NSW and Qld players rated after Origin decider

APN'S Sports Desk rates the Queensland and NSW State of Origin sides following NSW's victory over Queensland on Wednesday night.

APN'S Sports Desk rates the Queensland and NSW State of Origin sides following NSW's victory over Queensland on Wednesday night.

QUEENSLAND MAROONS

Billy Slater 7 ½
Tremendous courage at the back taking a stack of high balls, and plenty of metres gained.

Darius Boyd 5 ½
Quieter than usual game at a level he usually dominates.

Justin Hodges 6 ½
Got better as the game went on, showing all his experience and maturity with some key carries.

Greg Inglis 6
A threat at times, but not the danger he usually is at fullback.

Brent Tate 7
One of Origin's tough characters. Small in stature and big in heart as shown by his courageous runs before an unfortunate knee injury.

Johnathan Thurston 7 ½
Showed glimpses of his class in attack and repeatedly brought down Jarryd Hayne in defence.

Daly Cherry-Evans 6
Spirited effort by a man carrying a bad knee injury into the game.

Matt Scott 6
Strong early start, but ended with a fracture cheekbone which curtailed his effectiveness

Cameron Smith (capt) 7 ½ Always produces a terrific high tackle count - took on extra playmaking responsibilities for the injured Cherry-Evans.
Nate Myles 8
One of Queensland's best, standing up to a desperate opposing forward pack.

Sam Thaiday 8
Queensland badly missed him in game one - provided pleny of punch in attack.

Matt Gillett 7 ½
Tremendous all-round game and great season continued in the Origin furnace.

Aidan Guerra 7 ½
A player who could be around at this level for years to come.

Chris McQueen 6 ½
Had to fill a stop-gap role on the wing and tried hard

Jacob Lillyman 5 ½
Limited involvement.

Ben Te'o 6 ½
Backed up a strong game one with another strong performance.

Dave Taylor 5 ½
Some dynamic runs, but a silly forced offload late in the game put his team under pressure inside his own 30m.

NEW SOUTH WALES BLUES

Jarryd Hayne 8 ½
Try-saver on Sam Thaiday one of the plays of the night, and always an attacking threat.

Will Hopoate 6 ½
Great courage to play through an arm injury.

Michael Jennings 6
Not the usualy dynamic performance of past games.

Josh Dugan 7
Terrific performance playing out of position - plenty of hard yards.

Daniel Tupou 6
Largely missing, but a couple of runs displayed his athletic prowess.

Josh Reynolds 5 ½
A few crucial errors and poor decisions - saved by his tireless forwards.

Trent Hodkinson 7
Tremendous temperament with the game on the line to score a try and kick the winning goal.

Paul Gallen (capt) 9
What more can you say about this guy - ran his heart out all night again.

Robbie Farah 7 ½
Strong kicking game and a real leader of men.

Aaron Woods 8
Seems to revel in the physical stuff.

Ryan Hoffman 8 ½
Consistent, persistent and never gave up in attack and defence.

Beau Scott 8
Typical firebrand game - never backed down.

Greg Bird 8
As above.

James Tamou 5 ½
Outshone by the work of Bird, Gallen and Hoffman.

Anthony Watmough 5 ½
Twenty tackles made up for making just over 40 metres.

Trent Merrin 6
Good impact late in the game with the Blues on the march.

Luke Lewis 6
Never lets anyone in the Blues jumper down.

Originally published as NSW and Qld players rated after Origin decider