State of Origin 2021: Daly Cherry-Evans fighting to save series and his Australian jumper
Maroons captain Daly Cherry-Evans is determined to rescue the State of Origin series for Queensland and hang on to the Kangaroos No.7 jersey amid the rise of NSW rival Nathan Cleary.
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Daly Cherry-Evans admits he will long carry the pain of captaining Queensland to its worst ever State of Origin loss but is adamant the Maroons can level the series as his duel with Blues dynamo Nathan Cleary heats up.
Cherry-Evans led the Maroons as Queensland suffered a 50-6 loss to NSW in Game One of the series in Townsville a fortnight ago.
The 44-point defeat was Queensland’s heaviest loss in Origin’s 41-year history, eclipsing the 56-16 thrashing the Blues dished out in the 2000 series whitewash.
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Cherry-Evans, 32, was appointed Queensland captain in 2019 and recorded his first series victory as skipper in last year’s incredible underdog win under coach Wayne Bennett.
In the space of two games, Cherry-Evans went from the ultimate high in Origin to a devastating low as the Blues ran in eight tries at Queensland Country Bank Stadium to take a 1-nil series lead.
Cherry-Evans will never forget the pain of that night and was a shattered man in the aftermath of his 14th game for the Maroons.
He will carry the scars of captaining Queensland to its lowest moment in Origin history and knows the only way to respond is by producing a better performance in Game Two at Suncorp Stadium on Sunday night.
“It was super disappointing,” Cherry-Evans said. “It’s hard to explain, you don’t plan on that ever happening.
“As the captain I’ve got to live with that for the rest of my career and I will do that. The best way we can respond is by going out and playing well this Sunday.
“We missed an opportunity up in Townsville but with the way it’s panned out we’ve got a perfect chance to turn the series around.
“I’ve seen it too many times before. The team that wins Game One, all of a sudden the other team doesn’t stand a chance. Then Game Two happens and it’s even again.
“Having experienced that before, I know I can keep a level head. The most important thing is it’s not about the whole series, it’s about this game.
“You really have to strip it back and worry about playing well in this game. The reality is you get that win and all of a sudden you have a decider.
“Origin is that close. We are only one game down. There is no for-and-against that gets carried over.”
After a turbulent opening to his Origin career, where he was snubbed from 2016-17, Cherry-Evans savoured a career highlight last year when he hoisted the shield for the first time at a packed Suncorp Stadium.
His captaincy was excellent in the unique 2020 end-of-year series and the Maroons will need Cherry-Evans to be at his best again on Sunday if they are to beat the turbocharged Blues.
“It’s definitely part of my responsibility to get the boys to play well,” Cherry-Evans said.
“I’ve got to make sure I’m not trying to overdo anything. I can be guilty of that sometimes, trying too hard, and then it becomes detrimental to the team. I can’t fall into that trap.
“I have to do what any good halfback and captain does, which is steer the team around. If I can do that and concentrate on that without overdoing it … there’s a lot of other very good players in this side. We have to complement each other. There’s ways we can all help.”
The Maroons were exposed in the opening exchanges in Townsville as centre Tom Trbojevic bulldozed his way through Queensland’s brittle middle defence. That has to change in Game Two and Cherry-Evans is confident Queensland’s preparation will be much better.
“You have to look at the week we had and mindset we took into the game, it wasn’t the right one,” he said. “Most people identified it pretty early on with the way they rolled us in the first set. Their intentions were a lot clearer than ours.
“It’s not easily fixed, we can’t throw it off like that, there is some hard work ahead of us. But we have identified what we have to do.”
While Cherry-Evans’ focus is on saving the series for Queensland, and taking Manly deep into the NRL finals, there is another battle waging in the background.
Blues halfback Nathan Cleary has been the NRL’s form No.7 with the high-flying Penrith Panthers ahead of the season-ending World Cup. The Kangaroos’ halfback duties are a two-horse race between Cherry-Evans and the 23-year-old Cleary.
