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State of Origin Game 2 player ratings: New South Wales

22nd June, 2016
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Tyson Frizell deserves his spot in Origin. (AAP Image/Dave Hunt)
Roar Guru
22nd June, 2016
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2383 Reads

After a valiant but ultimately doomed effort, there were some definite bright sparks for the NSW Blues but also some monumental disappointments, including from a Test regular.

Read on then jump in the comments to tell me where I’m wrong

More from Origin Game 2
» Game 2: Queensland seal the series
» State of Origin results
» Re-live the action with our live blog
» Origin 2 in pictures
» Five talking points from Origin 2
» NSW need to find their Origin identity
» State of Origin Game 2 player ratings: Queensland

Matt Moylan: 5.5
A really hard game to get a read on. Ran the ball back aggressively early and seemed like he was trying to get involved as a playmaker, but when he did join the line nothing much happened

Josh Mansour: 6
Seems strange to give a six to a guy who had a hattrick scored by his opposite number but none of those tries were really his fault. Did a good job in terms of getting the ball out of his own end, but didn’t really get much of an opportunity in attack

Michael Jennings: 4
Poor game overall but his defence was the most troubling aspect. Only credited (debited?) with one missed tackle but an awful read gifted Boyd the space to get Gagai the ball for his second try. Has tremendous pedigree but position may be under threat (though probably not in a dead rubber)

Dylan Walker: 3
Ran the ball well at times but any useful contribution in attack totally overwhelmed by conceding four penalties, with his second in particular a truly foolish play. Should lose the right centre spot to Jack Bird or Joey Leilua

Blake Ferguson: 4
Simply didn’t do enough getting the ball out of NSW’s end. Kicks tended to go the other way but he wasn’t seen coming infield to find chances to run.

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James Maloney: 7
The intercept try was smart positional play and his option kicking was okay. Put in a nice grubber towards the posts to force a repeat set and apply pressure midway through the second half.

Adam Reynolds: 7
Was good before coming off hurt towards the end of the game. His kicking game was solid, but he did give away a silly penalty midway through the second half. Pass for Tyson Frizzel’s try was lovely and came from playing straight – hey, maybe that’s a good tactic?

Aaron Woods: 7
A solid game From Woods, who played nearly 30 minutes in his first stint, before coming back not long after halftime.

Made 32 tackles, including some excellent cover tackles in the first half.

Robbie Farah: 6
Showed plenty of spark early in the game, with several nippy dummy-half runs. Later on became more anonymous which, given previous criticism of over-playing his hand, is probably for the best. Made a lot of tackles.

James Tamou: 4
A poor game overall. Had only two carries for 19 metres in his first stint of 20 minutes, before adding another two carries for another 19 metres after halftime. Brought almost nothing to the table and clearly NSW’s weakest forward.

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Josh Jackson: 7
Very good game, doing all the work one expects – 34 tackles while trying to compensate for having Reynolds and Walker as his side-mates is a terrific effort. But the question can you get 90 per cent of his defence and significantly more offence from someone else?

Tyson Frizell: 7
Elevated to the starting line-up and had a great game on debut, capped by a nice try from a good support run. Playing on the less familiar left edge, Frizzel looked well suited to Origin and will certainly get another run.

Paul Gallen: 7
Did Paul Gallen things all night, demonstrating a solid work rate and typical appetite for the niggle. Hard to say much more other than Origin will be very different without him

Greg Bird: 4
Demoted to the bench and then curiously used as the first middle-unit replacement at a time when NSW had a line drop out and could have used the power running of Andrew Fifita or David Klemmer. Not a great game for Bird.

David Klemmer: 5
Clearly wanted to run hard and make an impact, but his time on the field coincided with a glut of Queensland possession either side of halftime.

Andrew Fifita: 6
As with Klemmer, Fifita obviously wanted to make an impact but NSW simply didn’t have enough ball to give him the opportunity. Did make plenty of tackles, including one superb cover tackle right before halftime. NSW need to get him more ball.

Jack Bird: 6
Looked like he belonged and came close to scoring late in the game. Left out to dry a bit initially, as NSW once again didn’t seem to have a plan for their utility, but then filled in nicely for Adam Reynolds.

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Should play again and could be a candidate to take Walker’s right centre spot.

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