State of Origin Game 3: Ben Hunt soars into Origin legend after runaway try
Maroons coach Billy Slater hailed the toughness of Ben Hunt, while Queensland great Allan Langer said the hooker’s match-sealing try triggered memories of one of Origin’s greatest moments.
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Queensland coach Billy Slater has hailed the toughness of Ben Hunt after Queensland’s Mr Fixit buried the pain of his Broncos grand-final heartbreak with the moment that sent him soaring into Origin Immortality.
Hunt has been a maligned figure throughout his career and he has not forgotten the brickbats he copped after his dropped-ball blunder in Brisbane’s 2015 grand-final loss to the Cowboys which could have broken a lesser man.
But since that moment, Hunt has won two Ron McAuliffe Medals as Queensland’s player of the series and iced his status as an Origin legend with the 70-metre runaway try that sealed the Maroons’ 22-12 victory in the Suncorp decider.
“He is one of the greatest competitors I have ever seen,” Slater said of Hunt, Queensland’s best and fairest in 2019 and 2021.
“He has been the Ron McAuliffe Medallist twice in the three series before this one, he really earnt that starting spot (at hooker) and playing a different position every week for the Dragons (at halfback).
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“He was out on his feet halfway through that second half. He was one of those guys in the middle doing the work and we needed to give him a rest and if we didn’t give him a rest he may not have got there in the end.
“What a performance.”
With Queensland clinging to a 16-12 lead in a frantic finale, Hunt nailed the NSW coffin shut. The Maroons No.9 instinctively snaffled a Nathan Cleary chip kick and pinned the ears back, the pain of his tough years at the Broncos tempered by the joy of saluting one of Queensland’s finest Origin triumphs.
“I ran 80 metres, not 70,” Hunt said with a cheeky grin.
“There was definitely plenty of doubt (if he would score).
“I heard the crowd go up and the first thing I did was look for support, where’s my wingers or someone, but I couldn’t see them and I saw Isaah Yeo (NSW lock) chasing me, so I just pinned the ears back.
“I am grateful I got a bit of a rest (during the match). I would have had a bit more of a spell but Harry (Grant) had an injury so I had to get back out there and I had just enough juice to get to the tryline.
“I felt I have played in a lot of great games but this series I will remember for the rest of my life.”
Maroons halfback Allan Langer, now Queensland’s on-field trainer, said the sight of Hunt racing away triggered memories of Arthur Beetson running out for Origin debut at Lang Park in 1980.
“I remember the 1980 game, I was there the night Artie Beetson led Queensland out,” Langer said. “I caught the train to the game with my brothers and we jumped the fence after the game and that’s how I felt all over again when Benny Hunt ran away to score.
“That’s how special that moment was to me.”
Hunt, who played his 14th Origin match on Wednesday night, is leading the Dally M count and Maroons skipper Cherry-Evans hopes his series-winning try can help propel him to the NRL’s golden gong.
“He’s a great football player,” Cherry-Evans said. “‘Hunty’ has been a polarising player through his career but surely now we are going to stand and applaud what Ben Hunt is, he is a bloody good player and he might win the Dally M this year, that’s how good he is going.
“He is a good friend of mine and I am glad he is finally getting the rewards for his hard work.”
HOW PONGA CAN BE MAROONS’ NEXT GREAT FULLBACK
-Travis Meyn, Peter Badel
Kalyn Ponga has been hailed Queensland’s next great fullback after producing one of the most destructive performances in Origin’s 42-year history.
Ponga cemented Queensland’s No. 1 jersey by blitzing the Blues with 15 tackle busts in Wednesday night’s stunning 22-12 decider victory at Suncorp Stadium.
Ponga’s incredible individual effort sits second to only former Maroons fullback Gary Belcher’s 16 busts in 1990.
Ponga, 24, was crowned man-of-the-match in his first Origin decider, living up to the hype in what was his seventh game for Queensland as he scored the series-clinching try.