Kangaroos coach Mal Meninga has highlighted Cherry-Evans as a potential captain to replace the recently-retired Boyd Cordner, but that doesn’t guarantee his selection.
If Cleary, favourite to win the Dally M Medal, continues his rise and leads Penrith to the premiership, he may be difficult to overlook as Kangaroos halfback.
Cherry-Evans, a 15-game Test representative, is aware of Cleary’s threat but said the only way to combat it was to outpoint his rival.
“I need to keep playing good footy – that’s all I can do,” he said.
“My job is not to write articles about players and who’s playing where.
“I’m aware he is playing good footy. I’m not ignoring that.
“If I sit around and just watch him all day, what’s that going to do to help me?
“I’m just making sure I keep it really focused on what I’m trying to do. Our club footy is really helping that. Winning Origin games is going to help that too.
“I don’t want to over-do it. I just want to play my role and complement the players in this team, then those things look after themselves.”
‘It was s**t’: Maroons put through Origin hell
Queensland coach Paul Green has put on a horror show after making the Maroons relive their record 50-6 thrashing by NSW in Origin I.
The traditional bonding session on the first night of Camp Maroon this week was replaced by a film screening that would have rivalled The Texas Chainsaw Massacre in the horror stakes.
Green and his team of coaches cut together the lowlights of Queensland’s worst defeat in State of Origin’s 41-year history and made the Maroons watch the shocking performance they produced.
The 44-point rout in Townsville eclipsed Queensland’s previous worst loss — 56-16 in Game Three of the 2000 series — as NSW put on an eight-try clinic led by star centres Tom Trbojevic and Latrell Mitchell.
Green wanted Queensland to learn from their mistakes ahead of Sunday night’s must-win clash at Suncorp Stadium and the footage was tough to watch for the Maroons.
“It was s**t (to watch),” winger Valentine Holmes said of the review.
“It wasn’t the Queensland way. I have never seen a scoreline like that since I’ve been watching Origin.
“I don’t know what happened, I can’t explain it. They jumped out of the gates stronger and faster and we weren’t ready for it.
“We will definitely be ready for Game Two. I’m sure we will be thriving on the Queensland fans at Suncorp. They turn out every year for us.
“We didn’t want to let the fans down in Townsville but we didn’t turn up. We need to turn up this week.”
Queensland legend Johnathan Thurston, one of Green’s assistants, delivered some scathing feedback on the Maroons’ efforts during the review.
The Maroons were off the pace from the opening kick-off and struggled to bounce back as the talented Blues put them to the sword to take a 1-0 series lead.
Five-eighth Cameron Munster has sat through some toe-curling reviews before but nothing compared to Monday night’s brutal honesty session.
“I’ve never been in a review that bad,” Munster said.
“I’ve been in some tough reviews where we have tough conversations losing by two or four points in a grand final, but I’ve never had to sit in a review like that and watch what happened to us. I don’t want that feeling ever again.
“At the end of the day, rugby league in Origin is about desire and effort. We just didn’t have any of that in the first game.
“They wanted it more, they ran harder and tackled harder. If you don’t run harder, they will run over you. We need more desire.
“It’s a bit of a burning feeling. I have never been beaten by that much in my career. No one showed any desire in that game, so we need to make sure we show more passion in this game.”
Despite the record thrashing, the Maroons believe they have the ability to level the series at Suncorp Stadium.
With an injection of fresh talent in teenage fullback Reece Walsh and energetic prop Frank Molo, and few injury concerns compared to Game One, the Maroons are planning on a much different preparation.
Captain Daly Cherry-Evans said the Game One review was tough, but the Maroons are focused on bouncing back against the red-hot Blues.
“We had to watch the game so that was a poor mood – it was hard to do,” he said.
“We did a review on it and that didn’t make the mood too nice.
“It’s great to have some new faces in here. It’s definitely exciting to be in Maroons camp again.”
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