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New South Wales Blues back rower Josh Jackson has been named man of the match in Game 2 of the 2017 State of Origin series despite the Maroons’ last-minute 18-16 victory.
Even though the Blues couldn’t pull off the victory, with the Maroons snatching it through a Dane Gagai try with only a few minutes to go, Josh Jackson was named man of the match by the Australian selection panel, who decide the best-on-ground for Origin football.
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Jackson was among the Blues’ best and for much of the game, they were the better side. The Canterbury Bulldogs second rower started the game strongly, was involved in almost everything and ended up playing 47 minutes, putting in some bone-jarring tackles and making important runs out of their own end.
The second rower becomes only the fifth player to win a man of the match award in State of Origin from the losing side after finishing with 26 tackles at a very high efficiency. It was the noticeable effort that stood out more than the statistics line though.
The Blues got off to a cracking start, leading 16-6 at the break and even though they went down 18-16, Jackson was a big part of the reason why they were able to pick up the early lead.
Jackson warded off the challenge from a returning Billy Slater for the award, along with Maroons winger Dane Gagai and Josh McGuire, who were the best on ground for the Maroons.
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