‘Looked like a club side’: Phil Gould tears NSW to shreds over Origin horrorshow

Legendary Blues coach Phil Gould has dropped an uncomfortable truth on NSW after they were clearly exposed in Origin Game 3.

NSW’s biggest Origin issue has been laid painfully bare in yet another capitulation with the series on the line.

Queensland legend turned commentator Darren Lockyer delivered a brutal truth that hits NSW where it hurts: the Blues don’t have the right attitude to string together a State of Origin dynasty.

But the strongest words came from legendary NSW coach Phil Gould, who put the Blues through the shredder in a brutal assessment of the side’s performance.

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After dealing with the death of captain Cameron Munster’s father, the Maroons got behind their skipper with Gould calling it the “perfect game of Origin football”.

“In Origin, it’s a three-game series and you anticipate you’d improve from game to game, and you want your peak to be in the third game — Queensland did that,” Gould said.

“They weren’t that great in Game 1, they got better in game two and they were terrific in Game 3.

“NSW were probably the other way around — they were good in Game 1, not so good in Game 2 and terrible tonight.

“It was the perfect exhibition of Origin football. Origin is different to club football and it looked like an Origin side playing against a club side. It looked like a really connected group of blokes with that Origin spirit up against the team of individuals, I can’t explain it any other way than that.”

The Blues have let another series slip through their fingers. Image: Getty

While Gould continued that it was Queensland’s pressure and completion rate that was the difference, he pinpointed that NSW had no kick pressure and allowed the Maroons to “back them up towards their own line”.

“It just looked like Queensland had a plan and NSW were disrupted by it became a rabble in attack and defence and couldn’t recover,” Gould said.

“It was a consummate Origin performance. NSW extremely, extremely disappointing.”

Heading into Wednesday night’s decider, Blues fans had a sense of arrogant confidence that they were about to dominate the Origin arena for several years.

Despite Queensland’s unlikely Game 2 win in Perth, that match was largely written off because of ref errors, bad calls and missed kicks.

And the Blues cauldron for the decider was widely thought to be too much to handle for a relatively inexperienced Maroons side.

But as has happened time and time again in recent decades, Queensland reminded NSW that Origin is not won by having the best team on paper, or the best talent.

It is won by the team that as a squad plays the best and most consistent footy.

And on Wednesday night they did that again, with their high completion rate and cohesive footy too much for the star-studded Blues as they reclaimed the Shield with a comprehensive 24-12 win in the decider.

Much of the immediate talk after the game was on the poor showing of NSW halves Nathan Cleary and Jarome Luai, as well as the pressure being heaped on Laurie Daley, who has now won just one of six series in charge.

Darren Lockyer says NSW doesn’t handle being favourites well. (Photo by Ian Hitchcock/Getty Images)

But Maroons great Lockyer believes NSW’s issues lie way beyond a personnel issue.

He says the Blues simply cannot handle the pressure of expectation and being favourites.

“I don’t think they handled favouritism too well down there,” Lockyer said on Nine.

“You know they went to Suncorp where everyone probably thought they could win that game, but they won convincingly and then they go to Perth.

“Everyone just assumed that was made up. Here. We come out and blitz them in the first half and then tonight when they’re playing at home and they’ve got the personnel to win, but the attitude just wasn’t there tonight.”

Nathan Cleary struggled to make any real impact. (Photo by Cameron Spencer/Getty Images)

Gould agreed with the Queensland legend stating Queensland year after year win the mental battle.

“You talk about NSW, don’t handle favouritism. Queensland handles being underdogs so well. So it was a double-edged sword,” Gould added.

“Queensland handled that tag and being written off so, so well.

“And look that’s the commentary around origin that serves the game best, isn’t it. Queensland are written off and NSW are favourites.

“This is like been like this for 45 years. It has.”

Gould then teed off again at the Blues after full time on X.

“Queensland too good. The perfect Origin performance,” Gould wrote.

“Got better each game and peaked when it mattered in Game III.

“NSW got worse the further the series went. That’s a concern. They will be very disappointed.

Nothing else to say, other than well done to the Maroons. They deserved the series win.”

Originally published as ‘Looked like a club side’: Phil Gould tears NSW to shreds over Origin horrorshow