Maroons Origin II Player Ratings: 14 fails with only three players putting up a fight as DCE's side 'got what we deserved'
Daly Cherry-Evans said it best: “We got what we deserved.”
Didn’t the Maroons just.
Cherry-Evans’ men got served with the heaviest first-half deficit in Origin history as they went into the sheds trailing 34-0 as Phil Gould termed it “men against boys”.
The Maroons scored three second half tries and ultimately lost 38-18 to ensure NSW sent the series to a decider. But they were cheap points. The match was done.
Cherry-Evans was right though, “They could have nilled us.” It was perhaps the only positive of a horrible late June night at the MCG in front of 90,084.
So how did the Maroons rate?
Latrell Mitchell was in bullish form for the Blues in State of Origin 2. (Photo by Quinn Rooney/Getty Images)
1. Reece Walsh: One of the few in the Maroons’ side who could hold his head up. He was sprightly all evening with ball-in-hand and saved his side a couple of times at the back. 5
2. Xavier Coates: Caught out defensively a couple of times as Mitchell Moses ran amok. Coates rarely got his hands on the ball. 3
3. Valetine Holmes: Tried hard in the second half but his right-hand edge was exposed defensively by Moses and Angus Crichton, who was superb. 3
4. Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow: Came off early with a shoulder injury when the Maroons were under the pump. He then got a double touch in the second half to score, but he shortly after fell off Dylan Edwards to let NSW get one back. 4
5. Murray Taulagi: One of the enduring images of the night will be Zac Lomax climbing over his opposite winger to score and continue the sky blue’s bloodbath. As Gould said, “Men against boys.” He also fell off Stephen Crichton ahead of Lomax’s second. Taulagi had a better second half, scoring one try and setting up another, but it was the tale of the first half that will sting. 3
6. Tom Dearden: A shocker of a night, where Dearden missed the opening tackle on Liam Martin to let the Blues in. But it was the fact he twice coughed up possession in attack as Moses shut him down in attack that will stick in the mind of Billy Slater. It wasn’t good enough. 2
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7. Daly Cherry-Evans: Didn’t do much wrong but also couldn’t turn the Maroons around. 4
8.Reuben Cotter: The Maroons’ best forward. The Cowboys prop kept the legs pumping, never went away and was one of the few disciplined soldiers. 6
9. Ben Hunt: Barely sighted which tells you how dominant NSW were in the opening 20 minutes. 3
10. Lindsay Collins: Smiled once or twice but that was after conceding penalties at the ruck. Easily beaten by Haas and co. 3
11. Jaydn Su’A: After finally getting into the Blues’ 20-metre zone, Su’A handed the ball back by allowing Crichton to intercept and run 80 metres. Later, he spilt the ball first tackle after a penalty. Fortunately for him and the Maroons, Ashley Klein didn’t like Martin’s head rub that to a little bit of push and shove and a penalty was awarded to the Maroons. It was that kind of night. 3
12. Jeremiah Nanai: Caught out defensively in the first half, with Moses allowed to run to the line, Nanai finally got name-dropped in the second half. At that point the Maroons trailed by five tries. The Cowboy got on the board after a nice line running off Cherry-Evans. 4
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13. Patrick Carrigan: Sent to the sin bin alongside Martin for rushing in, Carrigan made 33 tackles and topped the run metres (121) but he was also outplayed by his opposite. 5
14. Harry Grant: Not given an inch at dummy-half, the supersub looked human for once in an Origin match. 3
15. Moeaki Fotuaika: Busy but largely ineffective. 4
16. Felise Kaufusi: Some reasonable carries on the fringes but never looked like breaking the line nor being able to create some second-phase ball. 3
17. Kurt Capewell: Like most of his teammates in the forwards, Capewell couldn’t do anything to turn the tide. 3