Kangaroos needed more from Daly Cherry-Evans in loss over Kiwis

WE DIDN’T expect him to be Cooper Cronk or Johnathan Thurston. That’s setting the bar too high. But even so.

WE DIDN’T expect him to be Cooper Cronk or Johnathan Thurston. That’s setting the bar too high.

But Australian rugby league did need Daly Cherry-Evans, in the first Test of the new generation, to be better than he was at the start and dismal end of the last set of the game on Saturday.

Cherry-Evans, taking a 20m tap inside the last minute, was unsure who to pass to.

It did not scream “game management’’.

Neither did his cutout pass on the last tackle of the game, in which he hesitated and then missed his target, allowing New Zealand to gain the loose ball and end the game, 26-24 in their favour.

Cherry-Evans was not convincing in the absence of Australia’s two first-choice five-eighths, Cameron Munster and a concussed Luke Keary. He wasn’t alone.

Daly Cherry-Evans was lacklustre against the Kiwis.

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There were defensive blues from debutants Latrell Mitchell, with two missed tackles on clubmate Joseph Manu for two Kiwi tries, and Damien Cook, who came up with a cold miss on his tryline to concede New Zealand’s go-ahead try.

Sure, the Aussies were below strength due to injuries, but so were New Zealand, who played without Roger Tuivasa-Sheck, Nelson Asofa-Solomona, Issac Luke and Zane Tetevano, to name a few.

Neither Cherry-Evans nor Ben Hunt kicked well enough in a side needing direction because of the amount of defence they had to do.

With New Zealand ahead by eight, the Kiwis played the ball from a kick return on their 40m line because of Cherry-Evans’ mis-hit kick and took a 26-12 lead from the possession.

Cherry-Evans was not as great in a winning Origin III side as some pundits reckon, but he is still Queensland’s best choice for next year. Let’s hope Saturday night was just more hard-won experience for him.