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“It was my first series win and first time playing all three games (in a series),” Ponga said.
“I’m super proud of myself, to be honest, but the group and coaching staff as well.
“I wanted to make the most of it, not sort of prove anything.
“Billy said ‘attack the game’. I thought, you don’t get this experience often – a decider at Suncorp – so I wanted to do my job.”
Ponga was simply sublime in a herculean effort where he continually turned up in attack and defence, poking his head through NSW’s defensive line with nearly every carry.
And his sizzling performance – which included 25 runs for 247m and two line breaks – came on the back of some simple advice from Slater, Queensland’s greatest ever fullback.
“He had a great series, it was a really tough effort from Kalyn,” Slater said.
“He had some nice moments in game one, set up a couple of tries, and was always threatening.
“When Kalyn threatens with his legs first, he’s dangerous. His pass will come, it will always be there, it’s natural to him.
“I’ve always had a lot of belief in Kalyn. I love working with him and he’s a great guy. He wants to learn and be as good as he possibly can.”
With some of the best footwork in the game, Ponga was always going to be a threat in the Origin arena once he established himself.
His Origin career has been stunted by injuries since he debuted in 2018, but Ponga now feels comfortable on the biggest stage of all.
“I didn’t even know that (15 tackle busts), I just wanted to do my job,” he said.
“Our focus was to put in a performance we’d be proud of. To run out in front of 50,000 at Suncorp was pretty awesome.
“Billy always tells me to use my legs. Before we started the game he said use my legs. At halftime he said use my legs. I think I used my legs.
“The last 12 minutes I was pretty buggered, I was struggling to get around. Mentally I was thinking ‘please win’.
“It’s a tough game. It’s Origin. These are the games you want to be part of.
“I would like some moments back, but in terms of being a fullback and our back five, I thought we were pretty good.
“We were building the whole series, even though we had a bump in the road in game two (44-12 loss). I still felt like we were building towards this game and we probably played our best footy.”
The Maroons have been blessed with gun fullbacks over the years like Belcher, Slater and Darren Lockyer.
Now Ponga is on track for a decade-long career in the Queensland No. 1 jersey and could join the greats of the game, according to captain Daly Cherry-Evans.
“I thought Kalyn stamped his mark on Origin footy as a fullback,” he said.
“He has had great moments in the series, but in our two wins in Game One and Game Three, he has been one of our most influential players.
“I am really happy for Kalyn, he works really hard on his game, a lot of it with Billy, and the hard work paid off.
“He can certainly be one of the greats.”
MAROONS MIRACLE! QLD CLAIMS GREATEST WIN IN ALL-TIME CLASSIC
—Peter Badel
This wasn’t State of Origin. This was out of this world.
The magnificent Maroons summoned every fibre of Queensland’s famous spirit to engineer another Blues boilover and reclaim the Origin shield with a nailbiting, head-spinning 22-12 victory in a gripping decider at Suncorp Stadium.
Before 52,385 heaving fans, the Cauldron rattled and rocked to the brutal beats of the greatest game in Origin history, the 15-man miracle Maroons defying all the odds — once again — to pull off one of Queensland’s finest triumphs.
In his maiden campaign as rookie coach, Queensland legend Billy Slater watched his heroes conjure the greatest series win in history — eclipsing the magic of Wayne Bennett’s Babes two years ago.
Queensland godfather Artie Beetson, watching from the heavens, would have shed tears watching this.
The Maroons were in disarray when star pivot Cameron Munster and winger Murray Taulagi were ruled out on Friday due to Covid, but Queensland overcame the crisis with a band of men who morphed into Slater’s Superheroes.
Trailing 12-10 at halftime, the Maroons produced a herculean performance, with fullback Kalyn Ponga (61st minute) and Ben Hunt (78th minute) crossing after the break to send Queensland fans into delirium.
For NSW, it continued 17 years of heartbreak in Origin deciders. The Maroons have won nine of the last 10 deciders at Suncorp and there has simply been no greater, no more heroic performance.
