Sixteen years ago the Maroons were aiming for a third straight series win with a coach silencing his doubters while having his first crack at Origin.
The Blues had brought in a premiership-winning coach with a fierce reputation for being a hard taskmaster.
Queensland had a precocious young fullback with just two prior matches in the No.1 jersey under his belt but he was already showing signs of being one of the genuine superstars of the NRL.
Sound familiar?
That young fullback is now coaching the Maroons and Billy Slater is doing his best to protect Reece Walsh from the rough treatment being dished out by the Blues as well as the slings and arrows from the NSW media.
Craig Bellamy was unable to turn the tide in the Blues’ favour against his old Canberra captain Mal Meninga and returned to club duties after losing that 2008 series and the next two.
Just three short years ago the Blues were supposed to be on the verge of a golden era of their own with a team based around Nathan Cleary, similar to the situation in 2005 with Andrew Johns at the helm which was the last series NSW won for nearly a decade.
With Cleary calling the shots, the Blues had just won their third series in four years in 2021 by vanquishing the Maroons 50-6 and 26-0 in a couple of embarrassingly lopsided non-contests, both on Queensland soil due to the pandemic travel restrictions which unfortunately were the style of the time.
It would have seemed almost inconceivable then but since that second match of 2021, the Blues have lost six of eight Origins and Queensland are on the verge of claiming a third straight series win after their 38-10 triumph at Accor Stadium three weeks ago.
There’s little chance of the Maroons winning another six series on top of this one to match the dynasty led by Cameron Smith, Darren Lockyer, Slater, Jonathan Thurston and co.
(Photo by Cameron Spencer/Getty Images)
But nobody in NSW realised Queensland had become a juggernaut the last time around until it was too late either.
In those nine straight series wins, the Blues thought they had found the formula to break the Maroons’ era of dominance and the bookmakers invariably installed them as favourites.
Only once did Queensland sweep them 3-0 which made it even more painful for the Blues – they were so close in eight out of nine series but the shield remained out of reach.
The bookmakers don’t seem to have wisened up too much – the Maroons are rated a slight underdog at the MCG next Wednesday.
Queensland again have an air of stability while the Blues chop and change their line-up, not in a haphazard way but one that doesn’t exactly make the wearers of the sky-blue jersey feel too secure.
Slater, who has extended his contract until the end of 2026, seems set on remaining coach for the foreseeable future and as much as NSW have been without Nathan Cleary, Cameron Murray (just for game one) and Tom Trbojevic, the Maroons will not get a minute of game time all series from injured stars Cameron Munster, Tino Fa’asuamaleaui, Tom Gilbert, Kalyn Ponga or Tom Flegler.
This Queensland team is different to their dynasty run – that team had likely four or perhaps five future Immortals in Smith, Lockyer, Slater, Thurston and Greg Inglis.
They were backed up by supernova talents like Israel Folau and Justin Hodges as well as a rotating cast of grizzled Origin stalwarts like Matt Scott, Sam Thaiday, Brent Tate, Petero Civoniceva and Nate Myles, who never took a backward step in the literal or figurative sense.
The 2024 version is led by two players whose Origin careers were delayed by the presence of the previous generation of superstars but are carrying on the Maroons’ tradition of outsmarting the Blues.
Daly Cherry-Evans is 35 but the quickest NRL player in the most important area that is not tracked by a high-tech gadget – between the ears.
The Queensland skipper, who was a deserving player of the match in Origin I, had already celebrated his 30th birthday by the time he finally got to play an entire series as their starting halfback.
He will never rival past Maroons legends in the popularity stakes as captain but his leadership in the veteran stage of his career has been as strong, and arguably more important, than Smith and Lockyer when they each led out a much more potent team.
Ben Hunt didn’t receive a Maroons jersey until he was 27 and has only played two of his 18 matches in his preferred role as halfback but he has been a powerful ally alongside DCE in the spine over the past six years.
His two tries in Origin I were the result of someone knowing when to be in the right place at the right time through that priceless commodity of always pushing up on the ball.
Billy Slater celebrating with Maroons teammates in 2018 in Brisbane, Australia. (Photo by Bradley Kanaris/Getty Images)
Like the great support players of yesteryear, most fans don’t realise the amount of times someone like Hunt looms in the background when a forward is hurtling into the defensive line and there’s only a small chance of a break or an offload coming his way.
Playing hooker is a significantly different role to his club assignment at St George Illawarra where he is the focal point of their attack – and a prolific one at that, leading the NRL for try assists.
But in Origin his job is to dish the ball out of the ruck to DCE and the speed men out wide as well as making a mountain of tackles in the middle of the ruck by bringing down much larger humans.
He then still has to find the energy to be at the ready when there’s a half-break on a last-tackle play as was the case in the fourth minute of play when the Maroons drew first blood at Accor Stadium or with 14 minutes remaining after scooting out of dummy-half to break through three tackles on a 50-metre run to the line.
There has been endless chat about how NSW are going to shut down Walsh, legally or otherwise in Origin II after he was knocked out by the Joseph Suaalii send-off hit in game one.
The Blues need to make sure they keep their eyes focused on the two oldest Maroons as well otherwise the shield will remain in the QRL trophy cabinet for a third straight year and who knows for how many more after that.
Be afraid, Blues fans. Be very afraid.