A dejected Billy Slater conceded “the whole dressing room is pretty disappointed” after Queensland’s 38-18 loss to New South Wales at the MCG but the Queensland coach wasn’t keen to discuss the possibility of making changes.
The Blues blew the Maroons off the park in the first half, shooting out to a 34-0 lead — the biggest in Origin history — after dominating possession at 68 per cent with an impressive 95 per cent completion rate.
While Queensland clawed their way back in the second half to make the scoreline slightly less humiliating, it was simply too little, too late.
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“It was a tough old first half,” Slater said in his post-game press conference.
“It felt like we were running uphill and we just couldn’t stop the momentum of the game.
“Part of that’s on us. We’ll look at our game and work out what we need to adjust and what we need to go after.”
Trying to remain somewhat upbeat, Slater added: “One thing I do know is there’s another game in three weeks time.”
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Slater called the first nine minutes of the game “a bit of a tussle” but admitted once Liam Martin crossed in the 10th minute things started to unravel.
“NSW just got a snowball of possession and we held them out for a few sets and then they broke and got a try and it sort of went downhill from there,” he said.
“It’s a tough game to play. It’s a lot tougher when you’re tired. So, like I said, it snowballed against the team and we just couldn’t stop it.”
Queensland skipper Daly Cherry-Evans echoed his coach, saying the game was “probably best described as a snowball.”
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“Momentum swings. Yeah, they were on top of us and we couldn’t hold the momentum. There’s a bit for us to work on,” he added.
“Origin’s pretty physical. This one probably felt more physical because of the run they had with momentum. We’ll learn a lot from tonight.”
Slater was, however, able to take some positives out of the second half. His team scored three tries with Cherry-Evans playing a role in two of them and only conceded one try.
“I thought the second half was quite good,” he said.
“I thought our actions, the way we started the second half, we went after our footy a bit more. We were patient. We weren’t looking for shortcuts to draw back the scoreline.
“It’s a real positive that the group pulled themselves together at halftime after the fuel tank that they used and played footy in the second half. We don’t want to be in that position.”
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Queensland were in a similar position in 2022. After defeating NSW in game one, they were humiliated 44-12 in game two at Optus Stadium, Perth. They then won the decider 22-12 on home soil at Suncorp Stadium.
Cherry-Evans knows those teammates that were a part of that 2022 experience would’ve learnt a lot but declared “no two series’ are ever the same.”
He also assured Queenslanders that “there’s still a lot of desire there, regardless of the result tonight. We still want it more than ever.”
The 35-year-old admitted Game Three at Suncorp on July 17 “can’t come quick enough” but said “we just lost and we need to cop it on the chin and move on.”
Slater refused to talk about making any changes to his team for Game Three.
“I haven’t even thought of that. We’re still Queenslanders,” he said.
Pressed further on what he meant, he was again cryptic adding: “I said I haven’t though of that and we’re still Queenslanders, so that’s it … I honestly haven’t thought about it.”
But he may be forced into making one in the centres after he revealed the extent of Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow’s injury.
“I think he’s picked up an AC injury. Pretty tough effort for him to get back out there but he knew the team needed him.”
Tabuai-Fidow suffered the injury during the first half and came from the field. He returned after half time and finished the game.