Like the latest box office CGI extravaganza no SOO can now live up to the ridiculous hype – and this one fell way short. They are never dull of course but this one bordered on boring and the ANZ surface never helps. QLD find a way to win but what is becoming more obvious is NSW still dont how to on a regular basis. QLD could not score despite having 73 chances in the second half and so we were left with the ridiculous sight of a 45m penalty goal attempt after NSW had just made 273 tackles on their line. Alfie actually physically threw up in the background as he was trying once again for another MOTM award simply for being on the field the most of any actual Queenslander. Meanwhile NSW had two good opportunities for field goal late and blew both .Part of the QLD problem was the left hand attack of Inglis/Boyd was way below par for whatever reason and lets face it GI has not been a factor at SOO for a couple of years really. And much like the Aussie cricket team it is sad to see that the Maroons have the biggest contingent of grubs these days(damn we miss Bird) with Slater and Hodges in a class of their own. As great as Billy may be he is simply a dirty player while Hodges is simply a niggling pest. Anyhoo time for the slide rule
Slater – 7. Tried hard all night and took his hits well. Loses a point for bad behaviour
Boyd – 4. not a factor, short of a run
Inglis – 5. not a factor maybe sick, maybe well marked, maybe on walkabout. Always hard to tell with him
Hodges – 6. Involved a lot but mostly short dummy half runs or niggling. Not a good look son.
Chambers – 8. Best of the back 5 and ran with purpose
Thurston – 7. Quiet in first half, ran more in second. Does heaps of defense
Cronk – 8. Big game, especially first half. Cool and precise when needed (watch him NSW!)
Thaiday – 7. Enthusiastic as always
Parker – 6. Not many offloads and dint run with any real venom
Myles – 6. Does a lot of tackling but lets make this his last year please
Scott – 7.5. Very solid effort if lacked a lot of penetration
Smith 8.5 – very involved all night, best game for years
As for rest both McQuire and Morgan showed they are Origin players with the limited opportunities provided
As for NSW, not going to help them out by pointing out the obvious but lets just say that Dugan and Morris are always dangerous while Tamou and Woods were superb in first half, then went missing. Pearce was ok but Hodgkinson was poor as were both wingers. Refs seemed fine on the night with no obvious howlers that impacted on the match
Hard to see NSW winning the next two but equally hard to get too excited about this current QLD team which is definitely approaching its use by date
flashman181 