Queensland were yet again rated the underdogs and they revived their famous Maroons spirit to win the State of Origin series opener with a rousing 26-18 comeback victory.
You’ve heard this song before – a good start, a wobbly middle and yet another classic escape to victory by Queensland.
Here’s how the players rated in game one at the Adelaide Oval.
1. Reece Walsh
Quite good in his Origin debut. A fantastic cutout to Cobbo for the winger’s second try and he assisted a couple of line breaks too. Threw himself into his work and handled everything coming his way. 7.5/10
Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow celebrates scoring his first try. (Photo by Mark Kolbe/Getty Images)
2. Selwyn Cobbo
Scored a nice finisher’s try in the first half and a fantastic try in the second when left with plenty to do. Also scrambled well in defence and was pretty good under the high ball. 7/10
3. Valentine Holmes
Reliable as ever with ball in hand and on the kicking tee. Made a bad decision to offload under huge pressure which spilled and gifted the Blues a second half lead, but shook it off and dug back in. 6.5/10
4. Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow
On the spot to open the scoring from a Munster kick, then a fantastic long range finish from more Munster work. Ran hard and broke tackles like a Queensland centre does, while getting through his defence without a blemish. 8/10
5. Murray Taulagi
His game is remembered as two unbelievable defensive plays to stop James Tedesco, then Tyson Frizell, when both seemed certain to score. They were two of the four tackles he made. 6/10
6. Cameron Munster
Conceded a bad penalty in the shadows of halftime which put his side under pressure, was pretty well contained in general but as usual broke the game open anyway, making a great move to unleash Tabuai-Fidow for the go ahead try then icing the game with his own try poaching from Lindsay Collins. 7/10
7. Daly Cherry-Evans
A crucial 40/20 to wake his team up after they’d conceded the lead, decent enough field kicking throughout the game but really lifted his play when Flegler was binned and Queensland needed leadership. 7/10
15. Tino Fa’asuamaleaui
Very good early, a long break then good again when he returned in the second half. 6.5/10
9. Ben Hunt
Crisp, fast service early to let the forwards set the pace, then tackled like a maniac to keep his team in it when things looked grim. 7/10
16. Reuben Cotter
Queensland’s best, Origin one’s best. Shifted across early to cover Gilbert’s absence, which upped his workload but he still cut down attack after attack. Played the full 80 getting stronger as the game wore on. Put on report for a crusher tackle on Josh Addo-Carr. 8.5/10
11. David Fifita
Drove hard with the ball in hand and was pretty good all up, defending well and making good post contact metres. His late hit penalty led to NSW retaking the lead which was almost a disaster. Spent time off for an HIA. 7/10
12. Tom Gilbert
Got himself involved in a few early fracas before dislocating his shoulder trying to tackle Brian To’o in the 18th minute, taking no further part. 3/10
13. Patrick Carrigan
He loves the Origin stage. Big, bolshy, buffeting runs from the second he took the field. Led the forwards with 140 run metres and sized them up well in defence. 8/10
Interchange:
14. Harry Grant
Consistent service when he arrived, backed by solid defence. 39 tackles with just one miss. 7/10
8. Thomas Flegler
Unused in the first half, was OK when he came on but got put on report and sin binned for what looked like a head clash with Tom Trbojevic, we’ll see how that’s judged. 4/10
10. Lindsay Collins
Started badly, finished brilliantly. Entered the play before Tom Gilbert had left the field and conceded a penalty, spilled the ball on tackle one after a Cherry-Evans 40/20… then won the game for his state by leaping, catching a bomb and passing to Cam Munster. Classic Queensland. 6/10
17. Jai Arrow
Covered a heap of positions and space with all the injuries and acquitted himself well with the chances he had. 90 run metres and no missed tackles. 6/10
jammel
Roar Rookie
Papa is still the #1 prop in the game. Tapine is second :) Big Red Corey H might come into the reckoning too if the Raiders' charge continues!
jammel
Roar Rookie
Queenslander were absolutely outstanding. I agree Munster was quiet/ordinary. But he stepped up in the final 15! Cotter = legend. Only question is Gilbert now for Game II. I'm assuming he'll be there. That wasn't a sin bin imo.
jammel
Roar Rookie
Hammer and Selwyn outstanding in the backs. Munsters steps up when it counted :) Taulangi's defence strong in the first half. But Cotter the best player IMO. Superb - he's origin through and through. Queensland hero. Will Gilbert to fit for game II? I haven't heard. What about Collins out jumping Teddy?! :) The jersey means more to Queenslanders methinks :)
Don
Roar Rookie
Yep. Tim took it very easy on the Blues and AJ has been tougher in the ratings.
