State of Origin Betting: Back Queensland Maroons to complete the comeback with win over New South Wales Blues
Recommended bet: Match Result – Queensland Maroons win @ 5/4 (2.25) with Unibet
It’s the State of Origin series decider at the Suncorp Stadium, with the Maroons having lived up to their reputation as the kings of the comeback to secure an 18-16 win over the Blues in an epic Game Two at ANZ Stadium and level the series.
It had appeared that New South Wales had wrapped up the series after first thrashing the Maroons 28-4 in Game 1 at the Suncorp Stadium and then leading their rivals with just three minutes remaining in State of Origin II at the ANZ Stadium in Game 2.
However, the Maroons never-say-die attitude was to the fore and they came away with a remarkable late win after Michael Morgan put Dane Gagai over in the corner and Johnathan Thurston slotted over a sideline conversion to hand Queensland parity heading into Game 3.
Whether Queensland can be classed as favourites at Suncorp Stadium next Wednesday night is open to question though, with the Blues having hammered them by 24 points barely a month ago and the Maroons missing two of their star players in Thurston and full-back Darius Boyd.
The absence of Thurston means that Cameron Munster will partner his Melbourne Storm teammate Cooper Cronk at five-eighth and Ben Hunt being picked as the bench utility, with Morgan moving into the centres. There are several injury concerns in the Blues camp, most notably to skipper Boyd Cordner and Tyson Frizell, but Laurie Daley is hopeful of all his players recovering in time for Wednesday.
The Blues will go into this deciding game knowing that they should already have had the series sewn up, but the absences of the legendary Thurston and Boyd from the Maroons’ ranks could give the Blues the edge again. That’s certainly indicated in the ante-post betting, with the Blues being installed as favourites for the win.
Even so, the momentum could be with the Maroons now and their never say die spirit ensures that they will believe in themselves, even without two of their players. As a result, we think the 5/4 (2.25) available on the Maroons win with Unibet is well worth consideration.
