State of Origin III: Billy Slater gets his victory lap with Maroons

Billy Slater’s final night in a Queensland jersey heralded a new beginning for Daly Cherry-Evans.

Billy Slater celebrates with his Queensland teammates after Daly Cherry-Evans crosses for the second-half try. Picture: AAP

Billy Slater’s final night in a Queensland jersey heralded a new beginning for Daly Cherry-Evans. There was a smattering of jeers when Cherry-Evans was introduced before kick-off but by fulltime in the final State of Origin game last night, there were only cheers from a crowd of 51,214 at Suncorp Stadium as the maligned halfback guided Queensland to an 18-12 win which didn’t save the series, but saved some pride.

Whether Cherry-Evans keeps the No 7 jersey next year is a debate for another day. Last night is was about savouring this moment. His moment.

Cherry-Evans was as responsible as anyone for Queensland dominating possession and territory in the opening half.

Time and again he forced drop-outs with some pinpoint kicking. He looked like a guy who belonged. The exclamation point on his night arrived 18 minutes into the second half when he backed up the smart work of Cameron Munster and Gavin Cooper.

Cherry-Evans scooted away and scored under the posts. He rose to his feet with one finger in the air, yelled to the heavens and was swamped by his teammates.

Some would have you believe the 29-year-old isn’t welcome in the Maroons fold. You wouldn’t have known it last night. Every player in a Queensland jersey arrived to celebrate with the Maroons playmaker. Welcome back son.

Slater was among those in the embrace. Playing his 31st game for the Maroons, and his first as captain, Slater was as inspirational as anyone. He had a hand in Valentine Holmes’ try 11 minutes into the second half which levelled the scores, using his speed and guile to create for his winger.

He was a constant danger in attack but his defence was just as crucial, most notably when he stopped a flying Tom Trbojevic in the dying minutes.

Slater finished the night in the arms of his wife Nicole, the pair in tears as the curtain came down on one of the great Origin careers with a win that gives Queensland hope for next season.

“I feel pretty happy right now,” Slater said. “Coming into this game I was a little like everyone else. I was disappointed we had nothing to show for our effort. We played some great football.

“I was disappointed the fellas hadn’t felt that winning Origin feeling. I really wanted to deliver that to them tonight. This is important going forward, it is important for next year.

“It is important for this year. We understand the series has been wrapped up. They earned their series win this year.”

Slater was named man of the match and also won the Wally Lewis medal as player of the series despite only playing two games - he missed Origin I with a hamstring injury. Slater preferred to laud Cherry-Evans.

“I was impressed with Daly Cherry-Evans during the week,” Slater said. “He led us around. I think that No 7 jersey is his for a long time to come.”

Walters suggested Cherry-Evans’ performance busted the myth that he wasn’t welcome in the Queensland fold.

“It is just one of those things,” Walters said. “He had to wait his time. He was behind Cooper Cronk and Johnathan Thurston. I could tell at the start of the week .... that he was going to put in a performance tonight regardless of the result, that he could hang his hat on. Daly was great tonight. He was in everything. His defence was great. Next year is next year but he is in a great position now.”

NSW defended grimly in the first half and Queensland were forced to do likewise at the end of the second half as the Blues threw everything at them in search of a try. They came up empty-handed.

They had the last laugh though, Blues captain Boyd Cordner given the honour of raising the Origin shield.

“That was pretty awful but that’s what you expect,” Fittler said. “They were pretty brave considering a lot went against them. Things just didn’t really go our way. We had a crack at them at the end. A few discipline things cost us.

“Losing stinks.”

The first half was as lopsided as any game in recent memory, at least in terms of possession and territory. Points followed, although not as many as the stats would suggest.

If that wasn’t bad enough for NSW, five-eighth James Maloney was then sent to the sin bin for a professional foul.

The Blues dealt with it again. Holmes had taken advantage of Tedesco’s largesse earlier in the half and then Munster returned the favour, floating a pass into the hands of Tom Trbojevic.

The NSW winger scurried 90 metres himself and remarkably, against all the odds, the Blues were within two points.

They weren’t finished. Maloney was still cooling his heels in the dressing room less than a minute before halftime when Damien Cook produced some sleight of hand to send Tedesco over.