Tom Dearden answered the call as Billy Slater’s bold decision to sack his skipper mid-series yielded immediate results with Queensland conquering NSW 26-24 at Perth’s Optus Stadium.
The series is well and truly alive heading into the decider at Accor Stadium on July 9 with Dearden starring in Daly Cherry-Evans’ old No.7 jersey and new skipper Cameron Munster leading from the front with his best Origin display in years.
While the spotlight was on Slater in the lead-up to game two, Blues coach Laurie Daley is now under pressure to restore order for his side and prove that he is up to the task after four series losses in his first five-year stint in the role.
Star halfback Nathan Cleary had his worst performance in rep footy, shanking kicks and spraying passes at nowhere near his usual standard of top-shelf precision.
Down 26-6 at half-time, the Blues stormed back into the contest with four unanswered tries but could not pull off what would have been the biggest comeback in Origin history as the Maroons hung on by the skin of their teeth with the rain teeming down.
A tale of two halves
Dearden has often been unfairly compared to Maroons legend Allan Langer due to their physical similarities but on Wednesday night at Optus Stadium, the Cowboys co-captain was Alfie all over.
His footwork was nimble in the slippery conditions, he tormented the NSW defenders by digging deep into the line and he set up his outside backs with a series of pinpoint passes and short kicks.
Dearden’s assured performance and all-round game management allowed Munster in his first match as skipper to pick and choose his moments to attack the line.
He still came up with a few dud plays but he registered an inspirational try in the first half to kick off his representative captaincy career in the best possible way.
Cleary was well below his brilliant best with a compression garment on his right thigh suggesting that he was not at peak fitness.
But there can be no excuses for the way that he and several of his Blues teammates pushed passes in the wet conditions trying to blitz their way past the Maroons with flashy attack rather than rolling up their sleeves to do the hard yards.
Latrell Mitchell and Jarome Luai did the majority of the clearing kicks for NSW with Cleary also handing the goal-kicking duties to Zac Lomax.
Maroons defy the odds yet again
Luai botched the opening kick of the match by putting it out on the full but was reprieved when Munster sent the grubber from the next set past the dead-ball line.
The Blues drew first blood in the seventh minute when Luai dribbled a kick in behind the Queensland defensive line before Angus Crichton toed it ahead again for Brian To’o.
It looked like NSW were continuing their dominance from their series-opening win in Brisbane and it also appeared that they believed they were in for an easy night.
They started to be the team that made the costly errors and disciplinary lapses with repeated six-agains leading to Mitchell making the wrong call in defence and Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow sliding over in the right corner for a 6-6 deadlock.
When Liam Martin blasted the ball out of the grasp of Tino Fa’asuamaleaui with a thunderous tackle, NSW were back on the front foot – “he’s incredibly strong and incredibly mad”, said Immortal half Andrew Johns of the NSW second-rower in Nine commentary.
But centre Valentine Holmes was the unlikely provider of the get-square with a similarly heavy hit which forced a Martin fumble and a Dearden high ball was marked by Tabuai-Fidow to make it 12-6 to the Maroons after 20 minutes.
Luai was placed on report for a facial grab on Reuben Cotter which Munster tried to tell Ashley Klein was “an eye gouge” and Lomax was also pinged for lashing out with an elbow on Trent Loeiro and Holmes put the Maroons two more points to the good.
The Maroons motored to a 14-point advantage in the 31st minute when Harry Grant scooted from dummy half for Munster to barge over.
Laurie Daley needed impact so Spencer Leniu was unleashed from the bench and slammed into opposing prop Lindsay Collins from the restart, prompting Roosters officials to quickly get on the phone to Trent Robinson to make sure he hadn’t fallen off his lounge chair.
Cleary came up with an uncharacteristically atrocious kick in the Blues’ red zone – “that kick was a shank, you never never ever see that” said a puzzled Johns.
He was over the stripe despite his gammy leg soon after but Stefano Utoikamanu didn’t move his feet swiftly enough to get out of the line and was penalised for impeding Patrick Carrigan.
Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow celebrates. (Photo by Cameron Spencer/Getty Images)
The sting of the disallowed try was made even worse just before half-time when Dearden triggered a break and veteran debutant Kurt Mann poppsed a wonky pass for Kurt Capewell to make it 26-6.
To’o got the Blues back into the contest when he finished off a left-side raid to bag his second four-pointer seven minutes after the interval.
But another Cleary error, this time booting the ball out on the full with a botched banana kick, stalled their comeback charge.
Blues hopes were on the rise again midway through the second term when Stephen Crichton steamed onto a Dylan Edwards short ball to cut the deficit to 12.
To’o set up a thrilling final 15 minutes when NSW swept the ball along the backline to his wing again with Mitchell’s lightning-fast hands presenting the Penrith pocket rocket with enough space to pounce.
NSW threatened to do a Queensland on the Maroons when Mitchell produced a one-on-one steal and Angus Crichton slammed down a Luai grubber to make it a two-point deficit with nine minutes on the clock.
“Queensland love being underdogs and we still are,” said Munster soon after the siren sounded, getting in early for the Origin III mind games.
Slater’s selection gambles pay dividends
Many eyebrows were raised when Billy Slater rolled the dice with his selections, not only the decision to dump Daly Cherry-Evans for Dearden.
Recalling Capewell to the second row, starting Loeiro at lock ahead of Carrigan and switching Tabuai-Fidow to the wing with Holmes returning to centre.
And they all hit pay dirt.
The Hammer scored Queensland’s first try with a strong finish and the second by outleaping To’o and Holmes produced arguably the tackle of the match when he rattled the ribcage of Martin midway through the first half while also dislodging the Steeden from the star Panther’s claws.
Capewell was a busy presence on the left edge while also bagging a crucial try just before the break and Loeiro more than held his own in the middle to allow Carrigan to dominate when he came on with fresh legs against tired Blues defenders.
While he is not as flashy as other options, Capewell kept turning up in attack and defence, pulling off a momentous tackle on Payne Haas to snuff out the final Blues’ attacking raid.