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Opinion
Here’s how the Queensland Maroons rated in game three of the 2024 State of Origin series.
It was a monstrous defensive effort by Billy Slater’s men but the Maroons ultimately came up short as Queensland’s lifeless attack couldn’t find points to match.
1. Reece Walsh: Give him credit, Walsh kept turning up even though he was getting smashed all night. Involved himself plenty but like his teammates he couldn’t find a way through the defence. 7/10
2. Selwyn Cobbo: Set upon by four Blues every time he touched the ball but was solid under kick pressure. Not much business for him in the second half as Queensland defended again and again and NSW went to the other side. 5/10
3. Dane Gagai: They went after him and he stepped up. Seven broken tackles on the way to 135 metres, but most of that work wasn’t in threatening areas. Defended OK but missed a few tackles, particularly a key one on Bradman Best. 6/10
4. Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow: Not his best outing, but it wasn’t his kind of game. Lucky to get away with a bad miss on Stephen Crichton in the first half and although he upped his game afterwards he couldn’t get Mitch Moses to ground as the Blues halfback iced the game. 4.5/10
5. Valentine Holmes: Slater moving him out wide worked well to keep him out of danger defensively. Still played a physical game and ran hard, but on the whole was pretty well handled by his opposition. 5.5/10
6. Tom Dearden: His best game of the three. Crucial error-forcing tackle on Liam Martin and made dangerous runs with the show and go to break tackles and create opportunities, but no one went with him. Only one kick in play, though. 7/10
Valentine Holmes. (Photo by Chris Hyde/Getty Images)
7. Daly Cherry-Evans: Did the small things that make a difference like an ankle tap on Bradman Best to save a try, and a tackle to force an error. He also niggled the Blues beautifully, but DCE is there to create points and his team went tryless. 6/10
15. Moeaki Fotuaika: Solid in his first stint but better in his second, although he didn’t get a lot of time on the ball. Defence was OK enough, too. In short, MoFo was pretty much what was expected of him. 5/10
14. Harry Grant: Great first stint, moving the ball fast and giving DCE and Dearden time and space with deft passing. Solid as usual defensively with 41 tackles and tried a few things in the second half that didn’t come off, but weren’t far away. 6.5/10
16. Felise Kaufusi: A surprise starter, he touched the ball twice and wasn’t a factor in defence. Only played 16 minutes. Surely there was a better option? 3.5/10
8. Reuben Cotter: High energy, high pressure. First on the scene in kick chases, and was seemingly at every play the ball – 53 tackles with seven missed as Queensland’s legs got just slightly wobbly late. 7/10
11. Kurt Capewell: Tackled everything, hardly touched the ball. Reliable, solid, unsung, as most thought it would go. I rubbished his selection but he gave Queensland some iron up the middle and edges. 5/10
13. Patrick Carrigan: A monster game that he was built for – 61 tackles with just two misses. Massive early hits and multiple tackles in sets when the heat was right on. Big runs, too, tallying 150 metres. 8.5/10
Interchange:
9. Ben Hunt: Got 10 minutes in before he clocked himself on Spencer Leniu’s knee in a tackle. Passed an ‘Origin strength HIA’ but wasn’t the same and came off after another 15 minutes. 3.5/10
10. Lindsay Collins: He was too hepped up and a bit loose when he came on, trying to land a monster hit every time when it wasn’t the play. Still got 30 tackles in, but was a non-factor in attack. 5/10
12. Jeremiah Nanai: Not a great night. His biggest first-half contribution was being third man in for the big barney, earning himself ten in the bin. His biggest second-half contribution was getting scorched by Jarome Luai on the way to the Blues’ opening try. 4.5/10
17. Kalyn Ponga: Held back for the first half, NSW made sure he had barely any room to move and he couldn’t work anything useful. Might have been better used a little earlier than the 51st minute? 5/10