‘Strangled and wrestled’: Jason Taumalolo produces quietest game of season in NRL grand final

JASON Taumalolo admits Melbourne “strangled and wrestled” him out of the grand final, leading to his worst statistical game of the year.

Jason Taumalolo of the Cowboys.

COWBOYS weapon Jason Taumalolo has admitted Melbourne “strangled and wrestled” him out of the grand final.

Taumalolo had his quietest game of the season in the ANZ Stadium decider as the Storm ran away with a 34-6 win to clinch their second premiership in five years.

Last year’s Dally M Medal champion had been in devastating form throughout the finals, averaging 250m a game during North Queensland’s three-match fairytale winning streak.

But he was restricted to just 101m from 12 runs as the methodical Storm stifled his damaging running game.

It was Taumalolo’s worst statistical output of what has been a sensational season for the 24-year-old lock.

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Jason Taumalolo ran for just 101 metres in the grand final.

“It was typical Melbourne,” Taumalolo said.

“They are great game planners and know the strengths of other teams. They nullified me to some point.

“They ended up strangling us and wrestled. They played their style of footy and came away with the win.

“We were defending a lot from rookie errors. A team like Melbourne will punish you every time you do that.

“It obviously took a bit of gas out of me.”

Cowboys coach Paul Green admitted Melbourne executed the perfect game plan to limit Taumalolo’s impact.

Jason Taumalolo had a quiet game in the NRL grand final.

“They are very good at picking out strengths in oppositions, how you deal with that and executing it,” Green said.

“That’s probably what we didn’t do tonight. We had a plan for where we needed to be good but we just weren’t good enough in those areas.

“They were at their clinical best.”

The Cowboys were on the back foot after just three minutes when starting forward Shaun Fensom suffered a badly broken leg.

The injury impacted coach Paul Green’s interchange plans.

Despite having a quiet night, Taumalolo was the only Cowboys forward to crack the 100m barrier, highlighting North Queensland’s engine room struggles.

“We went all right at the start but some crucial errors cost us early and we didn’t come back from that,” Taumalolo said.

“We made errors we never made in the last few weeks and went away from what we wanted to do.

“We tried to fight back from momentum and got them in the corner a couple of times but Melbourne are professional and go about their work.

“It’s obviously not the best feeling.”

Originally published as ‘Strangled and wrestled’: Jason Taumalolo produces quietest game of season in NRL grand final