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Opinion
Origin II is was yet another example of the Maroons coming through in the crunch while NSW never really got out of first gear.
Queensland had an unlikely man of the match in the form of Lindsay Collins put Blues players on their backsides, Daly Cherry-Evans turned in a masterclass at halfback while their outside backs roamed free on the Suncorp Stadium’s turf.
Billy Slater has turned the state’s fortunes around after they were obliterated in 2021.
The 17 players who shone in this game will celebrate long and hard but will be just as determined to complete a clean sweep in Sydney next month.
Here is how the Queensland Origin players rated.
1. Reece Walsh: This dude is a seriously good player. An ever present menace with ball in hand and a key player in coach Slater’s attacking moves. Quality sass at the end with Jarome Luai, but he really didn’t need to throw a headbutt which will likely see him given a spell. 8/10
2. Xavier Coates: Did what he was there to do – put the game away with a great finish in the 65th minute. Was good in defence when the Blues came his way. 6.5/10
3. Valentine Holmes: Scored twice and was reliable as ever in attack but had his hands full with the amount of business NSW threw at him, missing seven tackles. 6.5/10
4. Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow: Scored his obligatory Origin try to almost put the game out of reach, worked well with Taulagi to corral and keep the Blues out on their side. 6.5/10
5. Murray Taulagi: Scored his first Origin try in the shadows of halftime. This year he’s played two of the best defensive games from a winger I’ve seen, shutting out the NSW right side who persist on coming at him. 7/10
6. Cameron Munster: A great game. Kept the Blues off balance mixing up tricky runs, good kicking and well judged passes. 7.5/10
Daly Cherry-Evans celebrates. (Photo by Bradley Kanaris/Getty Images)
7. Daly Cherry-Evans: Another Origin special from DCE. Fantastic work to chase down Crichton on the breakaway, then made a break of his own to scatter the NSW defence for his state’s second try. Kicking game was good. 8.5/10
15. Thomas Flegler: Didn’t get a lot of opportunities on the attacking side of the ball, but stuck 20 tackles without a miss. 6.5/10
9. Ben Hunt: Fast service to keep things rolling early, but didn’t take a run in the first half. It looked like he took an early knock because after some treatment out the back of the line, he went off after 22 minutes and only ended up playing 30. 6/10
10. Tino Fa’asuamaleaui: Huge in the first half but got a little bit scrappy in the second before aiming up properly again. 28 tackles without a miss. 7.5/10
11. David Fifita: Did dirty work in the first half to keep the ball moving forward. got away with a sniffy pass in the lead to Taulagi’s first try. 7.5/10
16. Reuben Cotter: Probably needed to be taken for an early HIA after getting smashed by Brian To’o, but we move on. Cotter was great again with 118 metres and 44 tackles. 8/10
Murray Taulagi celebrates with teammates after scoring. (Photo by Chris Hyde/Getty Images)
13. Patrick Carrigan: With 106 metres and 40 tackles, Carrigan was again a workhorse for his state and a key part of them being able to keep NSW out when blue tried to up the pressure. 8/10
14. Harry Grant: Played big minutes with Hunt maybe a little dinged up. As usual he delivered well, tackled well, went well. Set the scene for the halves and forwards to keep rolling. 7/10
8. Lindsay Collins: A beast of a game. Ate up Jarome Luai to force an error with a huge hit, but his best was scooping a Moses grubber when the Blues were all over them. His 135 metres was Queensland’s most from a forward. 9/10
12. Jeremiah Nanai: Scored a try during party time. Wasn’t called on a lot, but he did well when the moments arrived.
6.5/10
17. Moeaki Fotuaika: Injected in the second half for power running, made some good ground and tackled well too. 6/10