QUEENSLAND 26 NEW SOUTH WALES 24
TOM SMITH, Optus Stadium, Perth, Wednesday
BILLY SLATER breathed a massive sigh of relief after New South Wales fell just short of a miracle comeback in the Perth rain.
Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow’s first-half double – and an 8-0 penalty count – helped Queensland to a 26-6 half-time advantage.
But Brian To’o’s hat-trick took the Blues to within a whisker of a come-from-the-clouds victory.
NSW scored five tries to Queensland’s four, although Zac Lomax’s four missed conversions – compared to Val Holmes’ flawless five from five – proved the difference on the scoreboard.
New captain Cameron Munster and Storm team-mate Harry Grant were mighty for the victors.
All the pre-game chat focused on Slater’s eyebrow-raising response to ex-NSW prop Aaron Woods jokingly calling him a “grub” on FM radio – a positively tame sledge by Australian standards.
Fronting the media on the eve of the match, Slater bizarrely hit back at the criticism by invoking former Queensland coach Paul Green, who tragically took his own life in 2022.
“You don’t know what people are going through,” Slater said. “And although I might be able to handle it, the next person mightn’t be. Maybe our last coach didn’t.”
Woods targeted Slater for axing skipper Daly Cherry-Evans after game one, handing the captaincy to Munster and the unfamiliar number seven jumper to Cowboys standoff Tom Dearden.
The Maroons also dumped one-gamer Beau Fermor and reshuffled their pack, recalling Kurt Capewell and handing an interstate bow to 32-year-old Kurt Mann – the oldest Queensland debutant since the great Arthur Beetson in the inaugural Origin in 1980.
In the blue corner, injury forced Laurie Daley into two changes: five-eighth Jarome Luai for Mitchell Moses (calf), and prop Stefano Utoikamanu for Mitch Barnett (ACL).
After a fiery opening highlighted by Tino Fa’asuamaleaui’s bone-rattling hit on Liam Martin, the Blues drew first blood when To’o dived on a loose Luai grubber on seven minutes.
But Queensland quickly slid into the driver’s seat, despite Martin’s thumping return of serve on Fa’asuamaleaui.
Tabuai-Fidow strolled over for his first untouched, before soaring over To’o to snaffle a Dearden bomb to tally his second.
The brace extends the Hammer’s prolific interstate record, making it 11 tries from just nine starts.
Lomax’s ill discipline in the ruck cost NSW another two points off Holmes’ boot, and Munster steamed onto a Grant short ball to keep the foot on the throat.
Nathan Cleary appeared to drag the Blues back in it, before the officials spotted an Utoikamanu obstruction in the build-up.
Instead, Mann and Capewell combined up the other end to make it a daunting 20-point margin at the break.
Undeterred, the Blues piled on four unanswered tries in the second half.
First Latrell Mitchell released To’o into the left corner, then Stephen Crichton scythed through the Queenslanders’ under-siege defence.
To’o soon snared his third, but Lomax’s wayward kicking left the Blues eight adrift.
Luai’s boot handed Angus Crichton four points, and Lomax’s conversion gave NSW seven minutes to find one more score.
But the Maroons withstood the Blues’ final push to send the series to a decider in Sydney on Wednesday 9 July.
GAMEBREAKER: Queensland couldn’t breathe easy until Dylan Edwards’ 80th-minute error ended any hope of a NSW comeback.
GAMESTAR: On top of his three tries, Brian To’o churned out 226 running metres – nearly double anyone else on the park.
MATCHFACTS
MAROONS
1 Kalyn Ponga (Newcastle Knights)
2 Xavier Coates (Melbourne Storm)
3 Robert Toia (Sydney Roosters)
4 Valentine Holmes (Dragons)
5 Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow (Dolphins)
6 Cameron Munster (Melbourne Storm)
7 Tom Dearden (North Queensland Cowboys)
8 Moeaki Fotuaika (Gold Coast Titans)
9 Harry Grant (Melbourne Storm)
10 Tino Fa’asuamaleaui (Gold Coast Titans)
11 Reuben Cotter (North Queensland Cowboys)
12 Kurt Capewell (New Zealand Warriors)
13 Trent Loiero (Melbourne Storm)
Subs (all used)
14 Kurt Mann (Canterbury Bulldogs)
15 Lindsay Collins (Sydney Roosters)
16 Jeremiah Nanai (North Queensland Cowboys)
17 Patrick Carrigan (Brisbane Broncos)
18th man (not used)
18 Ezra Mam (Brisbane Broncos)
Tries: Tabuai-Fidow (13, 20), Munster (31), Capewell (37)
Goals: Holmes 5/5
BLUES
1 Dylan Edwards (Penrith Panthers)
2 Brian To’o (Penrith Panthers)
3 Stephen Crichton (Canterbury Bulldogs)
4 Latrell Mitchell (South Sydney Rabbitohs)
5 Zac Lomax (Parramatta Eels)
6 Jarome Luai (Wests Tigers)
7 Nathan Cleary (Penrith Panthers)
8 Max King (Canterbury Bulldogs)
9 Reece Robson (North Queensland Cowboys)
10 Payne Haas (Brisbane Broncos)
11 Liam Martin (Penrith Panthers)
12 Angus Crichton (Sydney Roosters)
13 Isaah Yeo (Penrith Panthers)
Subs (all used)
14 Connor Watson (Sydney Roosters)
15 Spencer Leniu (Sydney Roosters)
16 Hudson Young (Canberra Raiders)
17 Stefano Utoikamanu (Melbourne Storm)
18th man (not used)
18 Matt Burton (Canterbury Bulldogs)
Tries: To’o (7, 46, 65), S Crichton (57), A Crichton (72)
Goals: Lomax 2/5
SCORING SEQUENCE: 0-6, 6-6, 12-6, 14-6, 20-6, 26-6; 26-10, 26-14, 26-18, 26-24
Rugby Leaguer & League Express Men of the Match
Maroons: Cameron Munster; Blues: Brian To’o
Penalty count: 10-2
Half-time: 26-6
Referee: Ashley Klein
Attendance: 57,023