Cleary sublime as brilliant Blues level series in Perth

Match Snapshot

• Blues forward Cameron Murray left the field in the 10th minute for a HIA which he passed.
• Felise Kaufusi's try was just his second in his 14-game Origin career, the first coming in Game 3, 2019 in Sydney.
• Maroons prop Lindsay Collins left the field for a HIA in the 25th minute which he passed.
• New Blues hooker Api Koroisau's first stint lasted 34 minutes in which he got through 24 tackles.
• The Blues racked up 56 tackle breaks to Queensland's 23, James Tedesco leading the way with 10.

• Kalyn Ponga was immense at fullback for the Maroons with 123 run metres and three tackle breaks before he was forced off for a HIA in the 71st minute.
• Siosifa Talakai was introduced into the game for his Origin debut in the 63rd minute.
• In two games at Perth's Optus Stadium the Blues have racked up 82 points to Queensland's 18.
• Jake Trbojevic celebrated his return to the Origin arena with a herculean effort, making 31 tackles and running for 148 metres.
• The Blues' back three of James Tedesco, Brian To'o and Daniel Tupou combined for 71 runs and 720 metres.

Plays of the Game

Two pinpoint Nathan Cleary kicks midway through the second half gave NSW the field position they needed to blow the game open through a superb solo try by his Panthers team-mate Jarome Luai. Cleary's first kick was an attempted 40-20 which Selwyn Cobbo retrieved deep in his own territory before the Blues No.7 pinned the Maroons in their own in goal with an inch perfect kick from 30 metres out. With fatigue taking its toll on Queensland, Luai pounced, beating Jeremiah Nanai and Dane Gagai to score the try that put the game out of reach.

What They Said

“I think the biggest compliment you can get as a coach is if you make a few changes and decisions and they go out and do what they’re supposed to do. They all played really well and the blokes playing their first game, Burton and Siosifa, I thought they were fantastic. We’d acknowledged that we weren’t great, some people loss their position and we worked hard to make sure it wasn’t in vain. I thought Nathan read the game really well… I think by the end of the game Queensland were pretty fatigued so him and Jarome just took advantage and that’s what they can do, they do it at Penrith.” - Blues coach Brad Fittler

“To come out and play like that was really pleasing after a disappointing game one. We completed our sets, but I thought our defence in their end of the field was really strong and got us good field position and we made the most of the opportunities.” – Blues captain James Tedesco

"I think that first 50 minutes was a good contest but then NSW started playing with a little bit more energy than us. And then a loss of concentration crept into our game and we compounded that so that’s where it was decided. That’s our team… we’ll assess it but that’s our team that played tonight and that’s’ our team that’s been there the whole series.” - Maroons coach Billy Slater

“We put ourselves in some really tough positions, but I thought we were really brave to defend the way we did coming out after half time. Why we did have 12 men I thought we tried really hard. There’s a lot that we did wrong in that but there was also a lot they did right so somewhere in the middle there is the answer.” - Maroons captain Daly Cherry-Evans

What's Next

Players from both sides will head back home and prepare for Round 16 of the Telstra Premiership, starting with Manly and Melbourne on Thursday night, giving Cameron Munster, Felise Kaufusi, Harry Grant, Daly Cherry-Evans and Jake Trbojevic just three days to recover if they are to back up. The Panthers and Roosters play Friday night in a clash that could be heavily affected with 11 players from those two clubs playing in tonight's game.