Our emotions have often proved unreliable, but we have always trusted our eyes, at least we have in the past.
We had to blink some, do a bit of rubbing and add some artificial tears to ensure that we were seeing right when we looked at State of Origin 2 and saw the Blues quoted as 8.5 point favourites over the Queensland Maroons.
In order not to deprive those with dogs in the battle, the series is the Holden State of Origin 2018 and the Blues would prefer to be addressed properly as the Brydens Lawyers NSW Blues.
The second game is set for June 24 at ANZ Stadium in Sydney, which may account for the balance swinging in the direction of the Blues, but lest we forget, they found themselves in a similar position last year.
The objective amongst us want only for the third game in Brisbane to be something other than a dead rubber. Blues supporters of course want exactly that and playing in Sydney would seem to offer the best chance. Few of them want to see the series move to Brisbane for a decider.
A controversy sprung up when Maroons’ Coach Kevin Walters announced Kalyn Ponga as one of his selections. Ponga will fill in should Billy Slater fail to prove his fitness, but he will be one of the 18 Walters picked and one of the 17, now that Michael Morgan is ruled out.
If Slater is declared fit, Ponga will take the bench spot of the dropped Anthony Milford.
From a distance, it would appear that the primary objections to Ponga are his youth, but Walters was heard to say, “We have picked him on form and we’ve proven that we know how to use our utilities in the past.
The Melbourne club has said that Slater is ready to go, but they held him out of the most recent NRL game just to be on the safe side, as the Storm is being severely challenged in the Telstra 2018 NRL Premiership competition.
