{"id":86829,"date":"2026-06-15T09:10:30","date_gmt":"2026-06-14T23:10:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.neds.com.au\/blog\/?p=86829"},"modified":"2026-06-15T09:10:31","modified_gmt":"2026-06-14T23:10:31","slug":"2026-state-of-origin-game-2-tips-predictions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.neds.com.au\/blog\/2026\/06\/2026-state-of-origin-game-2-tips-predictions\/","title":{"rendered":"2026 State Of Origin Game 2 Tips & Predictions"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

New South Wales head to the MCG this week with the 2026 State of Origin Series up for grabs. Standing in their way on Wednesday\u00a0night though\u00a0is a desperate QLD Maroons squad led by Billy Slater who knows a thing or two about winning\u00a0Origins.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n

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NSW Blues<\/div>\n
vs<\/div>\n
QLD Maroons<\/div>\n
Wednesday 17th June 2026 8:05 PM (MCG)<\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/use><\/svg><\/span>\n <\/div>\n \n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n
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Queensland Maroons<\/span><\/i><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

From what we saw in Game I, QLD\u2019s running spine of Kalyn Ponga, Cameron Munster and Harry Grant\u00a0is\u00a0the perfect look for the Origin arena.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Their surplus of on-the-ball, run-first playmakers allows the Maroons to play a flat, fast and \u2018eyes up\u2019 style that suits the high-speed, high-fatigue conditions of Origin footy.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The lead up to Tom Flegler\u2019s try is a nice example; a\u00a0halfbreak\u00a0on the kick chase through Ponga led to a quick play-the-ball which allowed Munster,\u00a0Ponga\u00a0(again) and Grant to all get over the advantage line and stress the\u00a0defence\u00a0on consecutive tackles until the hole appeared and Sam Walker was in position to ice it.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

QLD profile well\u00a0to rinse\u00a0and repeat these positives on Wednesday night.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

If\u00a0it\u2019s\u00a0not triggered by\u00a0Ponga\u00a0tipping Selwyn Cobbo through on a kick return, it can be Munster taking a short side or\u00a0Ponga\u00a0making a half break on the tramline in a yardage shift. Wherever the opportunities appear, the Maroons are well equipped to\u00a0identify\u00a0and\u00a0capitlise\u00a0on those looks and turn them into points.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

If QLD are searching for an attacking cue,\u00a0I\u2019m\u00a0tipping them to look at the spaces around Mitchell Moses and Tolu Koula.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

If\u00a0there\u2019s\u00a0one knock on Koula defensively,\u00a0it\u2019s\u00a0that he can be prone to sinking in on the lead runner when shape is coming his way. With an unfamiliar defender on his inside shoulder and the threat of\u00a0Ponga\u00a0(or Walsh – see below) sweeping to his outside, Koula can expect some traffic on Wednesday night.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Defensively, we all thought Walker would be a spot for NSW to target in the Series Opener but in hindsight, we should\u2019ve known what Reuben Cotter could provide as his bodyguard.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

There\u2019s big expectations on Briton Nikora (and or likefu Finefuiaki) – two attacking backrowers who profile <\/span>very<\/span><\/i>\u00a0differently to Cotter – to\u00a0do the same here and protect their little halfback.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Tips: Jojo Fifita try, Kalyn Ponga try<\/i>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

New South Wales Blues<\/span><\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

The Blues will know they got away with one in\u00a0Sydney\u00a0and the changes Laurie Daley has made speaks to this truth.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Put simply, NSW could not work out of their own end in Game\u00a0I but\u00a0profile better in that regard, this time around.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Mitchell Moses’ kicking game is a big reason for his inclusion this week. The Maroons repeatedly found the grass and kicked themselves out of trouble whenever NSW\u00a0attempted\u00a0to lock in defensively thanks to the multitude of genuine kicking options they had in yardage.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Moses\u2019 inclusion alongside Mark Nawaqanitawase and Payne Haas this week\u00a0<\/span>should<\/span><\/i>\u00a0see the Blues do the same and work more cleanly out of the backfield in Game II.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Dylan Lucas in for\u00a0Haumole\u00a0Olakau\u2019atu complements this approach; the Blues have dropped one big body out of yardage for a tireless backrower that will lead the kick chase and line speed for 80 minutes.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

