‘Dreadful, played like under-10s’: Paul Vautin eviscerates NSW

NSW has been torn to shreds both on the field and off it after a feeble trouncing handed the Maroons the State of Origin shield.

The Blues were blown away in Brisbane. Photo by Chris Hyde/Getty Images

The football world has condemned NSW’s “dreadful” State of Origin game II performance as the Maroons once again claimed another series win in a 32-6 drubbing.

The Blues knew they were up against it the moment they lost game I in Adelaide, needing to overcome history to force the series to a game III decider in Sydney.

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The Blues had only won two of nine games at Suncorp Stadium since 2015 — make that two from 10 now.

Queensland have also now won three of the last four series, six of the last nine and 14 of the last 18.

So while it’s no surprise that the Maroons pulled off another series triumph, it’s the way that NSW capitulated so spectacularly that had tongues talking.

The Blues needed everything to go their way to force a decider but when a third minute injury to Tom Trbojevic forced Damien Cook into the centres, NSW never seemed in the contest.

The Blues dominated possession in both halves, finishing with 54 per cent of the ball and were tackled 39 times inside the opposition 20m, compared to 14 for Queensland.

NSW also won the penalty count 9-2.

And yet Queensland won where it mattered most, scoring six tries to one and blowing the Blues off the field.

The Blues blew it. Photo by Chris Hyde/Getty Images

Speaking on Channel 9’s post-game, Queensland great Paul Vautin savaged the Blues’ performance.

Although he admitted there were some “50-50” calls, he said the Blues should have recovered and been better.

“They were just dominant, in every facet tonight, dominant,” Vautin said.

“NSW defence, they panicked. Every time the ball went wide, the wingers would come in, give them free go down the sideline.

“I’ve got to say, at times the Blues played like under 10s, they were awful. They were awful in big patches, dreadful.”

QLD too good for us. There have been couple forward passes me thinks.

— Jamie Soward (@sowwowofficial6) June 21, 2023

#Origin#NSWBLUES performance was a dog’s breakfast. Wrong team selections, substitutes in the wrong positions, anaemic performance.

— jason cadden (@jasonjourno) June 21, 2023

NSW Blues are a rabble. Terrible team, no class. Got destroyed. Bye. #SOO

— Phil Staley (@Phil_Staley) June 21, 2023

Blues getting embarrassing...

— The Mole (@9_Moley) June 21, 2023

He was far from the only one taking a shot as on Fox League, fellow Queensland greats Corey Parker and Cooper Cronk blasted the wasteful Blues.

“From NSW’s point of view, from my opinion anyway – they looked disjointed,” Parker said.

“Their attack didn’t flow.

“There was individuals trying extremely hard. I thought Mitch Moses and Reece Robson on debut was exceptional for the Blues but it just didn’t seem to click.”

Cronk said the difference in the game was Queensland’s goal line defence.

“For the first half, Queensland had minimal opportunities but scored two tries,” he said.

“NSW had bulk of the ball, come back in and three minutes after halftime Valentine Holmes, scores, 16-0 — that’s probably where it was won and lost.

The result leaves Fittler’s Origin career up in the air. Photo by Bradley Kanaris/Getty Images

“The inability to come up with points for NSW when they needed it. They had enough ball to do it, but they just couldn’t put the killer blow.”

After the game, Fittler praised the Queensland defence but was floored by how wide the gap was at the end of the match.

“At the end of the game, I looked at the score and thought, ‘wow …’,” Fittler said. “It’s a sign they were playing a good team because I don’t think we were that far out of the game and we got beat by four or five tries.

“Outside of the moments that they scored the tries, I thought that we competed and we worked hard. I was happy with the rest of it, but couldn’t save the tries and weren’t good enough to convert our opportunities.”

Originally published as ‘Dreadful, played like under-10s’: Paul Vautin eviscerates NSW