The NSW Blues stumbled to a shock defeat in Game 1 of the 2020 State of Origin series.
Heavily favoured for the match and series, Brad Fittler’s men looked flat in the second half and were unable to respond to Queensland’s dominance in the second period.
Here’s how each of the Blues rated.
1. James Tedesco: 7
His footwork really troubled Queensland close to the line, but the Maroons’ excellent field kicking limited his impact in the second half. Made more running metres than anyone else on the park.
2. Daniel Tupou: 6
Tupou was strong running the ball back, but was completely at fault for the Maroons’ final try, forcing an offload when it just wasn’t on. Queensland kicked away from him in the second half, giving him less chance to impact the game.
3. Clint Gutherson: 4
Laid the final pass for Josh Addo-Carr’s two tries, but was found wanting defensively in an unfamiliar position. Kurt Capewell had a day out attacking down Gutherson’s channel. Might a specialist centre be a better way to go for Fittler?
Clint Gutherson. (Photo by Mark Kolbe/Getty Images)
4. Jack Wighton: 3
Wighton was strong running the ball into contact and… that’s about it. Almost missed as many tackles as he made.
5. Josh Addo-Carr: 8
Came up with some excellent defensive reads in the first half despite playing on his less-preferred wing. Was the Blues’ most dangerous player in attack all night, and finished with two tries to his name.
6. Luke Keary: 5
Made a couple of nice runs, but other than that Keary couldn’t influence the game in attack. Queensland ran a lot of traffic his way, and you can bet they’ll do the same in Game 2.
7. Nathan Cleary: 5
Like his halves partner, Cleary just didn’t take hold of the game, and is yet to show he has what it takes to really control a match at Origin level. On a night when Queensland’s halves did just that, his influence was sorely missed.
(Photo by Jono Searle/Getty Images)
8. Daniel Saifiti: 8
Gave away a couple of silly penalties, but was otherwise a brute for NSW. No Blues forward ran for more metres than Saifiti, and he didn’t miss a single tackle.
9. Damien Cook: 6
Speaking of tackles, Cook made plenty of them – 52, in fact. But while he came up with the game-opening try, he didn’t provide much impact around the ruck after halftime, at a time when the Blues really could have done with some easy metres. Throw in a couple of errors at the start of the game and it was far from Cook’s best effort.
10. Junior Paulo: 7
A solid night for Paulo on debut. The big prop was strong in contact and got away a couple of nice offloads to open up some space in attack.
11. Boyd Cordner: 6
Cornder made a dent in the Queensland line running the ball, but of far more concern was the dent Felise Kaufusi’s forearm made to the Blues skipper’s head. He was able to return to the field after passing his HIA, and you can only hope, particularly given his history, that he doesn’t suffer any delayed concussion symptoms.
12. Tyson Frizell: 7
Frizell was a machine in defence, making 44 tackles without missing a single one. Didn’t offer a hell of a lot running the ball, though.
13. Jake Trbojevic: 8
On of the Blues’ best. Trbojevic finished atop the side’s tackle count alongside Cook with 52, and NSW looked their most dangerous when he distributed in and around the ruck. They’d dearly love to have his brother out there with him.
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14. Cody Walker: 6
Walker was the most dangerous NSW half by some distance, yet his bench role meant the Blues just didn’t get enough out of him. You have to think he either has to start or go out of the side entirely.
15. Payne Haas: 6
Didn’t play many minutes, but was good in the 25 he was on the field both with the ball and without it.
16. Cameron Murray: N/A
Murray went down with injury making his first run of the game. While it sounds like it’s not a knee injury – as was initially feared – a hamstring strain will likely keep him out of the rest of the series.
17. Angus Crichton: 5
Made a solid 31 tackles, but didn’t have much of an impact in attack.
Nick
Roar Guru
I suspect his doctor wants him to retire. The team medico on the other hand...
