‘I don’t know what I was thinking’: Tupou’s error that changed Origin decider

A gutted Daniel Tupou confessed he had “no idea what he was thinking” after a bizarre mistake which turned the tide in a classic State of Origin series decider, prompting him to personally apologise to his NSW teammates.

In a match filled with wild turning points, the sight of the usually dependable Tupou losing his bearings and spilling a Daly Cherry-Evans kick moments before half-time was one NSW coach Brad Fittler was finding it hard to grapple with.

The ball seemed to be floating dangerously close to sailing out on the full before Tupou made a play at it, spilling it over the sideline.

The Maroons scored through Kurt Capewell on the ensuing set just seconds before the break, trimming the Blues’ margin to just two points.

They would then shut out NSW in the second half to score one of the most famous wins in Origin history.

Jarome Luai’s wild pass, Stephen Crichton’s needless offload into the Blues in-goal and Siosifa Talakai’s dropped ball under his own posts were all second-half gaffes that proved costly.

Daniel Tupou said he lost his bearings trying to catch Daly Cherry-Evans’ kick.Credit: NRL Photos

But it was hard to think the Tupou error wasn’t a major momentum shift, Queensland seizing the opportunity, and then riding a feverish Suncorp Stadium crowd home after the break.

“I didn’t know if it was heading out,” Tupou said of the Cherry-Evans kick. “My awareness wasn’t as high as I wanted it to be, and obviously, it was just a s--- mistake which caused a try at the end of it. I don’t know what I was thinking at the time.

“We are disappointed with the result. Personally, I’m hurting at the moment, but I’ve just got to brush it off. Take our lessons.”

Tupou’s mistake left a stain on the winger’s otherwise outstanding series in which he kept fan favourite Josh Addo-Carr out of the side. There were few who could argue with the merit of his selection.

The Tongan flyer committed to playing game two of the series for NSW and not the mid-season Test against New Zealand, and charged for 152 metres in a beaten side on Wednesday night.

But now he and Blues teammates James Tedesco and Angus Crichton must quickly regroup as the Roosters face a battle to make the finals after a mid-season slide.

“Here in their backyard nothing is going to go our away,” Tupou said. “We just had to fight hard to turn it around, but I guess we didn’t fight hard enough. It was a big effort from the lads.

“We did pretty well to defend our line for a while. They kept getting six-agains and I reckon we did really well to hold on. They just found a way.

“It’s been a good six weeks. Personally, I enjoyed it. Footy is just a rollercoaster. It’s never going to go your way all the time, we just move on I guess.”

Tupou said he had checked on the health of Roosters teammate Lindsay Collins, who was ruled out of the game with concussion after clattering into Tupou inside the opening few minutes.

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