State of Origin 2022: Queensland Game 1 hero Pat Carrigan insists he won’t be a one-hit wonder for the Maroons

Pat Carrigan produced one of the greatest debuts in State of Origin history. Now the Queensland star wants to prove he isn’t a one-hit wonder.

Jeremiah Nanai. Picture: Zak Simmonds.

Maroons hero Pat Carrigan insists he won’t be an Origin one-hit wonder after revealing the luck of the Irish was behind his remarkable return from a knee reconstruction.

Carrigan will make his second appearance for Queensland in Sunday’s Origin II showdown with NSW at Perth’s Optus Stadium.

The Brisbane Broncos forward was close to man-of-the-match on debut at Sydney’s Accor Stadium in Origin I, changing the game for Queensland with a stunning performance from the bench.

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Carrigan, 24, punched out 64 minutes from the interchange, racking up a team high 18 runs for 165m to go with 27 tackles in a tireless effort which helped the Maroons clinch a crucial 16-10 victory on enemy soil.

Carrigan’s performance eclipsed anything he had produced in his 56-game NRL career and showed he was capable of taking his game to another level in rugby league’s toughest arena.

But the challenge for him is to now back that up with another solid showing when Queensland looks to wrap up the series on Sunday night.

Pat Carrigan was sensational in his Origin debut. (Photo by Mark Kolbe/Getty Images)

“I don’t want to be a one-game player,” Carrigan said.

“You always have confidence in yourself. Something I’ve been working on this year is playing each play as it comes and not overthinking it.

“A lot of good players around me put me in opportunities to have a solid game. Hopefully I can do me and build my game off the back of those effort areas.

“It was a proud moment to get my debut. Some of these guys have played a lot of Origins and never let anyone down. I want to be that player.

“One decent game isn’t going to do it for me. I’m really excited to do a job in Perth.”

Carrigan was part of Queensland’s extended squad during the 2020 series, but did not get a game in the Maroons’ miracle triumph under Wayne Bennett.

He was ruled out of last year’s series after suffering an ACL injury in his knee in round 9 which ruled him out of the remainder of the NRL season.

A studious player who is committed to improving, Carrigan ripped into his rehabilitation and made his comeback for the Broncos in round 1 this year.

And he has looked a different player.

Somewhat up-and-down previously, Carrigan has added new dimensions like a pass and offload to his game and showed in Origin I that he has defensive starch after smashing Blues star Jack Wighton with his first tackle.

While most players take months, or even an entire season, to find top form following a serious knee operation, Carrigan has returned a better player from the outset.

And he credits two Irish fitness staff, who are no longer at the Broncos, for helping him overcome any mental demons and return in such stunning fashion.

Carrigan wasn’t smiling when he hurt his knee last year. (Photo by Ian Hitchcock/Getty Images)

“Ryan Whitley (strength and conditioning) and Crawford Quinn (physiotherapist) – two Irish lads at the club – helped me a lot,” Carrigan said.

“I’ve got a good relationship with Ryan. We are best of mates for a lot of reasons, including that experience. He worked with me and I’ll be forever grateful for him.

“He went back home to Ireland and is now at the Chooks (Roosters). They have picked up a good one. He was massive for me as a mentor and everything on and off the field.

“I did so much work and ticked a lot of boxes. I had good people around me that had been in those environments.

“I had confidence in what the club was doing with my rehab and I continually worked on things. If you keep doing that you can get rid of some of that self doubt in your head.

“I knew if I wanted to get better, and with the way the game’s gone, I had to work on some things. There’s still areas I can keep getting better in.”

When Game One lock Reuben Cotter suffered a hamstring injury last week, the obvious move for Queensland coach Billy Slater was to hand Carrigan the No. 13 jersey.

But Slater was so impressed with Carrigan’s efforts from the bench he decided to leave him on the interchange and shift prop Tino Fa’asuamaleaui to lock, with Lindsay Collins coming off the bench into the front row.

Slater is hoping the decision pays dividends like it did in Sydney and said Carrigan was one of many that had to back up their Origin I heroics.

Carrigan wants to improve in Origin II. (Photo by Cameron Spencer/Getty Images)

“We thought that was the best thing for our team,” Slater said.

“Lindsay has been exceptional and was close to starting in game one. He brings a lot to our side.

“It is a tough thought process because Patty could start and do a great job. We just think it’s best for our team that Lindsay starts and Patty comes off the bench.

“There is a challenge for all of us to back it up, myself included. We are here to get better, not rest on our laurels and what happened in game one.

“We know NSW are going to be better. They’ve got different players in their team and it’s important for us to improve that performance from game one.”

MAROONS TRUMP CARD WHICH CAN SEAL SERIES IN TWO

Injuries ruined Queensland’s secret weapon in Origin I but dummy-half dynamos Ben Hunt and Harry Grant are preparing to launch a double whammy on NSW in Perth.

If the Maroons have more luck on the injury front at Optus Stadium on Sunday night, Hunt and Grant will join forces together on the field to blitz the Blues.

Hunt, 32, will start his 13th Origin game for Queensland at hooker, with Grant to once again come off the bench as the Maroons’ super sub following an impressive Origin I performance.

But Queensland coach Billy Slater has formulated a plan that could see Hunt shift to a ball-playing lock role, instead of going to the bench, when Grant is at hooker.