Nat
Roar Rookie
Yeah I respect that ND. I wouldn't want to believe they are purposely putting him in harm's way. Highly likely every knock he takes now will have a precautionary aspect to it. My concern is how they are assessing the palyers. Surely it cannot be the same routine memory test every time. The knock might be small/incidental like on Tuesday but if that gives him a scare enough to go for an assessment, surely he has to consider that. Uncle Nic will give him a job for life at Easts, IMO he should consider it.
Pete
Guest
You are quite clearly a Souths fan if you think Keary was the worst player on the field. His halves partner was much worse. At least Keary had a crack and looked a little bit threatening.
Rob
Guest
To be fair I'd trust his doctor a lot more than I'd trust a bunch of people on The Roar that have little to no expertise on concussion.
The Barry
Roar Guru
59 metres for a starting prop isn’t good enough. There’s no way it comes close to “a great job” You say “he didn’t get the ball enough” like that’s a justification. He defended ok but that’s not what he was in the side for
Eelsalmighty
Roar Rookie
I agree with your comment on Gutho, and I really felt for him last night. I thought he tried really hard, played really well for most of the game, but his few errors/misreads were capitalised on to the extent that they become meaningful in the context of the game. If they weren't (capitalised upon), especially if NSW had of won, he could have been second to JAC. I hope he gets another chance next week.
Eelsalmighty
Roar Rookie
TB, "Paulo ran for 59 metres. I’m sorry that’s not a 7 for a starting prop". He didn't get the ball often enough. The 59 meters was from 6 runs, and half of them were post contact metres. If he wasn't in position to receive the ball, then you could have a point, but I don't think that was the case. He made his tackles, had a couple of offloads, and made the opposition forwards work. I thought he did a great job.
Big Mig
Roar Rookie
Everyone thinks Cordner is toast, except for Cordner himself and his doctor.
Dwanye
Roar Rookie
In the entire nrl comp there are no nsw centers playing that couldn’t get in the team?
DP Schaefer
Roar Rookie
:thumbup: That might have been the only way. I'm still bemused by the fact he actually passed whatever tests and made it back on the field.
Noosa Duck
Roar Rookie
Nat I have been truly concussed and at my age it was a long time ago and I still remember it. It is not just the head knock, you are actually sick in the guts & totally disoriented and any sudden movement hurts your head like you cannot believe. Quite often in life we whack or noggin on something hard and it hurts & we are a bit stunned but we recover our capacity pretty quickly. Having a mate that is a retired Neuro surgeon we have had long discussions about the subject and I doubt that they would have risked Cordner last night if it had been severe. However, I do agree with Moose knowing what I know from an expert in the field and how many concussions Boyd has had, I would not have let him back on. As Janus told me it is the repeated bruising and damage to the brain over a period of time that does the serious damage.
Noosa Duck
Roar Rookie
I rated Addo Carr the blues Best player
Tom
Guest
Wighton missed as many tackles as he made. He absolutely deserves a 3.
Tom
Guest
Head gear does absolutely nothing to prevent concussion.
JVGO
Guest
Keary is 28
Nick
Roar Guru
The desperate issue here is that by putting Cordner back onto the field, they've boxed themselves into a corner now. He will have to be selected next week. If he isn't it will be plainly obvious he is being sat out of concussion....which will then mean NSW clearly and deliberately botched the HIA and should come under some significant scrutiny from the NRL. And of course, by selecting him, he's absolutely being put in harms way.
Nick
Roar Guru
If he was my son, my brother, my father etc...I honestly would have locked him in the toilet in the dressing room instead of letting him go back out.
Walter Black
Guest
Given his history with HIAs this year, you would think he would wear a skull cap wouldn't you ?
Flexis
Roar Rookie
I’m with you. But it is a trap to simply expect the winning team to score better in articles like this. As evidenced by last nights result. Better players /= Better team
Sydneysideliner
Roar Rookie
Origin's all about big moments so it's tough to score someone's performance over the length of the game. A lot of these players will be generally solid in key stats but if they have a howler resulting in a match winning try, do you score them highly, lowly or somewhere in the middle. Or, do you look at all the 'moments' and divvy up responsibilities in each one and score that way?