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NSW couldn’t get it done when it mattered most, falling to Queensland 22-12 after not scoring a point in the second half.
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It looked promising for New South Wales when Jarome Luai latched onto a grubber kick to take a 6-4 lead in the first half before Jacob Saifiti crashed over just minutes after coming off the bench.
The Blues had a 12-10 halftime lead but a desperate Queensland side closed out the decider with tries to Kalyn Ponga and Ben Hunt.
Here’s how the NSW Blues rated in Origin III:
1 James Tedesco – 8.5
Sensational display that saw his fingerprints all over practically every NSW set in running for 243m, but he finished the series without a try or an assist.
2 Brian To’o – 3
Churned out 128m but had no signature moments as the Blues spent the second half camped in their own end.
3 Matt Burton – 2
An insane bomb highlighted his first half but he did 10 minutes in the sin bin for punching Dane Gagai in the second, and only had four runs for the whole game.
4 Stephen Crichton – 3.5
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A questionable offload in the second half piled the pressure on his own team although he did come up with some strong runs when the Blues needed an answer.
5 Daniel Tupou – 5
Put a bomb down seconds before halftime which gave the Maroons a lifeline, but 128m and eight tackle busts helped him shine in attack.
6 Jarome Luai – 6.5
Constantly made things happen with some electric runs and clever kicks in the first half and a gutsy effort earned him NSW’s first try, although a wayward long pass allowed huge Queensland field position and it hurt.
7 Nathan Cleary – 7
Looked on track for another perfect display with a try assist and two forced dropouts via foot early to go with some scything runs, but couldn’t answer the bell late when the Blues needed something special.
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16 Junior Paulo – 6
Ran like a madman from the jump with some huge hits in his 116m.
9 Api Korisau – 5
Perfect delivery to assist Jacob Saifiti’s try, but it was his only standout involvement for the night.
10 Jake Trbojevic – 7.5
Another defensive masterclass with zero misses among his 40 tackles.
11 Cameron Murray – N/A
Absolutely smashed while tackling Corey Oates inside the first minute and didn’t pass his HIA.
12 Liam Martin – 5
Made some key defensive tackles and a number of bruising runs but only finished with 59m.
13 Isaah Yeo – 6
Got through a mountain of defensive work with 41 tackles but didn’t bring the spark with his ball-playing NSW would have wanted.
8 Jacob Saifiti – 9
Dream debut saw him smash through for a try minutes after entering off the bench, some outstanding runs seeing him churn out 70m in his first 10 minutes on the field.
14 Damian Cook – 5
Entered on 53 minutes when the Blues needed someone to make something happen, but did nothing outside a perfect 27 tackles.
15 Angus Crichton – 7
Gutted out a huge knock of 116m, five tackle busts and three offloads and was far from NSW’s worst.
17 Siosifa Talakai – 2.5
Came on in the second half at prop and immediately forced a knock-on, but made two quick errors and conceded a penalty in a lamentable outing.
