After fighting so long to get a chance at pulling on a Maroon jersey, Scott Prince’s Queensland dream ended in a nightmare just 15 minutes into last night’s State of Origin decider.
After helping the Queenslanders to a 30-0 thumping of the Blues in game two, Prince set up the opening try of the night with a booming cross-field bomb that proved too hot for Anthony Quinn to handle, with Isreal Folau going over in the corner.
But that’s where the fun ended for Prince.
Going in for a regulation tackle on Blues pivot Braith Anasta, Prince came to ground first before Anasta crashed down on his arm.
Many of rugby league’s worst injuries come from innocuous incidents. This one left the Queensland halfback with a broken arm.
His absence was a massive loss for the Maroons, who were forced to revert to their game one havles combination of Johnathan Thurston and Karmichael Hunt, with Billy Slater coming into fullback off the bench.
But Thurston was able to create the game’s final two tries, Hunt was as solid as ever and Slater was at his brilliant best as the Queenslanders held on for a superb series win.
“It was definitely sad to lose a player like Princey at the time we did, but I don’t think it really threw us too much,” Maroons prop Steve Price said after the game.
“The thing that we said was ‘right, we have 16 guys left now who can make a difference. The important thing is we believe in each other and stick to what we have to do’.”
So how did Prince feel, rejoining his teammates at fulltime, shattered arm in a sling, having just missed out on the bulk of one of Origin’s best clashes in recent years?
Ecstatic.
“It was just good to be part of a win like that,” the Titans halfback said after the game, a huge smile spread across his face.
It seems there’s no amount of pain a State of Origin win can’t fix.
