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PREDICTION

Game one at Suncorp is likely the hardest assignment in rugby league and there’s enough gumption in the Queensland side for that trend to continue this year. The Blues are building and no doubt will be able to challenge up at Suncorp next year when the current crop have more experience, but there’s too much to say no to in Queensland. The Maroons by eight

Verdict – QLD 13 to defeat NSW 12

First try scorer – Dane Gagai

Man of the Match – Cooper Cronk

Time to kiss and make up. (at least for the origin period)
Now that Gallen, Beau Scott and Ennis are gone I'm finding it hard to "hate" the Blues.
QLD without Inglis, Matt Scott, Corey Parker and Thurston must surely be beatable, even at Suncorp.
I think QLD should have picked Slater at fullback and Boyd on a wing or somewhere. Slater has regained his electric returns and is always in the play and talking heaps.
Wednesday will decide it. Good luck to the Blues.
BUT QLD to win by 12 points

Saw Cameron Smith being interviewed last night re State of Origin and the players pay dispute with the commentator’s suggestion of the players going on strike. Have just read the article on Thinker’s site by Foxtel on the issue (NRL must take pay dispute seriously…). How will this affect the SoO series do you think?
Go QLD – to win by 2 points in a close game.
Cheers to all and enjoy the match.

My final word I will stick with the blues though its at suncorp,the blues must go hard the full 80mts,any letting up then it will be the old story!!!!!!!!!!!!

Verdict:...the blues by 7

Enjoy the game everyone ,scream the house down,and go the blues !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Melbourne Storm vs Newcastle Knights – Friday night – AAMI Park

The Storm have a team list that's 23 players long so they'll be trimming that between now and Friday. I'm assuming Smith, Cronk and Chambers play until I hear otherwise – none of them gave any indication they were injured on Wednesday night. Cameron Smith made just four metres in Origin One with the ball under the arm, which tells you just how dominant the NSW forward pack were. Given the size and talent in the Storm pack he and Cronk should have a little more room to work with on Friday night. 1st plays 16th, and 1st are playing at home. Purple picks itself.

Verdict – Storm by 10

Parramatta Eels vs New Zealand Warriors – Friday night – ANZ Stadium

Two teams that don't know how to play for 80 minutes are playing each other, so prepare yourselves for a topsy turvy match with plenty of momentum changes. Both sides are notoriously inconsistent, but if there's one consistency I can rely on it's that the Warriors struggle all too often away from home. They haven't won a game in Australia this season and, somewhat surprisingly, this is just their second visit to ANZ Stadium since their 2011 Grand Final loss to Manly (when Keiran Foran was playing against the Warriors). Clearly you can't tip either of these sides with any confidence but the Eels did enough to get the win in round 12 and I'm tipping them again.

Verdict – Eels by 4

St George Illawarra Dragons vs Wests Tigers – Saturday afternoon – ANZ Stadium

The Dragons have won just one from three without Gareth Widdop but the statistics don't tell the whole tale. Those two losses were competitive and they happened to be against the top two teams (and the two grand finalists from 2016). Widdop has been named this weekend but it wouldn't surprise me if they waited one more week. These sides met in round five at this venue and in this timeslot and the Dragons won comfortably. Tedesco and Woods are set to return from Origin but even then this Tigers outfit looks far from settled. New recruit Lolohea slots straight into the halves with Littlejohn and that combination may take time. Dragons...comfortably so.

Verdict – Dragons by 10

Sydney Roosters vs Brisbane Broncos – Saturday night – Allianz Stadium

Of all the games this weekend this is clearly the contest most dirupted by the Origin game. Six Broncos and five Roosters played on Wednesday night and we wait to see how many back up three days later. Napa, Pearce, Ferguson and Milford must have some doubts over them and there could be others. McCullough is an important inclusion for the Broncos and Hunt should be better for the run last week. The Chooks are a warm favourite but I'm with the Broncos here on the assumption that the Broncos back row of Thaiday, Gillett and McGuire all play. The Roosters haven't lost many games this year but they did get towelled up by the Broncos in round six, and the Broncos record at Allianz Stadium is a lot better than most would expect.

