Player Ratings

[Kimlo]

No no no no no... Pearce is awesome. Really!

Best halfback in the world isn't he? At least that's what Stuart thinks.

 

[Big Pete]

I really hope the selectors panic and bring in the Rabbitohs halves.

 

[ningnangnong]

Didn't pay much to the NSW gronks, so I'll just do ratings for Queensland. To make it a little different, I'll rate each player out of 100.

Billy Slater - 83
He's obviously struggling with that knee injury, but I thought he was pretty damn good last night. In attack, although he wasn't at his best, his presence and runs always had NSW thinking twice about what was coming next. In defence, I thought he was excellent. Just before that little elbow on Pearce, I thought NSW were certain to score off that little grubber, which was in the most awkward position it could have been for Slater, but he somehow collected it. Brilliant.

Darius Boyd - 75
Did what he had to do really, was a typical Darius Boyd Origin performance. Didn't let us down in defence, and was decent in attack. You can say he's lucky to be playing outside of Inglis, but he still needs to time his runs and so on, and he was spot on with that last night, with the exception of the little chip through he failed to collect. The in and away before scoring in the corner was a great piece of finishing.

Greg Inglis - 87
Inglis' performance was a different one than what we've come to expect from the man mountain. Sure he stampeded over a few defenders and all that, but what I really admired about his game was his attitude in defence. He wanted blood every time he had to make a tackle. He was in their faces all night, it was magnificent! Morris vs Inglis... LOL, what a mismatch! There was one point where Morris was in a decent attacking position, Inglis tackled him, and as he was playing the ball he just looked at him like '**** this, this dude is fucking impossible to beat'.

Justin Hodges - 74
This series of Origin has probably been Hodges' best IMO. Would have received a higher rating if not for the sin-binning, and that sloppy play the ball (which was probably caused by the NSW defender). Made a number of strong runs from dummy-half, and also had Jennings' measure in defence. I love that look he makes when the referees call him out... 'who, me?' with wide eyes haha.

Brent Tate - 75
Can always count on Tatey to play with gusto. There was an awesome 'Tate me now' banner in the crowd, good shit. He put in his usual 110% and was strong in defence and attack, with some valuable running from dummy-half - my favourite was when we were pegged on our 10m line after we'd just collected a stray grubber, and Tatey went on a 30-40m run. Typifies what the fella is all about. As Pete mentioned, there were a couple of silly moments which made him lose a few points - I thought that pass to Thurston was going to be intercepted fo' sho'!

Jonathan Thurston - 89
Brilliant, just brilliant. Imagine if we had this Thurston in game one, rather than the one blighted by injury that we got. His kicking game was on another level - everything was perfectly placed, and it made it really hard for NSW to get themselves into the game whenever we'd reach the end of our set. That double pump for Boyd to score in the corner was ace. Not to mention his goal-kicking was almost faultless as well.

Cooper Cronk - 82
I was having doubts about Cronk after game one, but he really pulled it together last night. There was much more purpose and direction in what we were doing, and I'll put that down to Cronk. Selected the correct times to run and the correct times to pass. Huge improvement in his kicking game, compared to the first match. That torpedo that went dead which was kicked from our 30m line for instance - plays like that are invaluable in an Origin match.

Matt Scott - 94
18 runs for 169 metres says it all. Completely dominated the NSW pack - always made a dent in their line. He kept going back for more too, even when he was clearly knackered. When this guy is on-form, he's easily the best prop in the game IMO. You need at least three people to stop his momentum, let alone bring him down. Legend.

Cameron Smith - 91
That was your quintessential Cameron Smith performance. If you're a young hooker, you need to study this guy heavily, because he is a phenomenal talent. Together with Cronk, he was the 'brains' behind our strong field position, and subsequent victory. Such a smart player. Robbie Farah doesn't even come close to this guy.

Nate Myles - 89
Didn't make the same amount of metres as his counterpart, Scott, but he was still a monster for us. Myles is one of those players that doesn't need to hit the line at full pace to make metres, he just ambles up and keeps pumping those legs. There's nothing better than watching a prop forward walk about 10 metres with a bunch of defenders hanging off him. One of our toughest players. You can always count on him to do the dirty work.

