The Blues get a consolation win and Brad Fittler may get to keep his job next year after their 24-10 triumph prevented Queensland from recording their first clean sweep since 2010.
Here’s how the Blues went in game three.
1. James Tedesco: There wasn’t a player under more pressure in this game and the beleaguered NSW captain responded in style. His two line breaks, 11 tackle breaks and 230+ metres were decisive in getting his side the win. 8/10
2. Brian To’o: Had a scratchy start but then got into his trademark no nonsense, hard running game. Once more he ran for over 200 metres, broke plenty of tackles and finished a great try. His front on tackle on Lindsay Collins saved a possible try. 7/10
Brian To’o is tackled. (Photo by Brendon Thorne/Getty Images)
3. Stephen Crichton: The lad is rocks and diamonds. One moment he’s tackling David Fifita brilliantly or intercepting the Maroons when a try looked on. The next he’s giving a dumb penalty, throwing a bad pass or dropping the ball. 5.5/10
4. Bradman Best: It looked like he’d scored a try with his first touch but he was denied by the bunker. Never mind, he finished with two tries on debut to go with his 120+ metres, three tackle breaks and two line break assists. That should shut up the critics. 8/10
5. Josh Addo-Carr: What a great game from the Foxx. Safe in defence, he was a constant threat in attack, running for 140+ metres. His chip and chase try in the first half was outstanding. 7.5/10
6. Cody Walker: How much better did NSW look with a dominant number six?!? Walker terrorised the right-side defence, laying the platform for the win. No question that he benefited from his established combinations with Damien Cook and Cam Murray, he gave the NSW attack real venom. 9/10
Cody Walker. (Photo by Brendon Thorne/Getty Images)
7. Mitchell Moses: The Maroons targeted the Eels half in defence but he stood his ground. He ran for 121 metres through his constant probing of the line. He played a strong second fiddle to Walker. 7/10
8. Jake Trbojevic: Great tradesman like performance from the nicest guy in rugby league. Really strong in defence. 6.5/10
9. Damien Cook: He provided great service from dummy half and you could tell he loved playing hooker instead of centre, with Walker and Murray being right around him. 7.5/10
10. Reagan Campbell-Gillard: A great comeback to Origin for RCG. 22 tackles and 114 metres from his 49 minutes. 6.5/10
11. Liam Martin: Tried very hard but it wasn’t his best game. Starting out with a drop in the 6th minute, Martin missed an uncharacteristic eight tackles for the match and only made 33 metres with ball in hand. 5.5/10
12. Keaon Koloamatangi: The big unit had a solid match, making 34 tackles and 82 metres. His defence was ferocious at times. And how good was his tap on for the Brian To’o try. 7/10
13. Cameron Murray: The best lock in the game made a welcome return to the No.13 jersey with big metres, lots of runs and masses of brutal tackles. The centre of the Blues defence looked so much better. 7.5/10
Interchange: 14. Isaah Yeo: The Panthers captain came off the bench to replace Jake Trbojevic in the front row and did pretty well. From his 55 minutes he made 28 tackles without a miss, while running the ball 12 times for 120 metres, and laying on a line break. 7/10
15. Jacob Saifiti: Daniel’s brother Jacob was the NSW hitman in his 26 minutes on the field, laying on some huge and terrifying tackles. 5.5/10
16. Reece Robson: Didn’t come on in the first half and almost as soon as he came on in the second half he gave away a dumb penalty. However, he settled well to make 25 tackles in a solid defensive performance. 5.5/10
17. Clint Gutherson: King Gutho only got three minutes for the game when Addo-Carr limped off at the end. 1/10
jimmmy
Roar Rookie
Well you did ' put that to bed pretty quickly .
Dodgy Dragons
Roar Rookie
I agree Simon. I also think the blues were a bit deeper in attack this game than the previous 2. I put that down to the experience of Cody Walker organizing the guys outside, and the work of Murray, Martin, Moses and Cook inside of him, not Fittlers coaching. If it was the coaching, it would have been rectified at halftime in game 1.
Emcie
Roar Guru
Seriously? He played more minutes on the bench then anyone in a game this series. Didn't once take someone elses seat or sit on someones towel. Some players *cough* Burton *cough* can't even handle being 18th man and get dropped, yet Gutho selflessly played his role to perfection and you think that's worth a big N/A? Come on, show some respect
astro
Roar Rookie
Don't blame the stats! Stats are what they are...its all about their interpretation/context. Eg. Yes, Martin missed 8 tackles, but he made more tackles than any other Blue at 42 for the game. And, yes he only made 33mtrs, but he also only received the ball 5 times. Clearly, his role wasn't being a ball-runner. It was to get up and shut down the Qld halves, which is did exceptionally well. 5.5 for Martin is way too low...
