The case for why NSW and QLD can win State of Origin

With the NRL's showpiece event fast approaching, and off the back of New South Wales' first series win in four years, we have decided to take a look at why New South Wales can regain the shield, and why Queensland can take it back.

New South Wales

After winning only two of the last thirteen series, NSW looks to have finally turned the corner in 2018. After blooding an incredible thirteen (predominantly young) debutants combined with Queensland losing an incredible 229 games of Origin experience over the past two series, the tide looks like it could finally be turning for the men in blue. If you think they can win two in a row, be sure to head to Unibet Rugby League Betting to check the latest odds.

So here is why we think New South Wales can do the job again in 2019:

Speed

In the 2018 series the NSW back five consisted of Josh Addo-Carr, Tom Trbojevic, James Roberts, James Tedesco, and Latrell Mitchell. Bar Mitchell, each of those men possesses a genuine claim to being one of the fastest players in the competition and are damn near impossible to track down once they are in open space. As well as hooker Damien Cook, who I'm sure Queensland's middle forwards are still having nightmares about after he regularly wreaked havoc and created try scoring opportunities around the ruck.

Following the retirement of Billy Slater and departure of Valentine Holmes to the NFL, Queensland's remaining outside back stocks consists of Inglis, Chambers and Gagai, all above the age of 28.  After Chambers, in particular, struggled to deal with the pace and power of the young NSW back five in 2018, expect Brad Fittler to select a similarly pacey backline for the 2019 series.

After the retirement of one Billy Slater, that means the last of the legendary spine is gone and Queensland has lost a whopping 132 games of experience in the key positions over the past two series. After years of dominating the NSW spine, Queensland's 1, 6, 7 and 9 were comprehensively outplayed in 2018. While plenty of players have thrown their name into the hat for a potential birth in the spine for NSW over the opening rounds, their Queensland counterparts have had a shaky start to the season, with Daly Cherry-Evans, Ben Hunt, Michael Morgan, Kalyn Ponga and Anthony Milford all well below their best at the beginning of 2019.

Dynamic forward pack

With a forward rotation consisting of the likes of Jake Trbojevic, David Klemmer, Reagen Campbell-Gillard, Tyson Frizell, Boyd Cordner, Paul Vaughan, Angus Crichton, and Jack De Belin, NSW possessed one of the most dynamic forward packs to ever pull on a blue jersey.

With the aforementioned players all bringing to the table a good mix of power, pace, agility, and subtlety, the one-dimensional Queensland pack could not deal with the many tricks that Brad Fittler had up his sleeve in his forward pack.  

While you know what you're going to get from the likes of Klemmer and Campbell-Gillard. Crichton, Frizell, and Vaughan all have an extremely good turn of pace and Jake Trbojevic and Jack De Belin are two of the most under-rated ball-playing forwards in the game.

Look for Fittler to try and expose Queensland's middle men again in 2018 with his Jack of all trades forward pack.

Queensland

GI's farewell tour

After thirteen years of loyal service and having been handed the captains arm-band for 2018 and onwards, Greg Inglis announced that 2019 would be his final year of representative football.

Although Queensland never says that they are "doing it for" whoever is retiring, they do have a habit of sending off loyal servants on a winning note (bar Billy Slater), think of the likes of Cronk, Thurston, Smith, Lockyer, and Civoniceva all having gone out as winners.

After an incredible 32 Origin's and 18 tries, the Maroons will be extra-motivated to send one of their finest off on a high note following a disappointing 2018.

Kalyn Ponga

Although he is only one game into what I'm sure will be a long Origin career, Kalyn Ponga is that good he could swing the tide back in favour of Queensland for the 2019 series.

After making one appearance off the bench in a 52-minute stint at lock in Origin II, Ponga proved the old adage of if you're good enough you're old enough to be true. In his stint, the Knights sensation produced 108 running metres, 29 tackles and almost won the game for the Maroons off the back of a slick line break.

After being crowned the Players' Champion in 2018 by his peers and the retirement of Billy Slater, Ponga could stake his claim to be the Maroons' fullback for the next decade if he plays anywhere near the level, he displayed last season.

Blues Defensive Woes

While Brad Fittler's 2018 NSW team was chock-a-block full of attacking talent, there were certainly defensive frailties on show throughout the 2018 series.

With incumbent centres Latrell Mitchell and James Roberts having questions around their game-reading ability as well as the potential to deal with a rampant GI, combined with James Maloney's consistent average defensive output, there are certainly cracks in the NSW defensive line Queensland could exploit.

The Maroons have displayed in the past that they are more than happy to scrape a few tries and defend their try line with their lives, and that trusted plan could just work thanks to the chinks in New South Wales' armour.