Origin 3: Queensland Maroons player ratings
Columnist By Ryan O'Connell, 7 Jul 2011 Ryan O'Connell is a Roar Expert
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The opening 30 minutes of the game by Queensland was described by Wally Lewis as the best he’s ever seen. Repeat set after repeat set, and just as New South Wales had a sniff, the Maroons ripped the heart out of the Blues. Queensland’s player ratings.
Queensland Maroons player ratings
Billy Slater
Words fail to do justice, but I’ll try: safe in defence, brilliant in attack. Absolute pure class, and a joy to watch. He’s honestly worth the price of admission alone.
Rating: 9
Jharal Yow Yeh
Made some big hits in defence, and scored a try off a Lockyer kick and a rough bounce on Minichiello. Uate and Yow Yeh were the finds of the 2011 series
Rating: 7.5
Greg Inglis
People laughed when I said he looked like he was returning to his damaging best in game II. Only Queenslanders are laughing now. Looked as fit as he has in a long time, and scored two tries.
Rating: 8
Justin Hodges
Looked seriously short of a gallop, and whilst it’s to be expected, Queensland are lucky it didn’t cost them.
Rating: 4
Darius Boyd
Wasn’t really given the chance to shine in attack or defence. But in a winning side, and remembering that it’s a team game, it’s worth noting that he did nothing wrong.
Rating: 5
Darren Lockyer (c)
Far from being a passenger in his last Origin game, Lockyer controlled the flow and tempo of the game beautifully. His kicking game was brilliant and he leaves State of Origin as a winner. A thoroughly deserving one at that.
Rating: 8
Johnathan Thurston
Was back to his Origin best before suffering a nasty looking injury.
Rating: 7
Ashley Harrison
Not his greatest game, but a marked improvement on his Sydney performance. Solid, if unspectacular, but that’s exactly what was asked and required of him.
Rating: 6.5
Sam Thaiday
Returned to his rampaging best. Constantly damaging in attack and defence. Needs to eradicate some grubbiness from his game that is starting to creep in – he’s better than that, and doesn’t need to niggle to be effective.
Rating: 8.5
Nate Myles
Played like an extra prop forward, proving that size is not a redundant quality in State of Origin football. Made plenty of hit ups and plenty of metres.
Rating: 7.5
Matt Scott
Scott delivered an old-school prop game with plenty of power, grunt and hard yards, coupled with bruising tackling. Along with his fellow frontrower, he was the cornerstone of the Maroons go-forward.
Rating: 8
Cameron Smith
Absolutely outstanding once again. Simply brilliant in all facets of the game. However, it was very surprising to see his cheap shot on Hayne late in the second half, as that type of garbage has never been a part of his game, but we’ll give him the benefit of the doubt.
Rating: 9
Petero Civoniceva
If Father Time was tapping him on the shoulder in game II, Petero clothes-lined him in game III. Made hit-up after hit-up, and tackle after tackle. Together with Matt Scott, provided the foundation for the Maroons go-forward.
Rating: 8
Interchange:
Cooper Cronk
Saw less game time than he did in the first two encounters, but was able to slot into his favoured halfback position when Thurston got injured. Whilst he didn’t stand out, he made all the right decisions in his limited game time.
Ranking: 6
Corey Parker
Extremely solid in attack and defence, and made the most of some limited opportunities. Particularly in the second half, which can’t be underestimated, as the Blues attempted a comeback.
Ranking: 6
Ben Hannant
Was very effective off the bench, constantly making metres. He was extremely unlucky not to be awarded a try in the second half. What happened to benefit of the doubt? No one can tell me he definitively didn’t get the ball down?
Rating: 6.5
Jacob Lillyman
Very strong in defence and attack, and gave the Maroons exactly what they were after when Dave Taylor was ruled out via suspension.
Rating: 6
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The Crowd Says (11) | Page 1 of Comments
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July 7th 2011 @ 9:02am
John said | July 7th 2011 @ 9:02am | Report comment
Even as a NSWelshman, just too easy when rating Queensland! Agree with most, if not all, although Slater could have been a 9.5 or even a 10.
July 7th 2011 @ 9:05am
Davo said | July 7th 2011 @ 9:05am | Report comment
Lockyer 8???? Typical he does nothing in the game whatsoever, besides a wonky kick that got lucky and two awful passes to his team-mates that they knocked on becuase they were at their ankles.
Once again average Lockyer in a brilliant side.
July 7th 2011 @ 10:56am
Mals said | July 7th 2011 @ 10:56am | Report comment
Davo, agreed it was Lockyer’s best game but he did outplay his opposite number!
July 7th 2011 @ 11:39am
Jay said | July 7th 2011 @ 11:39am | Report comment
Slater was my man of the match…
July 7th 2011 @ 2:12pm
Horatio said | July 7th 2011 @ 2:12pm | Report comment
Slater has shown frailty when the ball is on the ground last night in the first NSW try and Game 2 where he was indecisive. However with ball in hand he is dynamite. Born NRL player but may struggle at other codes…
July 7th 2011 @ 3:05pm
Adam said | July 7th 2011 @ 3:05pm | Report comment
Lets wait and see how good he is when he switches to Rugby and gets to cut loose in the wealth of broken play and space on offer…
July 7th 2011 @ 4:11pm
Jeff said | July 7th 2011 @ 4:11pm | Report comment
The scary thing about Slater is that his game is constantly changing. He is still totally unpredictable but the skills in his game are mounting year by year. I can’t think of one fullback in ‘Te gemtleman’s game’ that can even pretend to be in Slater’s class..
July 7th 2011 @ 4:22pm
mushi said | July 7th 2011 @ 4:22pm | Report comment
Yep he’s the least adaptable sportsman as that rexona thing showed…
July 7th 2011 @ 4:28pm
steiny said | July 7th 2011 @ 4:28pm | Report comment
i think you’ll find that ben hannant didnt get awarded the try, cause sam thaiday was pushing him over. which isn’t allowed. it wasnt the fact that he didnt get the ball down… i think
July 7th 2011 @ 11:45pm
max said | July 7th 2011 @ 11:45pm | Report comment
who got man of match????? Bill for me!! NOT Cameron!!
July 7th 2011 @ 11:55pm
Johnno said | July 7th 2011 @ 11:55pm | Report comment
lOCKEYER IS OVERRATED benji marshall owned him and exposed locker for the ageing over the hill player he is. He is riding the back of jt, cam smith, Billy slater, matt scott, Petro, Thaiday.