Queensland Spirit, more than just Bundaberg Rum

The nuclear fallout from Game III of State of Origin continues, as the Maroons upended the Blues in the 1st Half and never looked like losing it, ending the latest 1-year dynasty of New South Wales in front of their own fans.

Quite convincingly, the events of Wednesday night marked the most devastating Game III win by either state since the 52-6 massacre at Lang Park in 2015, which reached the 10-year anniversary on Tuesday – Devastating because it wasn’t so much the scoreline, it’s the fact that you knew just in general play that the Blues were screwed within the opening 20 minutes.

If anything, the last 2 games have sent my estimations of Michael Maguire, which were already quite high, into the stratosphere, while Billy Slater has proven that he wasn’t born on second base…. he was actually born on home plate, ready to belt a 500-foot grand slam over the right field fence.

Finally on Game III, that’s only the third series in 45 years that Queensland have won without winning a game at Lang Park.

Great performance.

Anyway, because I had next to no time available to write up a 2000 word thesis on Game III, I best look at Round 19 at clubland, is that Des Hasler will most likely leave the Gold Coast Titans after 2025 and quite possibly retire from coaching after 21 years, which included 2 premierships at Manly + another Grand Final (against an illegal), more importantly restoring Manly as a loathsome club after the Northern Eagles venture, then won a minor premiership + 2 more Grand Final appearances at Canterbury before he blew up their salary cap, went back to Manly and got sacked again… and then this stint at the Titans.

Des is also due to coach his 500th game in Round 21, which would add him to a coveted list that includes Wayne Bennett, Tim Sheens, Craig Bellamy, Brian Smith and Ricky Stuart… If this is the end for Des it’s a disappointing end to a great career, and it’s worth noting he has more wins against Craig Bellamy (18) than any other coach.

We also now have the situation where heading into Round 19, the Canberra Raiders are on top of the ladder, having played 2 more games than the Storm, Bulldogs and Warriors, but have 2 byes in the next 6 weeks, the first of which is this week.

The bye scheduling is an absolute shitpit… they should just get rid of the 2 points for a bye and just have it as 2 points for a win and 1 for a draw.

Anyway, time to look at Round 19, as the aforementioned Raiders get the bye, alongside Manly and Souths:

– A clash of the marine life as the Cronulla Sharks host the Dolphins at Shark Park on Friday, and here’s an interesting fact – Cronulla are the only team who are yet to defeat the Dolphins in their NRL venture.

– Newcastle host the Melbourne Storm in the Hunter, with Cameron Munster already sitting out due to his well publicised family bereavement, and I was about to write that we’ve ticked past a decade since the Knights last defeated the Melbourne Storm, which is blatantly untrue because the Knights defeated them in 2023 and 2024… it just felt like they didn’t.

– St George-Illawarra, only just falling short of a comeback last week, host the Sydney Roosters at Kogarah, and it’s fair to say the Dragons have leaked points against the Roosters like a haemophiliac leaks blood – 60 points on ANZAC Day last year, 42 points in the return game, and 46 points on ANZAC Day this year… ouch.

– North Queensland host Canterbury in Townsville in the old-fashioned Johnathan Thurston Cup, and the Bulldogs fair dinkum shit the bed last Friday night and left their Top 2 chances up in the air having now last the 2 games by a combined margin of 6 points, while the Cowboys are the worst defensive team in the competition, conceding some 29.75 points per game… it took some effort, but yes, there is a worse defensive team than the Titans.

– Another edition of the Western Sydney Derby as Parramatta host Penrith in the national Channel Nine game, and this is effectively a home game for both teams seeing as the Panthers are using Commbank until Panthers Stadium is rebuilt, and there’s plenty on the line, namely the Eels pushing clear of the wooden spoon, Junior Paulo playing his 200th game and Josh Addo-Carr needing 1 try to reach 150 NRL tries (Which would put him 18th all-time), and the Panthers are on the warpath after their horrible start to the Drive for Five, and the good news is Nathan Cleary should be well rested seeing as he didn’t play in Game III…

Wait a minute, he did?

– And the Sunday night game has the M1 Derby as the Gold Coast Titans host the Broncos at Robina, not even 5 weeks after the Broncos belted the Titans at Suncorp, and the Titans are a team playing like they want Des Hasler gone tomorrow and not in early September, with the news today that Des’ old Manly premiership player Kieran Foran will be retiring in a few weeks, while the Broncos are starting to click under Madge’s coaching with 4 consecutive wins, which is a great effort for the Broncos considering the Origin period is traditionally where their seasons have gone to shit due to the loss of players… speaking of Madge, it’s his 250th game as an NRL coach on Sunday night.

And now for the Round 19 tips:

Round 18 score = 3/5

Progressive Score = 77/133 (57.9%)

And now for the Queensland national anthem… because Wednesday night confirmed LIFE IS GREAT IN THE SUNSHINE STATE!