City were down 26-10 in the second half of the traditional NSW Origin trial, but three tries in the closing four minutes showed it was anything but a fixture without meaning to those involved.
Country withstood a second half barrage and appeared to have weathered the storm but switched off to let the lads from the big smoke back into the game.
With several places in the NSW team up for grabs, Country’s Jarrod Mullen appeared to have the edge on his five-eighth rival Josh Reynolds starting by putting him on his back with a crunching tackle.
Country centre Jamal Idris reminded Laurie Daley what he has to offer with a slick try on the end of a pin-point Mullen kick and put winger James McManus over for one of his own.
David Mead opened Country’s account courtesy of an inside ball from Beau Scott after 11 minutes, but City soon hit back when Andrew Fifita put fullback Matt Moylan over.
Daniel Tupou then soared hight to give City the 10-6 lead on the end of a Reynolds kick.
In a see-sawing affair that gave almost 10,000 in the country heartland town more than their money’s worth, Kevin Gordon found the corner to level it up.
And three minutes on a Mullen 40-20 paved the way for Mead’s second try as Country took a 16-10 halftime lead.
Idris made it 26-10, but the drama was still to come.
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