On the Queensland bus to Suncorp Stadium last night, Channel Nine’s Johnathan Thurston reminded Maroons skipper Daly Cherry-Evans he was about to become the oldest player to run out in a State of Origin contest.
A sheepish Cherry-Evans smiled.
He didn’t care if he was the “oldest, winning Origin player”.
Now that Phil Gould has Lachlan Galvin, Cherry-Evans to Bondi is officially the worst kept secret in the National Rugby League.
DCE may have been smiling on the bus, but he wasn’t after 80 disastrous minutes for Queensland.
Trent Robinson and Nick Politis wouldn’t have been smiling either.
The Maroons captain looked all his 36 years in his 26th Origin appearance.
Immortal and Blues legend Andrew Johns called for Cherry-Evans’ sacking after the 18-6 loss – which could have been much worse if the Blues took all their chances and kicked their goals.
“No one beats ‘father time’,” Johns said on Channel Nine.
“I think they have to pull the trigger and bring [Tom] Dearden in.
” I don’t know where the improvement comes with this group.
“NSW, if they were on tonight, they win by 40 or 50.
“They left so many tries out there and they’ll be better for that.
“I don’t know if they can go up another level, Queensland.
“I think there has to be changes.”
But Cherry-Evans has asked for a reprieve and get a shot at redemption in Game II.
“Yeah, definitely. I guess with losing comes the question,” The Manly-Warringah veteran began.
“So we’ve opened ourselves up to these sorts of questions but I’d love the opportunity to come back and correct it.”
Arguably Queensland’s greatest ever captain Cameron Smith wasn’t willing to endorse his former teammate on Nine’s post-game broadcast.
“There’s always that temptation and I think Billy [Slater] will have that discussion with his selection panel and he’ll go through this game thoroughly.”
If the playmaker is headed to the Roosters – last night’s performance was a horror show for the ruthless Chooks who put premierships above all other clubs in the NRL.
In fairness to the halfback, his teammates did little to help.
The Maroons were bashed from the opening minute with the Blues smashing them with and without the ball.
Such was NSW’s dominance, the full-time score of 18-6 is hard to get your head around.
Featuring a star-studded backline, a world-class engine room and the new halves pairing of Nathan Cleary and Mitch Moses, the Blues should have finished north of 40 or 50 points.
Moses, in the 6 jersey, played second fiddle to his Panthers counterpart, and struggled to find space on the left side with powerhouse Latrell Mitchell seeing little early football.
The Blues opted to play far more conservative in attack inside QLD’s half of the field, going for short shifts and Cleary kicks.
Several times the Blues drifted too far into Moses’ side of the field – forcing Moses into late tackle plays and taking the line on himself in heavy QLD traffic.
And that was despite the Blues earning the right to breakdown the Maroons and their wobbly legs from further back down the paddock.
It was one of QLD’s worst performances.
Cameron Munster and Kalyn Ponga were rarely seen.
Their captain, unfortunately for him, was as flat as we’ve ever seen him in State of Origin footy.