Verdict – Broncos by 4

North Queensland Cowboys vs Gold Coast Titans – Saturday night – 1300SMILES Stadium

If Kevin Walters is looking for some up-and-coming Origin forwards (and he probably should be) then he should be watching this game to see how Jarrod Wallace and Coen Hess perform. I was sorely tempted to pick the Titans here, but I've been won over by the Cowboys back row (and solid interchange) in the end. Thurston has been named (almost) but you can't imagine he would play. O'Neill may be in doubt for the Cowboys but they have Hampton or Bowen on their list to slot in if need be. Peats may not back up for the Titans either, and he's a little harder to replace. I'm not particularly confident here. If you were considering the Titans don't let me talk you out of it.

Verdict – Cowboys by 4

Manly Sea Eagles vs Canberra Raiders – Sunday afternoon – Lottoland

The bookies and everyone else are finding this game hard to split but I'm seeing green. The Raiders have a settled line-up, are close to full strength and daytime conditions help their cause. While I accept they lost to the Knights on a Sunday afternoon I'm assuming they took their opponent lightly on the day. I can't see them taking the Sea Eagles lightly. Looks like the game of the round to my eye.

Verdict – Raiders by 8

Storm - Yes, the Knights are improving and yes, I’ll assume the Storm have guys backing up from Wednesday night but this will be just a tad too high a mountain for the Knights to climb. Storm Troopers for me.

Eels - The Warriors did beat the Broncos last week but the Broncos were missing a lot of class. The Eels had a nice win against Souths and if they take that style of play into this game then I see a repeat result coming their way. Baggy’s BOYS to win this

Dragons - The Tigers have lost their last 3 and this week it should grow to 4. The Dragons simply have too much class for the poor ol’ Tigers I reckon. Dragons to do this easy and comfortably.

Roosters - With both sides having loads of players on SOO duty Wednesday night, not sure what their coaches will do regarding backing players up here. Assuming most or all are rested (haven’t had time to get online and check but pretty sure Mitchell more than likely won’t play considering the knock he got Wednesday night), I reckon this is a toss of the coin. Because I love my BBB, I’m tipping the Roosters here.

Cowboys - I know a lot is said on how the Cowboys fare without JT in the side and I’ve been sucked in and tipped against them in those situations and come unstuck but whether he’s in or out this week, I’ll go the Cowboys, purely because they’re at home. Giddy-Up!

 Clermont are favourites for this one but looking at the win margins from the semi-finals I think this will again be a close affair.

The scorers:

For Bay of Plenty:
Tries: Williams, Bourke
Cons: Williams 2
Pens: Williams 2

For British and Irish Lions:
Tries: Lewsey 2, Cueto, Shanklin, Peel, D’Arcy
Cons: O’Gara 2

Bay of Plenty: 15 Adrian Cashmore, 14 Filimone Bolavucu, 13 Allan Bunting, 12 Grant McQuoid, 11 Anthony Tahana, 10 Murray Williams, 9 Kevin Senio, 8 Colin Bourke, 7 Nili Latu, 6 Wayne Ormond (c), 5 Bernie Upton, 4 Mark Sorenson, 3 Ben Castle, 2 Aleki Lutui, 1 Simms Davison
Replacements: 16 John Pareanga, 17 Taufa’ao Filise, 18 Paul Tupai, 19 Warren Smith, 20 Charles Hubbard, 21 Robert Moon, 22 Apoua Stewart

British and Irish Lions: 15 Josh Lewsey, 14 Mark Cueto, 13 Brian O’Driscoll (c), 12 Gavin Henson, 11 Tom Shanklin, 10 Ronan O’Gara, 9 Dwayne Peel, 8 Lawrence Dallaglio, 7 Martyn Williams, 6 Richard Hill, 5 Ben Kay, 4 Paul O’Connell, 3 Matt Stevens, 2 Gordon Bulloch, 1 Gethin Jenkins
Replacements: 16 Steve Thompson, 17 Andrew Sheridan, 18 Donnacha O’Callaghan, 19 Martin Corry, 20 Matt Dawson, 21 Charlie Hodgson, 22 Gordon D’Arcy

in 2005 this is what happend for lion first game..

final BLlions 34-20..