Player Ratings & Analysis

1Brett Stewart
	8 After an early fumble which he was able to fortuitously clean up the Blue’s custodian grew in stature to have a wonderful game highlighted by his two try effort.
2Jarryd Hayne
	7 Didn’t enjoy the same amount of success down the left side as he did in Melbourne but was still a constant threat with his strong running.
3Michael Jennings
	6.5 Like Hayne wasn’t afforded the space that he was in game one and was only able to rarely threaten.
4Josh Morris
	8 Something of an unsung hero whose defensive effort had a profound effect on the team’s performance.
5Akuila Uate
	6 An unusual lack of involvement from the flying Fijian who ran the ball strongly but not particularly often.
6Todd Carney
	7.5 Looked much more comfortable in his second outing and you know when he is confident by the number of times he is prepared to run the football.
7Mitchell Pearce
	7 Still struggling to really take control of proceedings when the opportunity exists but there are signs that he is gradually coming to grips with such situations.
8Tim Grant
	7 His opening 18 minutes to his Origin career were highly impressive and exactly what his coach was looking for in establishing the team’s mentality.
9Robbie Farah
	8.5 The best player on the field who somehow managed to rack up 63 tackles but was still able to be a constant menace with his incisive running out of dummy-half.
10James Tamou
	7 The development of this young front-rower has been nothing short of remarkable and whilst he wasn’t able to dent the Maroons the way he did on debut he was still a real handful in the opening salvos.
11Glenn Stewart
	6.5 Was again well contained on the right edge and played just 58 minutes compared to the full 80 in Melbourne.
12Greg Bird
	8 Another typical robust performance with the added attraction of a skill level and off-loading ability that makes him an absolute handful to contain.
13Paul Gallen
	8 His troublesome knee robbed him of again going the distance but it was another workaholic performance for the team.
14Trent Merrin
	6 Was kept as a fresh player until well into the contest and on the back of limited game time made minimal impact.
15Luke Lewis
	8 Quite magnificent off the bench and was close to the Blue’s best with his high intensity impact when unleashed.
16Ben Creagh
	6 Was able to play a little bit wider with the addition of another specialist front-rower but was still rarely used in minutes and in actual general play.
17Anthony Watmough
	6.5 Another who played less than half an hour but it was noticeable that late in the game that his experience was called upon.

1Billy Slater
	7 I think he was courageous just to stay out there on the field, I don’t know how bad his injury was, but you could tell he wasn’t 100% and the Blues were pretty brutal with him.
2Darius Boyd
	7 He didn’t have a lot of opportunities.
3Greg Inglis
	7 I thought Morris did a really good job on him. He wasn’t as dynamic as Game One, but still scored a try and looked dangerous. He is a freak.
4Justin Hodges
	7 He was steady without being at his usual best. It was quite a physical game and it might have taken its toll on him.
5Brent Tate
	8 I thought he was outstanding and probably our best back on the night. He made two or three real Origin plays and was unlucky not to score the match-winner at the end.
6Johnathan Thurston
	7 Quiet by his standards. He didn’t do a lot wrong, but we come to expect so much from him. He didn’t get into any rhythm. It was probably due to NSW’s defence.
7Cooper Cronk
	7 He’ll be disappointed with his sin-binning, but he had a much better game. Great kicking and enthusiasm.
8Matthew Scott
	6.5 A little bit disappointing. He made some errors and wasn’t at his best.
9Cameron Smith
	7 He got through a lot of work, but I think in Game Three a lot will depend on how he plays. I think he needs to do more running and attack the line a bit more.
10Petero Civoniceva
	7 Once he gets the ball under his arm, he is one of our better props – even on those 36-year-old legs. Just keeps taking the ball field. Bounced back well after the initial hit-up.
11Nate Myles
	7 He was very good. He likes the aggressive style of play and stood up to the NSW forwards.
12David Taylor
	6 Dave was a bit off, had a few handling errors. You won’t expect to see that happen to him again. He has had his critics, but he has matured into a great footballer and I’m expecting big things from him in Game Three.
13Ashley Harrison
	6.5 He did some good things, just missed one tackle and that is all it takes. Normally he would make that tackle on Carney.
14Matt Gillett
	6 Not many opportunities. It is tough for a young player coming in, he’ll be glad to get back and play a game at home.
15Corey Parker
	6.5 He was going okay up until the gash in his leg that looked pretty bad. I think Queensland really missed him towards the end of the game.
16Ben Hannant
	7 He had some good go-forward, but a couple of uncharacteristic errors.
17David Shillington
	6.5 Solid through the middle, but not a massive impact on the game.