Expert
Nathan Cleary and James Tedesco inspired the Blues as they thumped Queensland 44-12 in Origin II to level the series and send it to a decider. Here’s how the Blues rated.
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1. James Tedesco: Played out of his skin. Ran the ball back with vigour all night. 265 metres. Played creator and metre gainer. Superb game. 8.5/10
2. Brian To’o: A massive 261 metres and a massive effort. Safe all night in defence too, and rewarded with a try. 7.5/10
3. Matt Burton: The lad from Dubbo didn’t look out of place at all. Scored a try and was solid in defence. 7/10
4. Stephen Crichton: The Panther was quite ordinary in attack and defence. About the worst game I’ve seen him play, even including his try assist. 3/10
5. Daniel Tupou: The tall Roosters’ usual strong game in attack and defence. Scored a good try and ran 200 metres. 6.5/10
6. Jerome Luai: Scored a good individual try but otherwise had a pretty meh game. Five missed tackles was pretty poor. 4.5/10
7. Nathan Cleary: Took a little bit of time to warm up but then put in his best-ever performance in Sky Blue, answering all his critics from game one (including myself). Two tries in a 24 point haul was a just reward for a superb organisation, passing, running and kicking game. 9.5/10
8. Payne Haas: The big unit was OK. He wasn’t bad but he didn’t star. He certainly has a few more gears in him. 5.5/10
9. Api Koroisau: Replaced after 37 minutes. Did nothing wrong, but also didn’t shine in a short stint. 4/10
10. Jake Trbojevic: Jake had a big match with 16 runs, 143 metres and 32 tackles. He certainly earned his pay. Like his haircut, it wasn’t flashy but it was effective. 8/10
11. Cameron Murray: Hit high by Murray Taulagi in the 8th minute. He was quieter than usual but his effort when he was on was as good as you’d expect. 6.5/10
12. Liam Martin: Not as big as his game one effort but by no means a poor effort. Got replaced by Talakai in the second half. 6/10
13. Isaah Yeo: Worked hard in attack and defence without dominating in either but a strong effort. 6.5/10
14: Damien Cook: Came on after 30 minutes and gave decent service. Conceded two penalties and missed three tackles. 5/10
15. Angus Crichton: Scored a try, set another up in a serviceable performance in his return to the NSW side. 6/10
16. Junior Paulo: Was clearly stung by criticism after game one and really stepped up. Made immediate impact off the bench in attack and was also strong in defence, even stealing a ball. 8/10
17. Siosifa Talakai: Only had a short stint but was willing to hurl himself into the fray. 4/10