New South Wales Blues legend Andrew Johns has hammered the team after their epic 18-16 loss to Queensland in State of Origin II at ANZ Stadium labelling it “the dumbest half of football NSW have played”.

Arguably NSW’s greatest ever halfback questioned why the Blues didn’t continue their assault on the injured Johnathan Thurston in the second half.

“It’s the dumbest half of football NSW have played. They had all the running, their game plan was perfect,” Johns said post-match on Channel Nine.

“Thurston’s shoulder is stuffed — there’s your game plan. You just go at him all night. You go at him and then it puts pressure on the defenders on either side.

“They didn’t go to him once at all in the second half. I couldn’t believe what I was watching.

“You’ve got a player out there who cannot pick his arm up off the ground and they didn’t target his side of the field.

“I don’t know what they were doing.

“They had all the running and they invited Queensland back in and went back to this out the back rubbish block plays.

“How they didn’t identify that, he can’t pick his right shoulder up so there’s your game plan.”

The Blues sent plenty of players at Thurston in the first stanza but went away from their game plan as the Maroons fought their way back into the game.