Mitchell Woods and Chevy Stewart have shown why they are two of the NRL’s brightest young stars, inspiring NSW to a hard-fought win in the U19s State of Origin.
The teenage duo linked up throughout the night, with the young Canterbury halfback in Woods showing his class on numerous occasions for the Blues, while the Raiders fullback received Man of the Match honours for a tireless effort in the no.1 jumper.
The result was sealed however by Matt Arthur – the son of former Eels coach Brad – who started and finished a scrappy piece of play that broke the Maroons’ hearts.
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“What about that, a NSW miracle try,” Mat Thompson said on Nine.
Andrew Johns acknowledged it wasn’t the best play from the skipper, but it paid off.
“He is showing all the skills here,” he said on Nine.
“He decides to do the banana kick, it finds the ground … somehow they get the ball and the captain Matt Arthur goes over. A bit of luck there for NSW.”
Things couldn’t have started any worse for the Blues, with an intercept pass ending up with Jesse McLean knocking himself out in a desperate cover tackle after two minutes.
A resilient set of defence allowed NSW to head back up the other end of the field, with Woods setting up Stewart for a try that had Johns in awe on commentary.
“That was really brave,” he said on Nine.
“The halfback and the fullback combine. He just puts his head down and says ‘you and me’ and plants the ball down. He is as tough as they come.”
Watch the 2024 Under 19s State of Origin game live and free on Nine and 9Now.
As expected, tensions would boil over mid-way through the opening half after a try-saving tackle from Michael Gabrael led to a heated melee that spilled into the fence.
“It’s feisty, it’s Origin and it’s getting a little nasty,” Thompson said.
Cameron Smith chalked it up to trademark Origin aggression from his former side.
“They’ll just want to be careful … they won’t want to pick up an injury,” he said.
“There was a chance there for Queensland, good cover defence from NSW and they were just celebrating the tackle. A couple of Queenslanders didn’t really enjoy that.”
Harry Armstrong levelled the scores for the Maroons, before replacement winger Connor Votano planted the ball down after latching onto a nice kick from Jake Elliott.
The contest turned into a real arm-wrestle after the break, with a lovely try from Tyreece Tait evening the ledger once again for Queensland.
However, the try from Arthur with 12 minutes remaining proved to be the difference as a late surge from the Maroons fell short.
“This is the peak of junior development
“If you get into this side, people are saying you can play first grade in the future.
“They all took on the challenge. I thought the fullbacks were outstanding … the halfbacks were terrific as well.
Every player out there really gave the best performance that they possibly could – it shows how much it means to them.”