State of Origin: Queensland player ratings as Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow scores hat-trick
QUEENSLAND PLAYER RATINGS FROM ORIGIN I
1 Reece Walsh - N/A
Was a marked man from the start, hit late on his first kick of the game before his night was ended by a sickening shoulder to the head from Joseph Suaalii, with the 23-year-old reporting category-one head injury symptoms.
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Had a mostly quiet night watching his teammates do the damage on the opposite flank before scoring a late try after a Daly Cherry-Evans intercept.
3 Valentine Holmes - 6
The least destructive of the Maroons’ outside backs on a dominant night and was guilty for three knock-ons, but was flawless with his goal-kicking, scoring seven from seven.
4 Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow - 9.5
Scored his sixth, seventh and eighth tries in just his fifth Origin game as he devastated the Blues’ depleted right edge, as well as managing to jam his hand under Spencer Leniu to find a miraculous try-saving tackle while filling in for Walsh at fullback.
5 Murray Taulagi - 7
Linked up with Tabuai-Fidow on the left wing, notching a try assist and over 150 run metres in a strong performance by the 25-year-old.
6 Tom Dearden - 7
Took a back seat to his more experienced halves partner at times but still troubled the Blues’ left edge with his hard running at the line and found a try assist for Tabuai-Fidow at the death.
7 Daly Cherry-Evans - 9
Wrong-footed Jarome Luai with a jinking run out of dummy half to set up the first try of the match and his kicking game was typically superb, scoring a 40/20 in the second half before setting up Coates with a kick in behind after an intercept.
8 Reuben Cotter - 6
Put in a solid shift in defence with 39 tackles in a low-key night for the 25-year-old workhorse.
9 Ben Hunt - 8
Showed great awareness backing up his captain on the inside to score the opener and sealed the game with a second after bursting through the NSW line with a strong run.
10 Lindsay Collins - 7
The Sydney Roosters big man had an error-free night, running hard for 128 metres and making few slip-ups in defence.
11 Jaydn Su’A - 5.5
Put in a decent shift in the second-row against a spirited NSW forward effort and made 30 tackles, but was guilty of a couple of errors in the first half.
12 Jeremiah Nanai - 7.5
Was denied a try by a desperate James Tedesco but led his team in defence, coming up with a mammoth 43 tackles.
13 Patrick Carrigan - 8.5
A typical workhorse performance from the Maroons talisman, eating up 135 run metres and 36 tackles in 60 minutes.
14 Harry Grant - 5.5
Was showed up by Hunt as interchange hooker, coming up with a few too many errors out of dummy-half but got through a solid amount of work in defence.
15 Moeaki Fotuaika - 6
A solid effort from the bench prop who played 40 minutes, ran for 54 metres with 22 post contact and made 24 tackles, including a dangerous tackle on Spencer Leniu that conceded a penalty to the Blues at the end of the first half.
16 J’maine Hopgood - 5.5
A quiet 32 minutes for the Parramatta strong man, running for 28 metres and making 16 tackles off the bench
17 Selwyn Cobbo - 8
Was thrown on in the eighth minute after Walsh’s withdrawal, picking up a try assist and two line-breaks as Queensland’s outside backs ran rampant against NSW.
18 Felise Kaufusi - 6
Played 27 minutes after he was activated following Walsh’s head injury, making 10 tackles and carrying the ball three times.
