‘We’ll never know’: DCE ponders what might have been after late chaos

Maroons captain Daly Cherry-Evans says he will never know whether his side was hurt by a chaotic lead-in to Origin II which saw Ronaldo Mulitalo and Reece Walsh ruled out at the last minute. 

Speaking with tears in his eyes after the 26-0 loss, Cherry-Evans said his side did the best with what they had but said it was a “shame” the series was already over.

Asked whether he believed the last-minute drama had hindered Queensland’s performance, Cherry-Evans said: “Look, we’ll never know, mate.”

“I can’t believe it’s over,” the Sea Eagles stalwart said. “They were just too good and the scoreline reflected that. Mate, such a shame.

“We did start well, we had all the right intentions. We just had a few things let us down and they were too good.”

In much higher spirits was Blues five-eighth Jarome Luai, who said his side knew Suncorp was going to be a different beast to the 50-6 series-opening rout.

A devastated Daly Cherry-Evans could not hide his disappointment.Credit: Getty

“We knew all week it was going to be a different game. Everyone put their hand up and I think we were a pretty tough team to beat,” Luai said.

Luai praised his middle men and said his teammate “stuck it” to the Maroons.

“We showed that tonight. We defended for each other. Hopefully we’ve done this blue jersey proud,” he said.

“I loved [my first Origin]. I am so happy to be here.”

Latrell Mitchell was NSW’s clear man of the match, beating Xavier Coates in an 80-metre foot race and putting in a first-half masterclass to put the Blues in front early on.

Scoring NSW’s second try, Mitchell intercepted a pass from Valentine Holmes meant for Dane Gagai before running the length of the field.

Coates started on the chase but was unable to catch Mitchell, who dived over with the Maroons winger hanging from his boots.

The spectacular try put the visitors 12-0 ahead after 25 minutes.

The foot race marked Mitchell’s second big moment of the night, with the Rabbitohs star producing a one-on-one strip early to set up NSW’s first try.

Blues star Latrell Mitchell goes over.Credit: Getty

In the 11th minute, Mitchell made a strip on Kyle Feldt with James Tedesco throwing a perfect cut-out pass to Josh Addo-Carr two plays later. Addo-Carr crossed for his ninth Origin try in 11 appearances.

Midway through the game, NSW coach Brad Fittler praised Mitchell for his massive input to the scoreline.

“Latrell has come up with three massive plays, the intercept, he dragged the ball earlier and then pushed Holmes into the end goal, so he is having a hell of a game,” he said.

Immortal Andrew Johns was also full of praise.

“You talk about vision in attack, but also vision in defence. Latrell sees the play unfold, gets in the clear,” he said during the Channel Nine broadcast.

“You have to say, this bloke is superstar quality. The big moments, he stands up and owns them.”

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