Origin Tackle: Brian To’o donned Steven Munster tribute on his wrist

Cameron Munster was overwhelmed by messages of support following the tragic death of his father and one tribute from a NSW Blues rival didn’t go unnoticed.

Fatima Kdouh reveals her likes and dislikes from the State of Origin decider.

ORIGIN III LIKES

NSW star Brian To’o wore a touching tribute in Wednesday night’s decider, honouring the late father of Queensland skipper Cameron Munster.

The powerhouse Penrith winger took to Accor Stadium with ‘Steven’ on his wrist strapping.

Steven Munster died suddenly on Sunday, only three days before the decider in Sydney.

“Rest in love Steven Munster,” To’o posted on social media early on Thursday morning.

Munster bravely overcame the heartache of losing his father, helping to lead the Maroons to a 24-12 series win.

Overwhelmed with emotion, Munster fell to his knees at the full-time siren.

Brian To'o with a touching tribute to Steven Munster.

The likeable larrikin received messages of support from across the rugby league fraternity since the passing of his father.

To’o’s classy act was just one example.

“I’ve had so much support and text messages from not only obviously rugby league, but also the NSW team, so just shows what kind of character those guys are and yeah, just forever grateful,” Munster said on Wednesday night.

“And rugby league and that I think family is more important than anything and a lot of people showed that the last couple of days and really got behind me.

JOSH PAPALII

Bringing a 33-year old prop of our representative retirement in a decider is the kind of call that can make or break an Origin coach’s career.

It was even a braver call from Billy Slater to bring in Josh Papalii considering no Maroons coach has lost two back-to-back series and kept their job.

Papalii looked completely gassed after the opening exchanges, so it’s easy to see why Slater took him off the field after just 14 minutes.

Josh Papalii held his own on his return to the Origin arena. Picture: Cameron Spencer/Getty Images

But Papalii had more than held his own, he had already churned out just over 40 metres in those 14 minutes – more than any other forward on the field at the time.

Wednesday was his seventh Origin decider, the 24-12 victory was his sixth win.

It wasn’t the only major call from Slater. He rolled the dice when he axed captain and halfback Daly Cherry-Evans after game one for Tom Dearden. It paid dividends in a big way, with Dearden close to best on ground at Accor Stadium.

ARM IN ARM

It was a touching moment before kick-off that paid tribute to the daughter of Blues legend Steve Mortimer.

NSW stand arm in arm.

Erin Mortimer was the guest of honour at Accor Stadium and kicked off proceedings with a power rendition of the national anthem.

Not only did Blues players stand arm in arm, so did NSW Blues coaching staff, the trainers and even the bench players.

It seemed like that kind of moment that could spur the Blues to a victory, unfortunately NSW had no answers to the Maroons at Accor Stadium.

MAROONS DEFENSE

The stats show that the Maroons finished with 34 missed tackles, two more than the Blues.

But that hardly tells the story.

The Maroons defence was a wall all night.

The scramble defence was on song and the cover tackles that needed to be made were made.

The Blues arguably didn’t throw too much at Queenslanders in attack but it was the intent in everything that Maroons did on Wednesday night.

“They are still surging Queensland defensively … saw a threat … they sprinted to that threat,” Andrew Johns said on Channel 9.

Not only did they surge, the line speed was still there even at the 80th minute.

ORIGIN III DISLIKES

FORWARD PASS

Is it time for the NRL to reconsider allowing the bunker to call on forward passes?

Fans definitely felt so Wednesday night.

Xavier Coates’ first try for the Maroons was mired with controversy after replays showed the last pass from centre Gehamat Shibasaki went forward.

At best, it was flat.

It was missed by both referee Ashley Klein and the sideline official.

Xavier Coates scores the opening try of Origin III

The bunker could not intervene because current rules, made to minimise the impact of the video official on a match, do not allow it.

If there were ever a case to reconsider that rule – and only for try scoring plays – then Coates’ try is as strong as it comes.

In the end the try had no impact on the outcome but it was the try that led to the flood gates opening for the Maroons, to finish the first half 20-nill up.

BLUES ILL-DISCIPLINE

The Blues’ had discipline issues in game two and it was no different in the decider on Wednesday night.

With Queensland in cruise control in the first half, the added fatigue was the last thing that Blues needed.

Hooker Reece Robson put his side under extreme pressure with two costly incidents of ill-discipline after he was pinged twice for tackling Maroons players without the ball in the lead-up to Coates and Harry Grant tries.

Reece Robson made some costly penalties. Picture: Cameron Spencer/Getty Images

Robson finished with 37 and he tried to probe the Maroons defence in stages of the second half with some darting runs.

The costly ill-discipline will no doubt put Robson’s place in the side for next year’s series under the spotlight.

But the Blues were ill-disciplined in defence, especially in the first half too.

Too many players were caught either flat-footed or lazy in defence, especially in the lead up to the Tom Dearden and Grant tries.

BLUES PACK UNDONE

The decision not to bring in in-form forward Keaon Koloamatangi will haunt the Blues, especially on a night where the engine room was simply out-muscles and overrun.

The Blues should have predicted it. After dominating in game one, the Maroons pack lifted considerably in Perth.

On Wednesday night, the Blues engine room simply lacked the same level of aggression as their opponent.

It was the kind of mongrel and toughness that Koloamatangi could have injected into the Blues, whether as a starter or an impact player off the bench.

Max King, Stefano Utoikamanu – like Reece Robson – spots in the engine room are now under threat.

Laurie Daley’s first-half bench rotation will also certainly come under scrutiny in the wake of the loss.

With the Blues under the pump in the first half, Daley waited until the 32nd minute to make his first prop rotation.