That would give the Maroons a five-pronged playmaking attack along with halves Daly Cherry-Evans and Cameron Munster and fullback Kalyn Ponga.

The strategy wasn’t able to be used at Accor Stadium in the series-opener given the Maroons were forced to burn two unplanned interchanges after winger Xavier Coates and bench backrower Jeremiah Nanai suffered ankle injuries.

But it is back on the table and Hunt is hoping Queensland’s plan can be put into action.

“It’s definitely something I’m hoping we can do,” Hunt said.

“I’d love to be out there while Harry is.

“There was a bit of a plan to use us together in game one but it wasn’t set in stone. Anything can change in a game. Billy just did what he thought was best for the team and it obviously worked.

“With the way the first game worked out with injuries, and Reuben Cotter (lock) not getting tired, we just left him out there.

“He’s out of the mix now (hamstring injury) so you never know. We will be prepared for anything.”

Harry Grant and Ben Hunt are set to be played in tandem in game two.

Injuries robbed Billy Slater of the chance to play his attacking trump card.

Grant and Hunt hail from the Rockhampton region and both are graduates of league nursery St Brendan’s College in Yeppoon.

Grant, 24, grew up idolising Hunt and is hoping they can join forces together to clinch the series for Queensland in what will be his fourth Origin.

“We will see how the game goes,” Grant said.

“We spoke about having a plan before the game with the interchanges and how we use them, but that can change with injuries and what happened in game one when we had to shift players around. We’ll see what the coaches go with and what happens.

“I’d love to be on the field with him. We will have a good week and go from there.

“Hopefully I go to dummy-half and let him take all the hit-ups.”

By starting Hunt, a regular halfback who has excelled at hooker in Origin, Slater has options up his sleeve compared to NSW.

The Blues have selected two out-and-out hookers, with Penrith’s Api Koroisau and South Sydney’s Damien Cook to share the duties with the series on the line.

It’s hard to see the Blues adopting a similar approach, but Hunt said NSW’s dual hookers would be a threat after Cook played 80 minutes in Game One.

“I think Api deserves to be in the side, that’s for sure,” he said.

“He is a fabulous player and has been great for Penrith. He has been a good player for a long time.

“I’m not surprised by the move. They obviously think he can offer something there and they can bring Cook off the bench to use his speed when the game slows down a bit.

“We will definitely be aware of him (Cook). We worked really hard on him in the first game.

“Any time there is a quick play-the-ball he is out of there. He is going to have more energy now so we’re going to have to be better.”

GENETIC FREAK: MAROONS ROOKIE’S BIG ADVANTAGE

You know what they say about men with big hands? They score plenty of tries.

Maroons forward Jeremiah Nanai’s giant hands are the secret behind his freakish try-scoring ability.

Nanai, 19, has scored 11 tries in 13 games for the resurgent Cowboys this year to retain his spot in Queensland’s State of Origin team ahead of Sunday’s second game against NSW in Perth.

While Nanai has credited a volleyball background for his athletic leaping, it’s the backrower’s hands which give him an advantage when it comes to catching and planting the ball.

At 186cm and 104kg, Nanai is a big body and fellow Queensland backrower Kurt Capewell has never seen anything like “Miah’s Mitts”.

Jeremiah Nanai’s huge hands help him hold the ball. (Photo by Cameron Spencer/Getty Images)

“He has got the biggest hands I’ve ever seen in my life,” Capewell said.

“It’s unbelievable. His hands are twice the size of mine.

“He is a good kid. He is quiet and goes about his training well.”

Nanai’s X-factor proved too hard to resist for Maroons coach Billy Slater, who blooded him off the bench in Queensland’s 16-10 Origin I victory in Sydney.

Nanai was restricted to 36 minutes in his Origin debut after sustaining an ankle injury that forced him from the field briefly before he bravely returned to finish the game in pain.

Nanai suffered an ankle injury on debut. (Photo by Mark Kolbe/Getty Images)

The Cairns product revealed the injury hasn’t healed and he will carry it for the remainder of the season before he can properly rest it.

But he is in the big league now and has to learn how to play with pain.

“I was hoping it wasn’t too bad when I went back to the Cowboys,” Nanai said.

“I had a week off against the Dragons and I’ve been looking after it and recovering.

“It’s still a bit swollen, but I’m taking it step-by-step to slowly get back on the field at full strength.

“I’m not a little kid anymore. I’ve got to toughen up in this big game.

“It’s going to be sore for the rest of the year. I’ll leave it to the physio to strap it up all year and it will slowly recover.”

Nanai was strong defensively in Origin I. (Photo by Cameron Spencer/Getty Images)

Most of Nanai’s time on the field in Game One was when Queensland was desperately defending its line amid a late charge from the Blues.

Nanai made 19 tackles but only managed two runs and he is hoping to have more of an impact at Optus Stadium when he comes off the bench.

The Blues didn’t experience his insane jumping and try-scoring efforts which could help Queensland secure the series in Perth.

“It was disappointing to get hurt,” he said.

“I was grateful I got to get back on the field and finish the game off and get a win.

“I’m going to do what Billy wants me to do when he puts me on the field. I will play my game.”

Originally published as State of Origin 2022: Queensland Game 1 hero Pat Carrigan insists he won’t be a one-hit wonder for the Maroons