The naming rights may see it officially referred to as Suncorp Stadium, but in my heart of hearts it will always be Lang Park – the Cauldron. For the first time ever, I was walking in there: soaking up the atmosphere, thinking back to all of the great Queensland victories at this venue I had watched on television as a kid, and crossing my fingers that there was enough juice left in the lemon for one more consecutive series victory. We had taken far too many years to cross paths; I couldn’t stomach the thought of Lang Park letting me down in any way. 
Irrespective of its name, it is without peer as a venue for watching rugby league. The action is so close… especially when your ‘restricted viewing’ seat is eight rows back from the fence and directly adjacent to the visitors’ tunnel, thus making it easier to pass on handy hints/ constructive criticism to the Blues’ bench. For example, after a punishing 20-minute opening half stint on the exercise bike, I pointed out to Luke Lewis that the Tour de France breakaways rarely happen until after midnight our time, so he’d best stick with the peloton in the shorter term. His road crew down on the sideline seemed to agree, as 30 seconds later he was off the bike entirely. 
For the greater part though, there is no time for helpful hints or ‘set pieces’ of constructive criticism. Most of your vocal resources are devoted to three syllables, repeated ad nauseum… “Queens-land-ah!! Queens-land-ah!!” 
Granted, it’s a simple chant. But as Laurie Daley once said, rugby league is a simple game played by simple people. Moreover, in moments of high tension the tendency is to revert to what is natural – in our case this constituted yelling for anything in maroon and yelling at anything in sky blue. The difference was subtle, yet important. 
High tension was certainly the order of the day. After wresting back the momentum before halftime and heading for the sheds with a 16-8 lead, I started to get really nervous. This series had already provided so many ebbs and flows; more were all but certain over the ensuing 40 minutes. Apologies in advance to the future mother of my children, but based on last night’s distinct lack of second half composure, something like imminent fatherhood is unlikely to be handled with calm and aplomb in the delivery room. 
Thankfully, more composure was being displayed on the field than off it. As the well-worn cliché goes “Cometh the hour, cometh the man”. After a sluggish start to the Thurston-Cronk halves era in the first two games, the pieces came together beautifully when it mattered most. Thurston was a deserving man of the match, controlling so much of the Maroons’ attack and crossing the stripe himself. Cronk played the role of late-game assassin – just as Shaun Timmins and Brett Finch had broken Queensland hearts with field goals in the past, Cronk joined Allan Langer circa 1992 in providing the killer punch to get my boys home. 
Just as importantly, Petero Civoniceva was able to walk off into the representative football sunset a victor. When Cameron Smith called him up onto the dais and gave him the shield to hold aloft, the crowd rose as one. More hugs and high fives with complete strangers were dished out; more chanting; more joy. The Blues’ time will come soon enough: this was one more fantastic night for one fantastic side. 
The live Origin experience at the Cauldron was everything I’d ever hoped for, and then some – even if left me sounding like Darth Vader after he’d chain-smoked a packet of Camel 16s for the next 24 hours. Above everything else though, the sound of tens of thousands of people belting out the same three syllable chant in unison over and over resonated with me the most. 
I can still hear them. I will always hear them. Queenslander.
Queensland 21 (Boyd, Hodges, Thurston tries; Thurston 4/5 goals; Cronk field goal)
New South Wales 20 (J Morris, B Morris, B Stewart tries; Carney 4/4 goals)
Crowd:  52,437
Votes:  3 Johnathan Thurston (Qld), 2 Josh Morris (NSW), 1 Greg Inglis (Queensland)
 
 
Thanks to Bradley Kanaris/ Getty Images AsiaPac for use of the photo