Don
Roar Rookie
I thought we should have picked Moe Fotuaika. Genuine prop and in very good form. Corey Horsburgh and Capewell will both get a look in at selection time for game 2.
astro
Roar Rookie
I'm probably oversimplifying things, but to me, DCE and Munster vs Cleary and Luai, is the difference between the two teams. DCE is so good at controlling his team's direction, through his kicking, passing and running. He does it every week with an often very average Manly team. Munster is the most creative playmaker in the game and a nightmare to handle in broken play. The fact that he doesn't need to be involved all the time to be effective, talks to his skill. Conversely, Cleary and Luai only seem effective off the back of quick play-the-ball and a dominant forward pack. They stand too deep and are often caught on the back foot. They're kicking game is inconsistent, and they make poor choices under pressure.
Nat
Roar Guru
Pretty fair AJ. I would give Taulagi and Arrow a bit more. Taulagi saves 2 which is worth more from a momentum POV than Cobbo's scoring. I don't think Arrow's stats give enough credit to the effort he was putting in. NSW had a few half chances at the end there where Arrow was the last one holding on. Plus a few tough runs finding his front when Qld were getting bustled.
Emcie
Roar Guru
A Suncorp or Sydney home crowd probably would have given the playres a bit more fuel, but game 1 being a scrappy affair isn't exactly an annomaly either
Emcie
Roar Guru
Ah man, missed it....
Emcie
Roar Guru
I'd say taking the game by the scruff of the neck and setting up a win in an unwinable situation justifies extra points. I'll take a mostly 5 but a reliable 10 when it matters over a consistant 7 every day of the week
Kurt S
Roar Pro
Having time to think more about the game rather than being caught in the emotion, for mine, things become clearer. Qld played for every scrap in the second half when they really needed to to stay alive. After Crichton they seemed more happy to let Qld know about it then huddle and get on with it and do it all again. NSW thought they had the game with about 15 minutes remaining and their efforts and lack of desperation show that. Qld played as a team for a unified cause and were asked to buy into the "Qld" game plan. It looks like that happened to a man. Could it be that NSW players were asked to buy into a "Pather-esque" game plan and subconsciously not everybody did? NSW seemed very out of sync. Yet Fittler mentioned that before the game that the team had gelled well. Well, they hadn't gelled well. Either Fitller was just saying that for the cameras or he genuinely thought that his team had gelled. The latter is a bigger issue than him covering for poor preparation. This doesn't need to be the end of NSW. They can play much better than that and I'd like to think that they will in game 2. But Qld have plenty to improve on. The game was exciting and will forever be known as a classic, no doubt. But it wasn't a high quality game and there is plenty of room for both teams to execute better. Bring on game 2!
The Barry
Roar Guru
It almost got me again…
The Barry
Roar Guru
Haha… supposed to be “cometh the moment…” blinking autocorrect, there was no need for that one… :laughing: :laughing: :laughing:
Emcie
Roar Guru
Ah, yeah, obviously. Cognitive ability is a bit impaired today for some unexplainable reason...
Bunney
Roar Rookie
Cometh... Cometh the moment, cometh the man. TB knows Munster is the man.
Kai Levuka
Roar Rookie
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder I guess …
Emcie
Roar Guru
Yeah, we want our arbitrary abstractions to be consistent!!
Emcie
Roar Guru
Comedy moment?
matth
Roar Guru
I think with Papa retired we need to blood Flegler, even though he’s got a bit of maturing to do yet.
matth
Roar Guru
Just an observation that it would make sense for the writers of each sets of ratings to check each other. A lot of these look low, but that’s because I read the generous NSW ratings first. Walsh deserves more, he iced two quality passes for two tries.