Also, hats off to Josh Papalli. Showed a lot of heart in the early exchanges playing out of position and against some really high quality opposition Props. I’m not sure he’ll work there in the long run for Queensland but good on him for giving it his all tonight and outshining both Wallace and Glasby who play that position week in and week out at NRL level.
That said though, the story of the night for the Queensland forwards is all about Jai Arrow. What a tremendous effort he showed in his first series, also playing largely out of position and against much more highly rated opposition.
The kid looks like he’s been playing at this level all his life and looks every bit as comfortable at Origin level as Ponga has.
With some support from guys like Ofahengaue coming through eventually, he can really be one of our forward leaders over the next decade and I’m really genuinely thrilled to see him succeed and I’m excited to see what he can produce as he matures and likely gets even better.