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Queensland Maroons player ratings vs NSW | State of Origin III

(Photo by Chris Hyde/Getty Images)

Queensland captured the State of Origin series 2-1 with a 22-12 win in Game III at Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane.

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The Maroons were fast out of the blocks scoring the opening try to centre Valentine Holmes before the Blues struck back through five-eighth Jerome Luai.

NSW scored again to take a 12-4 lead but a try to Kurt Capewell on the stroke of halftime gave the home side hope heading into the sheds before Kalyn Ponga starred in the second half to lead the Maroons to victory.

Here’s how Queensland rated in Origin III:

1 Kalyn Ponga – 9.5

An all-time best display saw him threaten to break the line every time he had the ball, with a slick try to grab the lead highlighting an extraordinary 226m, 16-tackle break and four-offload outing.

2 Selwyn Cobbo – N/A

Copped friendly fire from Patrick Carrigan just two minutes in and didn’t return after taking a huge knock to the head.

3 Valentine Holmes – 8

Burst through the NSW line to open the scoring and busted seven tackles, while his diving effort to keep a goal-line dropout in might be remembered as a classic Origin moment.

4 Dane Gagai – 3

Decked Matt Burton in back play to potentially cost his side a try and cracked the NSW centre with a punch to earn himself 10 minutes in the bin, and didn’t get too involved outside that passage.

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5 Corey Oates – 4

Smashed Cameron Murray with his first run didn’t get much done deep in attack.

6 Tom Dearden – 7.5

Brilliant assist for Holmes’ opener to start his debut and didn’t look out of place in any way, dashing for 74m and busting three tackles too.

7 Daly Cherry-Evans – 8.5

A true kicking masterclass, absolutely changing the flow of the game with a number of bombs on early tackles, finishing with 644m kicking.

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8 Lindsay Collins – N/A

Another of the early HIA candidates four minutes in, leaving without a run of the ball.

9 Ben Hunt – 8.5

Changed momentum with both a one-on-one strip and a 40-20 in the second half that led to a try, then his length-of-the-field try sealed Queensland’s famous win.

10 Josh Papalii – 7

Easily his most impactful game of the series with 101m and it could have been even better, twice grounding tries that were called back by the bunker.

11 Kurt Capewell – 7

Moved into the centres through injuries and scored a game-changing try on half-time just when the Maroons needed it.

12 Jeremiah Nanai – 5

A real mixed bag saw him look threatening with the ball and find five offloads, but finished with a whopping 11 missed tackles.

16 Patrick Carrigan – 8

Got the start at lock and was once again as solid as a rock with 120m and 40 tackles.

13 Tino Fa’asuamaleaui – 5.5

Was on early after being shifted to the bench and brought some serious fire in his 96m running.

14 Harry Grant – 7

His outrageous grubber seconds before halftime gave his side the lifeline it needed, with his presence always keeping the Maroons headed in the right direction.

15 Jai Arrow – 7

Flawless defensively off the bench as part of his side’s huge stand that saw them shut the Blues out in the second half.

17 Tom Gilbert – 4

Gave a huge 79 minutes after the early injuries without having any standout moments.

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J
JW 16 minutes ago
Let's be real about these All Blacks

I didn't really get the should tone from it, but maybe because I was just reading it as my own thoughts.


What I read it as was examples of how they played well enough in every game to be able to win it.


Yeah I dunno if Ben wouldn't see it that way (someone else would for sure need to point it out to him though), I'm more in the Ben not appreciating that those close losses werent one off scenarios camp. Sure you can look at dubious decisions causing them to have to play with 14 or 13 men at the death as viable reasons but even in the games they won without such difficulties they made a real struggle of it (compared to how good some of their first half play was). This kind of article where you trying to point out the 3 losses really would most likely have been wins only really makes sense/works when your other performances make those 3 games (or endings) stand out.


There might have been a sentence here and there to ensure some good comment numbers but when he's signing off the article by saying things like ..

Whilst these All Blacks aren’t blowing teams off the park like during the 2010s, they are nuggety and resourceful and don’t wilt. They are prepared to win the hard way, accumulating points by any means necessary.

and..

The other top sides in the world struggled to put them away. France and South Africa both could have well been defeated on home soil.

I don't really see it. Always making sure people are upto date with the SH standing/perspective! NZ went through some tough times with so many different perspectives and reasons why, but then it was.. amusing how.. behind everyone was once they turned a corner. More of these 'unfortunate' results returned against SA and France at the start of the RWC which made it extra tasty to catch other teams out when they did bring it. So that created some 'conscious' perspective that I just kept going and sharing re thoughts on similar predicaments of other teams, I had been really confident that Wallabies displays vs NZ were real, that the Argentines can backup their thing against Aus and SA (and so obviously the rest), and current one is that England are actually consistent and improving with their attack (which everyone should get onboard with), and I'm expecting a more dominant display against Japan (even though they should have more of their experienced internationals for this one) that highlights further growth from July. 👍

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