All week, the hand grenades from the east coast kept coming in, headed straight for Brad Fittler's smiling head. Some were justified, most were not.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
or signup to continue reading
Australian coach Mal Meninga questioned the sacking of NSW centre Latrell Mitchell. Would never happen in Queensland, he said. Former Maroons captain Cameron Smith mused that five days wasn't enough preparation for a Blues team featuring seven changes with players out of position.
On it went. Timana Tahu - ridiculously - played the race card to explain why Mitchell and Cody Walker were dumped.
Then came the scud missile calling for Fittler to be sacked if the Blues lost this match and series, despite having a year to run on his contract. Incoming!
Fittler and his Blues silenced the critics, for now, with a thudding 38-6 victory over Queensland before a record crowd of 59,721 fans at Perth's Optus Stadium - a result that forces the series to a decider at home in Sydney on July 10.
It was a great result, sure, but there should be no chest-beating just yet. And not just because the series is still alive.
Veteran five-eighth James Maloney, who delivered this result on a platter, was the man Fittler had tried so hard to not pick.
Maloney, 33, was in everything - good and bad - like most playmakers should be.
He set up the first two tries, landed five goals and ran the show single-handedly when halfback Nathan Cleary didn't return from the half-time break because of a busted ankle.
Maloney was snubbed by Fittler for game one and was only called up for game two on Sunday night when Mitchell Pearce withdrew because of injury and concerns about how he was going to be used.
Footballers can often be fragile souls. Egos bruise easily. Maloney is from the old school: he shrugged it off and went about the business of saving the series for his state.
With each training session in Perth, the Blues coaching staff who had fallen out of love with him kept telling you how different the camp was with him involved again. His experience brought a calmness that had been lacking for Origin I.
Fittler and his staff must be applauded, though, for the brave changes they made.
Knights prop Daniel Saifiti's inclusion was widely questioned but he did precisely what was expected of him in the first 26 minutes, carting the ball into the teeth of the Maroons' defence.
The first half was lit up by the try of the series when Blues fullback James Tedesco shot out of dummy-half, skipped around a wall of Queensland defenders before finding the smallest of cracks in the line. He then found Tom Trbojevic with a one-handed pass on the inside.
It was Turbo Tom's second try, having climbed over Kalyn Ponga to latch onto a swirling, towering bomb from Maloney to score the first.
Normally a fullback, some questioned Trbojevic being selected at centre. They said the same thing about him being picked on the wing last year when he finished the series among NSW's best players.
Early into second half, he and Tedesco lit up the match again, with the fullback ripping out a flick pass that defied gravity and the sideways rain to find Trbojevic for this third try.
Trbojevic was indeed superb - but it was Maloney who had the greatest influence.
He threw a forward pass to prop Paul Vaughan from a drop-out to give up the advantage he had gained from a kick into the in-goal.
He then blew a golden opportunity when NSW had an overlap and space, only to throw the pass marginally forward.
Most playmakers are spooked by those errors. Maloney dusts himself off and forgets them as quickly as he makes him.
Soon after, he had the vision to pop the right pass to Blues backrower Tyson Frizell, who caught the ball on his right hip and then somehow held onto it to score.
From there, and especially with Cleary off the field, he kept Queensland pinned in their own territory with kick after kick.
Doubtless, the Blues will be furious about some of Queensland's defensive tactics, something they complained about after the game in Brisbane.
They will have noted Cameron Munster's first-half effort on Tedesco, which looked like a crusher. So, too, the late hit from Felise Kaufusi on Boyd Cordner after the Blues captain passed the ball. Cordner left the for a head injury assessment but later returned.
Fittler and his side now return to the east coast for the decider at ANZ Stadium.
Before last night, ticket sales were trickling along. There were fears before Origin II that the stadium would be half full if the Blues didn't keep the series alive.
Now, it will be a full house as Fittler's side tries to become the first Blues team since 2005 to claim back-to-back series wins.
Incoming!
