They lost the battle, but Queensland still raise the 2023 State of Origin shield as series winners.
Here’s how the Maroons went in game three.
1. AJ Brimson: Handled the NSW kicks consistently but was well contained in attack. Blew a golden scoring chance down 16-6 when his pass went to ground. 6/10
2. Xavier Coates: Dived in twice on Josh Addo-Carr and was left grasping nothing but air as the Blues built their early lead. Wasn’t helped in attack by some ordinary kicks. 5.5/10
3. Valentine Holmes: See above – the corralling defence didn’t work as Holmes was terrorised all night down his side by Cody Walker and friends. 5.5/10
(Photo by Mark Kolbe/Getty Images)
4. Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow: Was a threat all night. Scored a fantastic solo try in the shadows of halftime to keep the game alive. 6.5/10
5. Murray Taulagi: Barely sighted in the first half as the Blues made hay on the other side of the park but was much more involved in the second, including a long break. 6/10
6. Cameron Munster: Emptied the whole kit bag again with smart runs, offloads, deft kicking, some dummy half play and handling what NSW threw his way in defence. He gave his all in every game. 7.5/10
7. Daly Cherry-Evans: Not his best game. A couple of bad reads as the Blues ran riot down the left side and some overcooked play chasing the game. Let’s not overlook how good he’s been this series, though. 5/10
Reuben Cotter. (Photo by Mark Kolbe/Getty Images)
8. Reuben Cotter: The workhorse delivered again with another big 80 minutes. Winner of the Wally Lewis Medal as player of the series, and it was very much deserved. 7.5/10
9. Harry Grant: Gave away a stupid penalty on a fifth tackle just after Queensland had turned NSW away … Then they didn’t see the ball for another 10 minutes as the Blues piled on those three tries. Other than that, Grant was pretty good. 7/10
10. Tino Fa’asuamaleaui: Was the premier forward on the field in the early going and kept rumbling when he came back for his second spell. 7.5/10
11. David Fifita: Strong early presence was rewarded with the game’s opening try, but then spent an hour on the bench before being brought back when it may have been too late. 6/10
12. Jeremiah Nanai: Like everyone else, he blew his defensive assignment a couple of times during the Blues’ first half scorefest. Had a couple of close cals where he could have scored. 5/10
13. Patrick Carrigan: One of the pillars that the Maroons work around. A massive amount of work, 142 run metres with 63 post contact, turning up again for his state. 6.5/10
Patrick Carrigan. (Photo by Mark Kolbe/Getty Images)
Interchange: 14. Ben Hunt: Kept the dummy half delivery consistent during a relatively short shift and was a fingernail away from making a huge line break. 5.5/10
15. Lindsay Collins: Massive again after arriving in the 22nd minute. Power, speed and intensity in defence from one of Queensland’s best players for the series. 7.5/10
16. Moeaki Fotuaika: He’s a quality Origin forward, MoFo. He gives consistent, strong running and hard defence. Didn’t get a long stint, but kept the line moving when he was on. 6/10
17. Corey Horsburgh: Came on at the 50th minute and involved himself in everything right away. Also unveiled the first crop top State of Origin jersey. Can anyone find him one that fits? 5.5/10
Greg
Roar Pro
I can confirm Fifita travelled with the team to Sydney today. Assume nothing in the back spasms rumour.
The Barry
Roar Guru
Yeah, I’m thinking of getting Fifita back into my SC team and have been searching high and low for injury news and can’t find anything
Greg
Roar Pro
I agree. I was wondering what was going on, especially to put Cotter there who for all his effort offers little attacking threat. I have since heard Fifita was having back spasms but can't find anything confirming the validity of this.
Pyromaniac
Roar Rookie
we were just letting fittler extend his contract, give us a break
Nick
Roar Rookie
They didn't tank, they just didn't care enough to go hard after 60 minutes. A lot of them were actively trying to avoid injury, which is understandable
Big Mig
Roar Rookie
:happy:
farkurnell
Roar Rookie
Your surely not suggesting the Toads tanked it.What about that fabled Maroon Spirit when they put on the jerseys?
farkurnell
Roar Rookie
Nuh Wally wanted that baby up on stage to share in all the glory
Nick
Roar Rookie
There were a bunch of Qld players who were actively ensuring they weren't going to get injured last night. They took it as a dead rubber. It wouldn't shock me in the least if their club coaches asked them to dial it down a shade as well.
johnno 2
Roar Rookie
As a QLD supporter Brimson, not this standard Coates & Taulagi , looked tired and slow Holmes lost it on the night The Hammer put in the effort but not backed up by his team mates , out of position a few critical times Munster worked hard on his own Cherry-Evans , off his game Cotter , best of the team , never stopped trying Grant , same as C-E Tino , in the Cotter mould Fifita, not in the game, got lost Carrigan, put in the effort for an off team night Hunt, was somewhere else Collins , missed team support worked hard Fotuaika, put in the effort , always worth his place Best in this team , Cotter and The Hammer Thoroughly missed Walsh
Nick
Roar Rookie
Yup. Pretty dumb stuff.
Emcie
Roar Guru
The worst part about getting the ball knocked out was he’d only just taken over at 9 20 seconds earlier after Grant got hooked when the exact same thing happened
The Barry
Roar Guru
I’m not knocking Slater overall, he’s been brilliant over both seasons… even if you forget he’s a rookie coach I’ve had no shortage of praise for him, but I think leaving Fifita on the pine for so long was probably a mistake and with hindsight so was messing with the Hunt/Grant combo
The Barry
Roar Guru
Yeah, fair point. From memory most people railed against Teddy’s 7 rating game 1 I did NSW ratings in that game and think I gave him a 5
Big Mig
Roar Rookie
I thought Hammer would win the Wally Lewis Medal. He was instrumental in all 3 games, and the best of the Maroons backs last night too. Holmes, Coates and Grant had poor performances.
Horses for Courses
Roar Rookie
Considering Tedesco got a 7 in Game 1, I would say either Holmes score is too low or Tedesco's G1 score was too high.
mushi
Roar Guru
To be fair, he managed to win 2 out of 3 vs a team that had the cattle to out gain him. That win rate was good enough for 4th last year, imagine doing that whilst your side was out gained in every match.
Rellum
Roar Guru
To be fair to Coates, DCE, Holmes and those further inside we making bad calls as well, Martin was causing issues. But Coates just charges out of the line and tackles nobody. That just leaves a saloon passage for one or two speed men for Walker to hit. You can't register a tackle if you just ran pass attackers and don't lay a hand on them. That is why League stats are the most useless in the world of sports. They mean nothing and when people start quoting supercoach stats like they mean something I just switch off
Ross
Roar Rookie
Thought Val had a tough job with Martin running the inside line and Best the outside a few times. Would have been pure luck to tackle the guy that Walker gave it to every time as Cody's decision making was so good.
astro
Roar Rookie
Yep, not enough is being made of Coates and his poor defence. The official stats from the NRL say he didn't make a tackle...as in zero tackles for the game. That seems almost impossible to do....even Gutho who only played 3mins and made 1!