Former NSW Blues skipper Paul Gallen stood on the Stadium Australia turf after State of Origin III and asked himself, “What if?”.
Although delighted that NSW denied Queensland a series whitewash with a 24-10 victory, he agonised over what may have happened if the Blues hadn’t lost Tom Trbojevic in games one and two.
In the series-opener at Adelaide Oval, NSW lost the 2021 Dally M Medal winner to a head injury assessment in the 69th minute. The Maroons capitalised on the absence of the Manly superstar, fighting back to win 26-18 as Hynes, playing out of position, struggled as his replacement, Cameron Munster brushing him off and setting up a Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow try.
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In game two in Brisbane, the Blues lost Trbojevic to a pectoral injury in the third minute, leading to Damien Cook playing out of position as his fill-in for the remainder of the game, which the Maroons won 32-6.
On the contrary, Queensland had its go-to centres on the paddock for the entire series: Valentine Holmes and Tabuai-Fidow.
“Now you sit back here after this pretty dominant display by the Blues and you can’t help but wonder, ‘What if? What if Turbo didn’t get injured in those first two games?’,” Gallen said on Nine’s coverage after game three.
“He went down in game one with 10 minutes to go, and the Queenslanders were down to 12 men but we still got beaten.
“And then obviously in game two he went down very, very early and we had to put Damien Cook out into the centres.
“So they were thrown a few curve balls, the Blues in this series, and you can’t help but wonder, ‘What if Turbo had have stayed fit? What if we had genuine centres out there the whole time?’.
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Teddy puts Best away for second try
“But it’s not to be, the shield doesn’t show that, the shield just shows who the victory is for the year.
“Queensland have won the series, but look, the Blues have done really, really well just to save some pride, and a few guys would have pencilled their name in for next year’s series.”
Knights gun Bradman Best thrived as Trbojevic’s replacement for game three, racking up two tries, a linebreak and 126 run metres at left centre.
The attacking weapon was brilliantly assisted by five-eighth Cody Walker, who was awarded the player of the match award after being recalled for his first Origin appearance since game three of the 2020 series.
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State of Origin III 2023 in pictures: All the colour of the Blues v Maroons game three
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