State of Origin Game 3 analysis: Billy Slater’s call to bench David Fifita questioned

Billy Slater hasn’t got much wrong as Maroons coach. But he might have ended Queensland’s hopes of a historic series sweep after 21 minutes of Game 3. PETER BADEL explains why.

Cameron Munster reacts at full-time.

Billy Slater has pulled the right rein so many times in his brilliant baptism as Queensland coach, but his bizarre tactical deployment of David Fifita summed up the Maroons’ off night at Homebush.

The Maroons’ 24-10 loss at Accor Stadium was a face-saving triumph for the Blues, and was the latest reinforcement of just how difficult it is for Queensland or NSW to muster the hunger to savour a 3-0 clean sweep.

In the opening two games of this series, it seemed Slater had the Midas touch. Everything the Maroons rookie mentor did paid dividends. Billy outsmarted NSW rival Fittler at the selection table. Slater had ‘Freddy’ covered with Queensland’s on-field structures and the one-percent habits that underpinned the dominance that had the Maroons on the cusp of the first Blue Rinse in 15 years.

Billy Slater and Brad Fittler embrace after Game 3.

But with a comprehensive sweep tantalisingly close, Slater may have outfoxed himself.

Back-row wrecking ball Fifita was Queensland’s best player in the first quarter. He even opened the scoring after 12 minutes. But with Fifita revelling in the best opening to his Origin career, the in-form Titans star was summoned to the bench after 21 minutes and sat on the pine for the next 50.

Daly Cherry-Evans still got his hands on the shield despite the loss.

If he was injured, it would have been an understandable move by Slater.

But the sight of Fifita returning to the field 10 minutes from time, with Queensland trailing 24-10 and hopes of Blue Murder dashed, raised more questions than it answered.

Fifita’s extended rest was hardly the reason the Maroons blew their big chance at Homebush but the Blues would have breathed a sigh of relief at the sight of the 110kg wrecking ball wrapped in a Queensland jacket for most of the contest.

In the opening two games of the series, Slater struck paydirt using Reuben Cotter in a multifaceted role.

In game one, it was a by-product of circumstance. Tom Gilbert damaged his shoulder, and Cotter went from the middle to plug a hole so superbly on the edge.

It was the blueprint for Slater to use Cotter out wide again in the return bout, before shifting him to the midfield to continue his role as the Maroons’ 80-minute ironman at Suncorp.

But hauling Fifita to the sideline for Cotter to return to the edge on Wednesday night was the wrong tactical call at a time when the Maroons back-rower was terrorising the Blues.

“We just felt he was looking a bit fatigued out there, I felt it was the right move to put Reuben on that edge,” Slater explained.

“Reuben moves well defensively. When you have eight interchanges, in hindsight, we’d love him (Fifita) out there more, but we spent the last 10 minutes knowing we didn’t have another interchange left.

“We rolled the dice.”

Man of the series Reuben Cotter.

Queensland had their moments but were simply outenthused, outmuscled and outhustled by a Blues side that simply had more energy in the dead rubber.

The Maroons have won 3-0 on just four occasions in Origin’s 43-year history and this performance demonstrated why three consecutive wins is a near Mission Impossible task in the code’s toughest arena.

While Fifita’s tackle-busting capability was missed on the edges, the Maroons also rued the loss of Reece Walsh. The fullback young gun’s three-game suspension saw him miss Origin III and while AJ Brimson was solid, the Maroons missed Walsh’s speed, dynamic incursions and game sense chiming in on backman plays.

Slater has preached the importance of effort-on-effort plays at Origin level but Queensland’s right edge was defensively fragile as James Tedesco, Cody Walker and Bradman Best combined to expose Valentine Holmes and Daly Cherry-Evans.

Overall, Slater has every reason to be thrilled with Queensland’s 2-1 series win. He is two from two as coach and has laid strong foundations for another glorious Maroons dynasty.

But every Origin loss delivers telling lessons and the moral for Slater’s Maroons is that the Blues are always nipping at their heels, never far away.

Slater leaves Homebush with another Origin shield, but without a contract. His future is uncertain. Queensland Rugby League CEO Ben Ikin must do everything in his power to keep Billy G.O.A.T. in Camp Maroon for another term.

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