Chris McQueen - 72
I thought McQueen was pretty strong TBH. I was unsure about his selection, but he went alright in my book. Just checking the stats, I'm surprised he didn't get through more work. Made a few half-breaks and was solid in defence.

Sam Thaiday - 80
As I'm sure we'll all agree, the most impressive period of Thaiday's performance came in the opening 15-20 minutes. He was the instigator for our authoritative performance. Put us on the front foot with some big runs and an awesome try - so much better seeing him on the fringes, rather than in the middle.

Corey Parker - 97
Easily my man of the match. Parker has been putting in similar performances to last night's for the Broncos over the last couple of years, but to do it in Origin is taking it to a whole new level. He was mammoth! Having a third metre maker after Scott and Myles was hugely beneficial for us.

Daly Cherry-Evans - 65
Glad he got a taste of action, but there wasn't much use for him really. What position were we playing him in?

Matt Gillett - 78
I was pretty happy with Gillett's showing last night. Always ran hard, and there was a few times he nearly broke the line. Loved that cover tackle on Dugan on halfway or thereabouts. Great desire shown from the young fella.

Ben Te'o - 73
I can't believe he played 51 minutes... that doesn't seem right to me? He gave us a good boost when he came on in the first half, with a couple of really aggressive runs, but I didn't notice him too much after that. Looks like he got through a fair bit of work in defence though.

Josh Papaliii - 75
I love Big Papa. I reckon this kid is going to be an Origin legend one day. Hard runner, aggressive... he's made for Origin. Thought he provided some important impact of the bench when we needed it last night. Only 11 minutes, so didn't get much of a chance, but now he'll be champing at the bit for game three.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I don't care if you think my ratings are too generous!

 

[Alec]

I'm gonna disagree about hookers studying the way Smith plays. I used to think that too, but I don't think anyone will be able to replicate that for a long time, and they'll just end up like McCullough instead. I'd concentrate more on the basics.

 

[rnabokov]

I'm gonna disagree about hookers studying the way Smith plays. I used to think that too, but I don't think anyone will be able to replicate that for a long time, and they'll just end up like McCullough instead. I'd concentrate more on the basics.

I don't know about disagreeing with studying Smith's game but the instincts, the intuition, the vision can't be taught, as is the case with Lockyer and Thurston among many greats. You're born with it, not made, but then it takes a good coach to bring it out and develop the brilliance.

But yes, the basics. Always. No matter who or what, doing the basics well, consistently counts the most

 

[ningnangnong]

Haha, it was more of a throwaway comment than a general recommendation... I'm sure no potential hookers (of the rugby league variety) will read my post!

But yeah, Smith has pretty much set a new standard.

 

[Kimlo]

Justin Hodges - 74
I love that look he makes when the referees call him out... 'who, me?' with wide eyes haha.

:loool: Hodges is such a legend, Hodgeeesss <3

 

[CaptainHook]

Justin Hodges - 74
This series of Origin has probably been Hodges' best IMO. Would have received a higher rating if not for the sin-binning, and that sloppy play the ball (which was probably caused by the NSW defender). Made a number of strong runs from dummy-half, and also had Jennings' measure in defence. I love that look he makes when the referees call him out... 'who, me?' with wide eyes haha.

Daly Cherry-Evans - 65
Glad he got a taste of action, but there wasn't much use for him really. What position were we playing him in?

Lol yeah I love Hodgo's passion. It reminded me of the dead rubber in 2009 when all hell broke loose. There was a great moment towards the end of that game when he was consoling Thaiday after Sam had been sent to the sin bin. Was funny considering it was a miracle he stayed on the field that night. He also reminds me of Tallis how he does his best not to let his team be bullied by the opposition.

