NSW Mixed, QLD Mens Lift 2021 Origin Shield

The Kick It New South Wales mixed side has claimed their first Origin victory since inception in 2012.

Boasting a balance of experience and youth, the Blues toppled a highly rated Queensland outfit to lift the shield.

Carseldine played host to its second State of Origin series with the brand new fields at ‘The Green’ on full show.

With the stage set for a highly anticipated contest, it was the Blues who skipped out to an early lead.

A fast middle third with plenty of rucking captured the opening moments of the game with each team forcing a repeat set each.

Kickaholics’ own Kirk Barber got the Blues on the board first through a contested grubber in the 8th minute.

The hit back was swift with middles Shaun Rees, David Cumming and Adriano Galie running a hole through the Blues defence.

A dummy half scoot from Rees to draw and pass to isolated a middle defender gifted Galie with Queensland’s first points.

It was a formula repeated by New South Wales who were able to force two repeat sets in their next possessions.

On their third straight set in attack, Corey Pocock and Chloe Storm teamed up to form a lethal right edge.

A quick dump and split by Pocock to Storm extended her side’s the lead to 3-1 after 13 minutes.

That man would be in the thick of things minutes later with a grubber from halfway to put down for the Blues’ third try.

Rookie and player of the match Luke Sungkar was the next to step up capitalising on yet another repeat set on Queensland’s goal line.

A short grubber by Sungkar to score in the 17th minute blew the lead out to 5-1 in the shadows of halftime.

Clearly rattled, a desolate Maroons side trudged off the field after the siren with plenty of work to do.

In contrast, an upbeat, but nervous Blues outfit set up a fascinating second half of play.

The stage was set for a monumental comeback and the signs showed early with the Blues camped on their line for much of the opening 5 minutes of the second half.

Despite numerous errors and repeat sets gifting the ball to the Maroons, the men in Blue held strong.

With their first real opportunity, New South Wales capitalised with Kirk Barber turning Luke Sungkar under to stroll through a huge hole on the line.

With a 6-1 lead, the Blues had the ascendancy. Most importantly their defence held against a couple of would-be try efforts.

It took until the 9th minute of the second half and a set play from middles Jake Coolwell, Shaun Rees and Trent Gossner to free up Maroons captain Eliza Mooney.

A crisp dump and split inside the 10, plus some quick hands from Gossner allowed Mooney to skip back on the inside against some sliding New South Wales defenders to score.

In a moment, the lead was dashed. Here some the Queenslanders!

A three minute period with the Maroons in possession, Gossner starred once again as he put Amanda Chilcott over in the corner.

A lovely worked dump and split caught the Blues’ edge defence napping before Chilcott slammed home the score and her side’s second girl try.

With Queensland in full control, it took just two more sets for Shaun Rees to grab his first try and level up the scores at 6-6.

The game on the knife edge as it entered into the final five minutes.

Both teams drove the ball deep into their opponent’s territory and took their shots.

As fatigue started to creep into the game, in particular for the the middles, the Blues took advantage.

A direct set in attack saw rookie Matt Sila throw an inside ball to a wide open Luke Sungkar to slide over for his third try of the match.

The late try in the final minute sealed what was an unlikely and famous Origin victory.

Well done NSW winning the 2021 mixed State of Origin 7-6.

NSW: Luke Sungkar (3), Kirk Barber, Chloe Storm, Corey Pocock
QLD: Adriano Galie, Eliza Mooney, Amanda Chilcott, Shaun Rees
Player of the match: Luke Sungkar

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The Queensland Mens side triumphed in the face of adversity to extend their streak as Origin champions.

Dating back to 2012, the mens juggernaut has remained unbeaten, often boasting some of the most talented players in Kick It.

2021 was no exception with ten of eleven players participating in the last two Representative tournaments.

Not to be outdone, the Blues also possessed seven past and present Rep stars.

In a fast and at sometimes frantic 6-on-6 mens game, neither team left anything to chance.

An opening three minutes of heavy ruck up the centre saw speedster Jesse Ripley chance his arm only to miss grounding his own kick by centimetres.

The Blues through Corey Pocock capitalised on the next possession with the Rep stud skipping to the outside to zip down the sideline to score.

New South Wales remained in control of the field possession battle for the next four minutes.

Ben Stevens fired shots, while Pocock forced a line drop out.

It was the latter who scooted 40m through two offside Queensland defenders to cross for his second and give the Blues a 2-0 lead.

With the Blues in full control many started to take their shots. Stevens and Jordan Kropp tried a grubber while Pocock and Shaun Tupou were more successful in forcing a drop out.

The lack of quality possession for the Maroons hampered their goal line raids with little structure. The Blues were picking them off easy.

It took one moment for the momentum to switch.

An errant flick pass from Pocock saw Dean Saxvik scoop up the ball and run 50m to score Queensland’s first points.

The hit back was swift with Kirk Barber winning the race for a loose ball in-goal one minute later.

The final stages of the first half saw Queensland compile their best attacking set.

Isolating the two middles, three attackers in Matthew Allen, Jackson Paton and Jayden Turnball capitalised on the gaps.

Turnbull would cross off a short kick to cut the lead to 1 point heading into half.

An energised Maroons side stood firm in their huddle after winning back the final minutes of the first half.

An almighty job was at hand for the Blues as middles Tupou, Pocock and Barber commanded the team.

Queensland started as the second half ended. A one-minute power play by Louie Garrone drew the scores level.

A long grubber to force the first goal line drop out of the half was quickly followed by a probing dart from dummy half to find Nathan McCarthy between two defenders.

With the Blues looking for a spark, Beau Jameson put in two short kicks only to come up empty.

Ball movement was the focus coming out of halftime with the Maroons rucking hard early before making the Blues defence move around.

Veteran middle Aaron Fraser pounced on a grubber to score following some side to side ball movement in the sets preceding.

The Blues down on the scoreboard, they began to settle into their early match form.

A direct, heavy ruck ensured with the Blues winning the field possession battle over the next four minutes.

Handling errors and a couple of poor kicks from the Maroons gifted the ball back to the Blues.

Pocock would cross for his third try following a third Queensland error as he stepped down the sideline.

Only moments earlier, the Maroons’ everywhere man, Garrone scooped up a length of the field kick from Pocock, this time was all in vain as he missed the diving touch.

With the scored locked up at 4-4 heading into the final six minutes, both teams traded shots.

Kicks to Pocock, Kropp and Evan Courtney all came up empty, while Queensland’s Jesse Ripley and Turnbull suffered the same fate.

A cross kick from dummy half by Louie Garrone to Anthony Martin proved fruitful.

Martin surprised the defenders with a second kick which landed in-goal for him to dive on.

Queensland up 5-4 with minutes to go.

The dagger by Aaron Fraser, with an ugly drop out which Stevens dropped.

The return of possession to the Maroons saw Ripley capitalised on and score immediately as the clock ticked down.

Well done to QLD winning the 2021 Mens State of6-4
QLD: Dean Saxvik, Jayden Turnbull, Nathan McCarthy, Aaron Fraser, Anthony Martin, Jesse Ripley
NSW: Corey Pocock (3), Kirk Barber
Player of the Match: Kirk Barber

A special thanks to all our Origin sponsors, LIVIN, Newstead Remedial Massage, 3 Black Bears Pizza, Kropp Sport and Share Story.

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Origin full match replay will be available via youtube shortly.