In fact, after 126 contests, there has been no finer Origin game ever witnessed.
DEMOLITION DERBY
Boom. Crash. Chaos. Carnage. The opening minutes of this encounter was the most brutal, absorbing, jaw-dropping start to a contest in Origin’s 42-year history.
Any regard for self-preservation — or the HIA rule — flew out the window as NSW and Queensland’s 34 demonic players went hell for leather in a helter skelter start that left a string of sore heads and battered bodies.
In unprecedented scenes, three players were forced to leave the field in the opening four minutes. Blues forward Cameron Murray was the first to go, left dazed trying to tackle Corey Oates in Queensland’s first kick return of the match.
But within a minute, two Maroons were also seeing stars. Winger Selwyn Cobbo was knocked out colliding with teammate Pat Carrigan trying to tackle Blues centre Matt Burton and left the field in a neck brace.
Incredibly, within seconds, there was more chaos: Maroons prop Lindsay Collins hitting the turf after a monster collision with NSW winger Daniel Tupou.
All three failed HIA tests. No league game in living memory had seen such an explosive start. The battle of attrition was on.
TOMMY GUN
What a performance from Maroons debutant Tom Dearden.
Just 12 months ago, Dearden was such a broken man he wanted out of a Broncos club that equally didn’t want him. It took a lifeline from the Cowboys for the 21-year-old to pick up the pieces, sensationally catapulting him into the Origin arena.
Slater backed Dearden to start and he repaid the faith, superbly filling the gargantuan void of Munster and throwing a sublime pass for a flying Valentine Holmes to open the scoring in the 13th minute.
Few players possess Munster’s magic but there is no more ferocious competitor than Dearden. He was vocal, led the kick chase like a terrier and didn’t put a foot wrong.
BIG THREE
Without Munster, the other members of Queensland’s spine — Daly Cherry-Evans, Ponga and Hunt — had to step up. They were outstanding.
With the game on the line in the second stanza, the Maroons’ terrific triumvirate all produced some match-defining plays.
Cherry-Evans’ kicking game was precise and faultless. Hunt’s booming 58th-minute 40-20 kick rocked the Blues, paving the way for the greatest moment of Ponga’s career as he sliced through on the hour.
Then Hunt intercepted a Nathan Cleary and streaked 70 metres to bury the Blues and send the Maroons into Dreamworld.
Cobbo KO’d: Ugly Blues’ sledge that ignited Origin
— Fatima Kdouh
The Origin decider has descended into concussion carnage with three players off the field in three minutes, in what Queensland legend Cameron Smith described as “all-out warfare” at Suncorp Stadium.
NSW suffered a major blow after backrower Cameron Murray was left reeling following a head clash with Maroons winger Corey Oates, who was running the ball in the opening minute. Murray was immediately ruled out of the game.
But that was just the start in one of the most chaotic opening exchanges to an Origin game in recent years.
Less than sixty seconds later Maroons youngster Selwyn Cobbo was the victim of some friendly fire after he was knocked out cold by teammate Pat Carrigan’s right hip.
“Wow. I think it was technique first but the way both of these sides have started … it’s all-out warfare. It shows everyone watching at home and in the stands, what this means to both football teams,” Queensland great Smith said.
Tempers boiled over immediately after the Cobbo hit as Maroons players took exception to Blues five-eighth Jarome Luai running over to the teenager, standing over him as he was knocked out and yelling a sledge while he was clearly in trouble on the ground.
As the third minute ticked over in the high intensity clash, Maroons forward Lindsay Collins was also ruled out with a HIA after hitting his head on the shoulder of Sydney Roosters teammate, Daniel Tupou.
League Immortal Andrew Johns blamed the carnage on tackling technique.
Not for a long time, not like this. With tackling techniques that have changed over the years, they don’t like to drive in so much with their shoulders, it is all about control. This is … this is a throwback to the ‘80s. That’s three off,” Johns said.
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