Maroon blow as Cronk breaks arm

Cooper Cronk watches from the sidelines Source: Supplied

THERE was no perfect whole for Cooper Cronk, only a hole in Queensland's playmaking ranks.

There was no pristine outer body experience, when every sinew of his body aligned like jackpot symbols on a Vegas poker machine.

Instead the fibres, tissue and bones in his left forearm went bust in a moment of terrifying inner conflict.

And so too did Queensland's extraordinary run of keeping their brains trust intact.

Only the most deluded Blues fan would dare to seriously argue that luck with injury has played a role in their eight-year drought.

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Cooper Cronk goes for assessment in the sheds. Source: News Corp Australia

But then again, Queensland has never been presented with such an emergency since the shield became permanently entrenched in Brisbane from 2006 onwards.

That finally changed in the 10th minute of Wednesday night's breathtaking series opener, when Cronk reeled from a three-man tackle on NSW back-rower Ryan Hoffman.

What appeared to be a regulation play quickly changed into something that could disrupt nearly a decade's worth of standard transmission.

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Cronk immediately looked to the bench; the snapped arm curled in agony around his mid-rift. Within a minute he was rushed up the tunnel and in to the home sheds, the doors slammed shut to prevent Channel Nine cameras from capturing the raw emotion that would have greeted the low point of Cronk's career.

Cooper Cronk has his arm assessed by medical staff. Source: Supplied

Less than two years earlier, he straddled the other end of the spectrum after booting a 40-metre field goal to claim the 2012 series in its final minute of normal play.

It took nearly 12 months for Cronk to explain how he felt, but his extraordinary summation was worth the wait.

"I was in a state of grace that particular moment," he said. "Every sinew of my body came together in a perfect whole."

On Wednesday night it was the opposite. For Cronk, and for Queensland.

Replacement Maroons half Daly Cherry-Evans has been strongly pushed to immediately succeed The Australian No. 7 at all levels of representative football.

Wednesday night's evidence exposed that campaign for not putting enough currency of the strength of Queensland's key combinations.

Cooper Cronk reels in pain. Source: News Corp Australia

Since Cronk took over from Darren Lockyer in 2012, he had played every minute of the ensuing six Origin games. So too has hooker Cameron Smith. So too has five eighth Johnathan Thurston.

Billy Slater missed the decider that forged Cronk's legacy, but has completed all of the other five matches.

Coaches all agree that continuity is vital to controlling Origin matches, let alone dynasties. As NSW desperately chopped and changed their most vital personnel in search of a break through, Queensland have reclined in their banana chairs and rolled out teams by rote.

The peel finally dropped in their path, condemning Cronk to the coach's box before full time. Although Queensland staged their customary comeback, his fellow occupants could not quite engineer another miracle escape.

Cooper Cronk nurses his injured arm on the sideline. Source: News Corp Australia

Cherry-Evans didn't appear to come to grips with his responsibility until late in the match, leaving Queensland to rely over and over again on their money play — the left-hand sweep to Inglis. The fact Smith battled on through an ankle injury suffered early in the second half, didn't make his task any easier.

He finished the match limping in the final minute, a fitting image of the sudden turn for the worse that Queensland's fortunes had struck on Wednesday night.

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