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Message: [QUOTE="Big Pete, post: 3525778, member: 1899"] I thought it was a real team effort, but the spine in particular really stepped up in Game II. Cameron Munster in particular made a point to get his hands on the ball more and he was always involved with his best plays largely getting Queensland out of trouble, either working it off the goal-line or cleaning up at the back. That Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow try in particular just came off the back of Grant and Munster's work around the ruck and creating the numbers out-wide. The play of the game was Cherry-Evans cover tackle. If he doesn't chase, NSW would be up in the shadows of half-time and it would be a completely different ball game. Chez makes the tackle, everybody else gets back and somehow Queensland defend another set when they should have been toast. Then Patty targets that corridor Queensland had been working on all evening, pops one of his best ever offloads and Queensland take their opportunity. In one passage of play, Queensland summed up the difference between the two states. The Maroons backed themselves and went for the juggular while the Blues for whatever reason ran it back in-field. It gave Queensland the impetus in the second half and they were able to bring Reece Walsh into the game. That second man play to Walsh is their bread and butter attacking play and the way Walsh is able to create space for his outside men is just second to none. Two tries, both at crucial stages (first blood in the second half, then to get one back after Cook's try) just goes to show how effective he was. The forwards were as relentless as ever and there was just no give. That was evident with Collins winning Man of the Match off the bench, imagine those early exchanges and then the best player on the ground comes on. You just can't get around him and that trap and scrap to signal and end to his stint was fitting. I could only imagine how the game would have played out if the penalty count wasn't so lopsided. That was my biggest concern heading into the game and when Murray nearly milked a sin-bin by running into Tino while he was off-side I had my heart in my throat. If you want to see blatant ref ball that was it. 8-2 penalty count, 10-4 if you're including set restarts. Keep in mind, one of those restarts was after Reece had been bowled over in the air and THEN flopped on after making a huge break. On top of that, we got another reminder why the captain's challenge is a stupid system. Either Atkins got it wrong and NSW kept their challenge, or Klein was wrong to give them that challenge in the first place. The fact Queensland just rolled with the punches and played to the whistle was a real testament to them. [/QUOTE]

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