If it works out the way NSW\u00a0hope, we should see more opportunities for Tolu Koula running in spaces rather than at kick chase lines.\u00a0He\u2019s\u00a0a\u00a0likely grubber\u00a0kick target if NSW can force Kalyn Ponga to fill up in the line again as they did in Game I, while his support play & speed could be a nice foil for Hudson Young\u2019s offloading ability through the line.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Having\u00a0Nawaqanitawase\u00a0on the right wing is a fail safe for the Blues if they\u00a0can\u2019t\u00a0execute on\u00a0attacking shapes in good ball.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Tips: Tolu Koula try, Mark Nawaqanitawase try<\/i>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Point of Difference<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

As mentioned above, the inclusion of Mark Nawaqanitawase gives the Blues an aerial kick target on the sting that they\u00a0haven\u2019t\u00a0had since Zac Lomax or Daniel Tupou. While Selwyn Cobbo did\u00a0a great job\u00a0under the high ball in Game I, he\u00a0wasn\u2019t\u00a0tested by Brian To\u2019o the same way\u00a0Nawaqanitawase\u00a0can.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The Maroons goal-line\u00a0defence\u00a0was nothing short of extraordinary in Sydney to repeatedly shut down whatever the Blues tried to execute on with the ball. If the same thing happens on Wednesday night, a good fifth tackle kick to\u00a0Nawaqanitawase\u00a0could break the deadlock.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

On the left edge, Koula\u2019s speed makes him an appealing grubber kick target or dropping back in against the grain at tiring middles. Without the defensive\u00a0workrate\u00a0and positioning of Reuben Cotter on that right tramline for QLD this week,\u00a0I\u2019m\u00a0expecting the Blues to get\u00a0at\u00a0Sam Walker a little more often and make some inroads from there.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

For QLD, the threat of Reece Walsh coming on fresh and running riot against fatiguing defenders is very real.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Tired middles\u00a0means\u00a0no inside pressure and tired edges means no communication and poor decisions. If the Maroons are chasing points late in either half and\u00a0introduce\u00a0Walsh\u2019s ballplaying on the edges,\u00a0it\u2019ll\u00a0cause nightmares for the Blues\u00a0defence\u00a0and could end up being the difference.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Who wins State of Origin Game II and why? Let us know in the comments.\u00a0<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\t\t\t\n Blues vs Maroons<\/a>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/section>\n\n\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

New South Wales head to the MCG this week with the 2026 State of Origin Series up for grabs. Standing in their way on Wednesday\u00a0night though\u00a0is a desperate QLD Maroons squad led by Billy Slater who knows a thing or two about winning\u00a0Origins.\u00a0\u00a0 NSW Blues vs QLD Maroons Wednesday 17th June 2026 8:05 PM (MCG) Queensland Maroons\u00a0 From what we saw in Game I, QLD\u2019s running spine of Kalyn Ponga, Cameron Munster and Harry Grant\u00a0is\u00a0the perfect look for the Origin arena.\u00a0\u00a0 Their surplus of on-the-ball, run-first playmakers allows the Maroons to play a flat, fast and \u2018eyes up\u2019 style that…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":34,"featured_media":86344,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[1400],"hub_post_cat":[],"class_list":["post-86829","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-rugby-league","tag-nrl-tips"],"acf":{"md_tip_date":"","md_tip_date_end":"","md_market_url":"","tip_date":"15\/06\/2026","event_country":"Australia"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.neds.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/86829","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.neds.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.neds.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.neds.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/34"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.neds.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=86829"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.neds.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/86829\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":86830,"href":"https:\/\/www.neds.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/86829\/revisions\/86830"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.neds.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/86344"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.neds.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=86829"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.neds.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=86829"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.neds.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=86829"},{"taxonomy":"hub_post_cat","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.neds.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/hub_post_cat?post=86829"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}