Horses for Courses
Roar Rookie
Moved to Queensland at 9 and played his junior rugby for the bears. Sorry bud, he isn't eligible for NSW.
Andrew01
Roar Rookie
I saw on Twitter where someone said the pitch invader got more time on the field than Gutho.
Bernie
Roar Rookie
i thought Crichton was really good last night Barry. he was tight in defence, stayed in the game & plays in a tough position. kicked good goals too. you must be happy to have him coming next year.
The Barry
Roar Guru
Yeah, it’s miles better than a loss and a whitewash, but we definitely need to keep things in perspective
souvalis
Roar Rookie
No big collisions, no one on report, no serious argy bargy, no get that into ya, no HIAs. Blues didn’t do much more than give priority calling to Cody to play his usual Rabbitoh role. As did all his team mates. Blues should be pleased, but keep it in perspective to the effort of their opponents.
Don
Roar Rookie
I don't think it's any anti Panther bias. But I feel in some of Tim's (mostly excellent) contributions, the fact he's close to the Raiders clouds his perspective in his comments about the club and also players. Over the years he's mitigated, deflected and downplayed ugly acts by Raiders players like Nic Cotric's spear tackle and a Hudson young eye gouge. Usually with a forlorn cry for consistency from Refs and the NRL and examples of a dozen worse acts that didn't receive similar punishment. The positive, is mostly Tim remembers to declare his Raiders bias when he's going in to bat for them.
Dumbo
Roar Rookie
When a player is on the field for a few minutes only, it’s hard to assess his performance – especially when he is playing out of position. In a case like Gutho last night (or Nicho earlier in the series), I would have award “N/A” (ie Not Assessed) rather than any sort of number. Alternatively, give a player a rating of “5/10* ” with the asterisk denoting that he was not on the pitch for long enough to have any material impact in deciding the outcome of the game.
Albo
Roar Rookie
QLD disrespected Origin and turned up not ready to play last night. Despite the now so boring rhetoric they spew out about doing it all just for the people of Queensland, last night their heads were still somewhere in a Cairns nightclub.
souvalis
Roar Rookie
There's that JAC clone, almost exactly the same game, AFP , running around at the Titans. Born in Lismore, but a potential squabble over him. NSW need to put that to bed quick.
Albo
Roar Rookie
Exactly. Tim's anti -Panther bias is always there. Martin was the reason the QLD right side defence was in tatters, with Holmes & DCE both targeting Martin and leaving Best clear for Cody to put him away. Throw in Martin's 44 tackles to boot, and he had another strong performance. And as for Crichton, his strong defence with Moses , kept the dangerous Munster & Hammer in check all night.
The Barry
Roar Guru
Ouch
Panthers
Roar Rookie
Yes Addo-Carr was excellent with some room to run & made a try for himself. His defence in general was good. Just struggles a bit under kicks sometimes, without assistance. As he’s also not too tall. Although better than To’o for that, also due to a lack of size .
Emcie
Roar Guru
Worse, he's a stats man :sick:
Panthers
Roar Rookie
I think the writer of the column is a Penrith hater. To’o was the best metre maker in the game . NSW only got a bit better field position on several occasions. Due to his running out of the ball. Martin is always tough & was again. Crichton tackled very well , made a crucial intercept & ran the ball well. Only criticism for Crichton, is assist your winger more under kicks . Which is also an effort thing. Only criticism for To’o come up quickly once to stop Fidow from having time, space to decide what to do. Koloamatangi was alright . Was he better than those players? Not really.
souvalis
Roar Rookie
As good a player as Best is, Freddy has a 6th sense for knowing Holmes was about to morph into an Alamotti and Cherry into Rajeb. It was R18 all over again with Teddy playing Ponga. Qld's right was just not at SOO level.
The Barry
Roar Guru
I hate to say “I told you so”, love it when someone says it for me :laughing: :laughing: :laughing: Martin rarely kills it on the stat sheet, but is often one of the most important players. Great point about his off the ball running. I said elsewhere that NSW still didn’t play with a lot of shape but it was always Martin running a line off Walker