Qld’s spine is destined for all-time greatness. This is the only way to beat them

July 8, 2026 — 5:00am

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It’s been a long time since Queensland were such red-hot favourites in an Origin decider like they are tonight.

Everyone simply expects them to win at Suncorp. So all the pressure is on the Maroons.

But the Queensland playmakers – the spine of Kalyn Ponga, Cameron Munster, Sam Walker and Harry Grant – already look like they’ve played 20 games together.

Harry and Cameron obviously have such an innate understanding of each other’s game from playing together at Melbourne. But Sam Walker has jumped into this series and played his best footy from the moment he walked into the Origin arena – not many playmakers can lay claim to that.

Frankly, this Maroons spine scares me. All series, they have complemented and understood each other so well and been significantly more creative than their NSW counterparts.

Throughout Queensland’s record run of eight straight Origin series wins, Billy Slater, Johnathan Thurston, Darren Lockyer, Cooper Cronk and Cameron Smith called the shots and each finished as all-time Origin greats. In years to come, are we going to be talking about this current Maroons spine in similar fashion?

For the Blues sake, I hope not. But honestly, I don’t think NSW can stop them completely on Wednesday night.

What the Blues can, and must do, is stop Queensland’s go-forward, both from their middles and coming out of trouble. Cut down the time and space Queensland’s playmakers have enjoyed and, put simply, force Sam Walker into making more tackles.

With the ball in........

© The Sydney Morning Herald