DCE replaced Corey Parker in the first half. I was glad he went ok, as he and Cronk will be the halves after JT calls it a day I'm guessing. I like the fact that when he's on we effectively have four kicking options (and all of them dangerous). A great moment was when he managed to get us a repeat set from a little kick (as well as Thaiday too). It shows he's not afraid to chance his arm if there's a chance out wide after the main attacking play has been stopped.

 

[Alec]

Cronk and JT are the same age I think. Anyway, for DCE's first Origin game, he played ~20 mins and made over 20 tackles. Yeah, sometimes he got a bit trampled, but he held on and only missed 1 tackle. He even hit some of them pretty hard. For a first Origin in an unfamiliar position I'd say it's OK. Kinda was hoping to see him receive the ball more as first receiver...maybe in the second game.

He did come on at the worst time though. Last 20 mins of the first half is when we are most vulnerable - it's when the starting front rowers come off, and we pretty much only have the tiring Thaiday shifted to the front row.

 

[CaptainHook]

Cronk and JT are the same age I think.

yeah true. Was thinking JT may focus on club football for a year or two. He seems driven to take the Cowboys all the way. He hasn't indicated anything like that so I could be way off track. Hopefully Mal has an eye toward the future. Imagine if Slater, Smith, Thurston, Cronk all retired the same year. Our whole spine gone just like that.

 

[OXY-351]

I really hope the selectors panic and bring in the Rabbitohs halves.

Could Adam Reynolds really do any worse than Pearce though?

 

[Alec]

Could Adam Reynolds really do any worse than Pearce though?

Considering Pearce has been offering absolutely nothing, I'd say that's impossible. Reynolds at least offers an amazing short kicking game.

Pearce is clearly the better player overall, but he's hopeless in Origin. Still, Reynolds or Sutton shouldn't be picked either. I'd probably pick Kelly before either one of them.

 

[Big Pete]

Could Adam Reynolds really do any worse than Pearce though?

Considering some of the risky trick shots I've seen him make which won't pay off in Origin, then yes.

 

[Alec]

Considering some of the risky trick shots I've seen him make which won't pay off in Origin, then yes.

It doesn't necessarily mean he'd try them for NSW. Different coaches, different approaches.

 

[Big Pete]

There's more to it obviously but that's what stood out to me in his City vs. Country game. It was the time to show he could be a team player and keep a mature head and instead he's going out there and treating it like a micky mouse game and coming up with critical errors which are going to be absolutely exposed in Origin.

Pearce is average, but on his game, Pearce feeds good ball to his backs and employs a good long distance kicking game which gives the likes of Slater little to work with come Game 1. He isn't your try scoring half, he's your organiser and sadly he's the best they have right now.

If things go according to plan, then Game 3 could very well be his last game whether the Blues win or not but right now nobody else has proven to me they can handle this kind of pressure or that they're ready.

 

[Mr Fourex]

Considering Pearce has been offering absolutely nothing, I'd say that's impossible. Reynolds at least offers an amazing short kicking game.

Pearce is clearly the better player overall, but he's hopeless in Origin. Still, Reynolds or Sutton shouldn't be picked either. I'd probably pick Kelly before either one of them.

I don't think Pearce is clearly the better out of himself and A.Reynolds at all. In fact, quite the opposite. What Reynolds does a lot better than Pearce is the direction he gives the team towards the best field position to apply maximum pressure on the opposition and is constantly playing the percentage move that continues building on the pressure he's already made. He's a smart footballer. Perfect attributes from your half in SOO. That said....... he also has one of the best short kicking games in the comp and his long kick isn't too shabby either.

Pearce is a numpty in comparison.

Kelly........while I agree he's been playing well this year, he IMO isn't want you want for a SOO half. Inconsistent...unpredictable .......high risk / low percentage moves are Kelly's bag, and let's be realistic. He's only looked good for what 10-11 rounds of 2013? Bit of a chequered past before that.......

A Reynolds had a steller year in 2012 and has only been getting better with each game this year. McGuire has said that the final piece of armoury to his game will be in his running. You could see last night Reynolds is already starting to come to grips with that. He's quite evasive for someone who doesn't look like he's going anywhere

Like all the great players, he seems to have the gift of time.