Just like their first try, NSW went wide, moving from left to right. Off a second-man play, Fitzgibbon passed to Wallace, who threw to Bird, who in turn gave a superb ball to Gasnier, who finished the move by throwing back inside to Laffranchi. While Fitzgibbon missed the conversion, the 14-point lead looked enough. Queensland had a superb chance to get back into the game with Folau recovering the kickoff, though a Quinn tackle shut down a chance for Billy Slater to score. Soon after, Brent Tate looked to have scored in the right hand corner, but the video referee ruled his foot was out before he planted the ball. By the time Folau scored his first Origin try, the game was over. Queensland’s dirty night was capped off with Dallas Johnson being taken off with a concussion, after making a tackle on Willie Mason in the second half.

NSW’s domination came through statistically. They made 363 tackles to 330; made 377 metres to 316, and five line-breaks to three. Cameron Smith was the top tackler, making 39, while Laffranchi made 38 and Michael Crocker 36.

The next game is at Suncorp Stadium on June 11.

NSW 18 (Quinn 2, Stewart, Laffranchi tries, Fitzgibbon goal) defeated Queensland 10 (Tate, Folau tries, Thurston goal) at ANZ Stadium, Sydney.