State of Origin game 2 player ratings: Who starred, who stumbled in Queensland loss
WHO starred, who stumbled: Kalyn Ponga gave us a glimpse of the future while Ben Hunt showed what we must change to recover the Origin shield.
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WHO starred, who stumbled: Kalyn Ponga gave us a glimpse of the future while Ben Hunt showed what we must change to recover the Origin shield.
QUEENSLAND
1. BILLY SLATER 8
Dangerous with every touch. In it up to his eyeballs with highly telling touches and great talk in defence. Superstar. Saw less ball the longer the game went. Why?
2. VALENTINE HOLMES 7
Look up ‘‘Try-scoring machine’’ in the dictionary. There’s a picture of Big Val diving over in the corner. Had 200 running metres.
3. GREG INGLIS 7.5
Last pass for Holmes try and 87 running metres by halftime. Finished with 188 running metres. Another captain’s knock.
4. WILL CHAMBERS 5.5
Less yap, more whack than Game One. Mitchell had the better of him but bounced back with a try. Must stop kicking the ball. Exposed defensively too.
5. DANE GAGAI 6
Denied once but not twice. Expert finishing. Clutched at thin air when Addo-Carr scored. 140m and four tackle breaks.
6. CAMERON MUNSTER 6.5
More relaxed and patient with Slater on the field. Kicking game lacked polish but looked dangerous when he ran the ball.
7. BEN HUNT 3
Awful. Took out Cordner to concede a penalty try. Didn’t run enough. Passing game not precise. Handling error that led to NSW try. Kicked poorly. Rubbish.
8. DYLAN NAPA 6
Some big hits in his first stint that yielded 13 tackles and 43 running metres. Had 76m and 24 tackles. Maroons need more from their pack leader though.
9. ANDREW MCCULLOUGH 6
Some nice darts from dummy-half. Tackling machine (43 for the night). Needs to kick more. Cook outpointed him in battle of the rakes.
10. JARROD WALLACE 4
Ran for 41m in first shift — just two metres less than the whole series opener. Rode the bench after that. Has to be a question mark over him for Game Three.
11. GAVIN COOPER 7
Enjoyed the extra ball that came to his edge in the opening onslaught. Can’t complain about the workrate from the Cowboy — 98 running metres, 45 tackles.
12. FELISE KAUFUSI 6.5
Tackled himself silly which blunted his attack. Had 24 tackles by halftime and 36 by full-time. One try assist in a solid display.
13. JOSH MCGUIRE 6
Was strong early and more dynamic than series opener and got through plenty of work. Faded from the game and didn’t produce his normal mountain of work.
14. KALYN PONGA 7.5
“Ponga’s On, Ponga’s On’’. Injected into the match in the 29th minute and conceded a penalty. Forced to defend in the middle but produced some razzle dazzle in attack. First Origin of many for the wunderkind. 78 running metres, 26 tackles, two tackle busts and a linebreak.
15. JOSH PAPALII 5
Two hit-ups and seven tackles in first crack. Need more from Big Papi. Three hit-ups all up. Not good enough from the human wrecking ball.
16. COEN HESS 5
A spectator in the first half but the Ivan Drago look-a-like got a go when things were quite rocky for the Maroons. Squeezed in four hit-ups and nine tackles. Under-used.
17. JAI ARROW 6.5
No action in the opening 40 minutes. Threw himself straight into the hard yards. Folded Cordner in half with one shot. Twenty tackles and 80m gained in limited minutes. Like to see more of him.
NSW
1. JAMES TEDESCO 8
Kept busy when the Maroons were on top and picked off Queensland kicks with some great hands and positional play. Always dangerous with ball. One classy custodian.
2. TOM TRBOJEVIC 5
Seriously exposed defensively coming in off his wing a number of times, missing three tackles after being out of position. Recovered well enough.
3. LATRELL MITCHELL 7
Kept trying to do Gorden Tallis impersonations by dragging blokes into touch. Scored a nice try but handed one to Queensland with a handling error/bad read double. Talented but loose.
4. JAMES ROBERTS 6.5
Targeted by Queensland attacking waves but held firm and made some nice inroads in attack until sin-binned for unnecessary professional foul that put his side under pressure.
5. JOSH ADDO-CARR 7
Try-saving tackle on Gagai that proved critical in the final wash-up. Great footwork to beat four defenders for NSW’s first try.
6. JAMES MOLONEY 8
Good long ball for Addo-Carr four-pointer. Perfectly placed kick for second (penalty) try. Goalkicking was pinpoint accurate. Annoyingly good.
7. NATHAN CLEARY 6.5
Did you know he is Ivan’s son? Channel 9 hardly talk about it. Let Moloney run the show. Four tackle breaks. Lovely cover defence to catch Holmes in the dying minutes.
8. DAVID KLEMMER 5.5
Had 87 running metres at halftime to go with 20 tackles. Loves the tough stuff but would not have liked seeing no action after the break.
9. DAMIEN COOK 7.5
Always has something brewing of dummy-half and tackled all night. Blues have found themselves a long-term hooker that looks like a barista.
10. MATT PRIOR 4.5
Made his Origin debut at 31. Had just three hit-ups but 26 tackles. Pensioned off by Freddy early.
11. BOYD CORDNER 8
Well-timed kick-chase ended up in penalty try for his side. Led from the front in trademark style with 117m, a tackle break, a line break assist and 20 tackles before Napa’s rock-hard hip sent him to Disneyland.
12. TYSON FRIZELL 6.5
Copped a knock and spent time off the field getting a HIA. Wears plain black boots so he made up for lost time with some old fashioned hard yakka and 32 tackles.
13. JACK DE BELIN 6.5
Big hit on Hunt forced a handling error that eventually led to Mitchell’s try. One of 34 bellringers. Pretty low-key in attack.
14. PAUL VAUGHAN 7
‘‘Quadzilla’’ had good impact off the pine with five hit-ups for 45m in the first half. Kept that going after the break and finished with 84 running metres.
15. JAKE TRBOJEVIC 7.5
Tom’s brother. Again, Channel 9 never mention it. Anyway, always a strong ball carrier (105m from 13 hit-ups). Looks like a plumber. Works harder than the average tradie.
16. ANGUS CRICHTON 6
Origin is hard enough with 10 intact digits. Hard to put a finger on why he was so quiet early before some nice involvements in the closing stages.
17. TYRONE PEACHEY N/A
Rode the bench in the first half. And watched the first 30 minutes of the second half. Won’t have to wash his jersey. Why do they pick him if they don’t play him?
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