New South Wales has it all ahead of them this week as they head to Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane to take on Queensland in Game Two of the 2023 State of Origin. Having lost the opening encounter three weeks ago, the Blues now face a must-win match in enemy territory if they are to avoid going down 2-0 and losing for the fourth time in five years.
Both sides have suffered some injuries, meaning the run-on teams will look a little different this week than they did in Game One. Will this make the difference for a New South Wales team that have their necks on the line? Or can Queensland deal a knockout blow at home to begin another Maroon winning streak? We answer this question and more with the latest odds from bookmaker William Hill.
※ Current Odds Date & Time: June 20th, 9:00 P.M. (GMT)
Bookmaker William Hill has reacted strongly to Queensland’s win in Game One, putting them as the strong favourite heading into this week’s match. At 1.50, the Maroons are about as far ahead as odds get in State of Origin, with New South Wales behind on 2.80. Notably, the lowest winning margin odds are for a Queensland win between 6-10 points, indicating that the bookies believe this match will end up similar to the 26-18 scoreline from Game One.
There are several important trends to be aware of before betting on this match. First, only once in the past 13 years has Queensland run out to a 2-0 lead in an Origin Series. Across the past six years, their largest winning margin over New South Wales has been 10 points. This time two years ago, New South Wales defeated Queensland 26-0 at this same venue—with a team that is largely similar to their current one.
Add all of these statistics in with the fact that New South Wales looked in control of Game One—really, they should have closed it out leading with seven minutes remaining and up a man—and the best bet on State of Origin Game Two is backing the men in blue. The nature of Origin is that so often, a team bounces back after losing Game One. It also helps that New South Wales’s injuries were to players who performed poorly anyway while Queensland have lost some stars.
We say that New South Wales was almost there in Game One and won’t need to make wholesale changes in order to come away with a victory in Suncorp.
