Why halves hold the key to ending Blues' pain Selecting the Roosters' halves to meet Queensland in Wednesday's first State of Origin match is a mission akin to going into the water to fight a shark. Based on the Roosters' last match - against the Storm - NSW's combination of half Mitchell Pearce and five-eighth James Maloney will be blood in the water for the Maroons. The shark analogy is not original. It was used by British Prime Minister Winston Churchill during World War II in relation to sending Commonwealth troops to engage the Japanese in the jungle. Double trouble: James Maloney and Mitchell Pearce have revitalised the Roosters this season and now have the chance to end seven years of pain for NSW. As we know, Australian and American troops drove the Japanese out of the jungles of New Guinea and the Pacific islands. Military leaders, like armchair rugby league commentators, can be horribly wrong. Hopefully, by the end of this year's Origin series, Pearce and Maloney will have stopped the Queensland rout. But their performance against the Storm perplexed Queenslanders as to why NSW coach Laurie Daley didn't wait until after that game to name his team. The Roosters' halves managed only one kick each to open space in the round 11 match. Field position is crucial in Origin. A team continually camped in its own half cannot win. Pearce, who plays on the right and Maloney on the left, stand very flat. This renders them vulnerable to markers racing from the ruck to hurry their kicks. The Storm did this, resulting in Pearce and Maloney kicking only once each to find the seagulls, as Jack Gibson would say. Compare this with statistics in the first 10 rounds where the Roosters halves topped the NRL with their combination of 1.9 kicks for Pearce and 2.5 for Maloney, more than double their open space kicks against Melbourne. Their other clearing kicks against the Storm - three each - found wingers or Billy Slater in comfortable positions to receive the ball. In other words, their kicking accuracy in finding open territory was only 25 per cent each, compared with Pearce's average in the first 10 rounds of 59.4 per cent and Maloney's 65.8 per cent. They still kicked long - Pearce actually gained more territory against the Storm with 186 metres, compared with a 10-round average of 158.8m (Maloney 179m, compared with 185.7m). With the Storm's hooker, Cameron Smith, half Cooper Cronk and Slater all in the Queensland team, it's highly likely the Melbourne tactics against the Roosters will be taken into the Maroons camp. A flat attack depends on quick play-the-balls, denying the markers time to race out and harass the kicker. NSW will need momentum and fast rucks, especially on the tackle preceding the kick, to stop Queensland's markers sprinting out and forcing Pearce and Maloney into poor kicks. The interpretation of NRL referees varies with regard to the speed of the ruck, and it's significant the two centremen who officiated at the Roosters-Storm match - Shayne Hayne and Ashley Klein - will control Origin 1. So, whatever the referee-imposed rulings and rhythm of the ruck in the Roosters-Storm match, it satisfied the men who appointed them to Origin 1. Slow play-the-balls will allow the Queensland markers to play havoc with NSW kickers but fast play-the-balls will allow the Maroons captain, Smith, to run wild from dummy-half. NSW coach Daley has obviously done his homework on Pearce's nine games for the Blues, and probably concluded he plays better on the right than the left. It's been reported Maloney will have a steadying influence on Pearce, a major challenge considering the five-eighth will have enough trouble calming his own nerves in his first Origin match. Maloney is a steely character, and his goal-kicking could be crucial. Should he win Origin I with a soaring sideliner, his performance will be more Clive Churchill than Winston.