State of Origin 2018: The first-half moments that mattered in Game II, from Josh Addo-Carr’s mixed bag to controversial penalty try
From the heavy involvement of the video referee, a winger try spree and a penalty try, this breathless 40 minutes had it all to set up a 12-10 halftime lead for NSW.
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9th minute — NSW winger Josh Addo-Carr pulled off a great desperate tackle to prevent a try to Queensland opposite Dane Gagai. The Maroons were awarded a scrum inside their attacking 20m zone and immediately spread the ball right to find Gagai, who looked to have found the tryline for the opener. But the video replays showed Addo-Carr’s tackle had done just enough to put Gagai’s toe into touch millimetres before he grounded it.
13th minute — Queensland open the scoring with a try to left winger Val Holmes. After forcing a dropout, the Maroons used their next set to shift the ball left from midfield through the hands of Cameron Munster, Billy Slater, and then Gtreg Inglis who found Holmes all by himself and unmarked on the wing. NSW winger Tom Trbojevic had come in to make a tackle on Inglis, leaving Holmes wide open.
20th minute — The Maroons score the second of the night on the back of a penalty and a forward pass from Josh Addo-Carr. Queensland goes to the right edge this time for Will Chambers to find Gagai on the wing, who palms off Addo-Carr to score and extend the lead. The try capped a shocking 10 minutes for NSW winger Addo-Carr.
27th minute — Addo-Carr makes amends for his horror 10 minutes by scoring the NSW opener in brilliant fashion. On the end of a nice cut-out ball from James Maloney, Addo-Carr had plenty of work to do as he stepped around one defender, then through three others to find the line and get the ball down. Maloney knocked over the sideline conversion and the Blues had momentum.
31st minute — A highly controversial penalty try awarded to NSW when Boyd Cordner was run off his line by Ben Hunt. James Maloney had put a grubber kick through and Cordner was on the chase when Hunt turned to obstruct the Blues skipper, who ended up hitting the deck. The video official judged Cordner would have reached the ball and awarded the penalty try, despite Will Chambers getting to it and taking it dead.