The Maroons fended off a brave Blues outfit to win Game II at Optus Stadium 26-24.
Maroons coach Billy Slater copped some heat for a couple of selection decisions, but he was vindicated.
Meanwhile, Laurie Daley shed light on the injury issue star half Nathan Cleary dealt with last night as the Blues were made to pay for wayward goalkicking.
Read on for all of the talking points out of Origin Game II.
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DEARDEN DELIVERS IN DCE’S SHOES
Slater’s decision to dump captain Daly Cherry-Evans was one of the biggest calls made at the Queensland selection table in decades.
Cherry-Evans was ordinary in Game I, but the blame hardly deserved to be placed all on him given the forwards were dominated.
So, when Slater axed his halfback, Cherry-Evans was viewed somewhat as a scapegoat.
The Maroons coach instead turned to Cowboys star Tom Dearden, who has impressed in the No.7 jersey at club land and was a live wire when he came off the bench in Game I.
Dearden wasted no time proving his coach right, having a hand in Queensland’s first two tries.
As we’ve mentioned below, the Dearden call was one of several from Slater which proved to be correct despite a stack of criticism.
The second of those was a pinpoint kick to the corner of Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow, who out leapt Brian To’o to score.
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“Outstanding. A great kick. Just look how well he puts his ball right on the spot,” Maroons legend Cam Smith said.
“He gets Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow on the football. That little arc out towards the sideline and then curls back in towards the ball, just takes all his momentum towards the football.”
Dearden is a lethal ball runner, but that part of his game didn’t have to shine, with halves partner Cam Munster taking the lion’s share of the carries.
Dearden only ran the ball four times, but he did a tremendous job of controlling things and leading the team around the park.
It would have been a massive confidence boost for Queensland in his first game wearing the No.7 for the Maroons.
Another Queensland great in Darren Lockyer sung Dearden’s praises.
“He didn’t make any line breaks, but he just directed the line,” Lockyer said.
Slater, meanwhile, simply said “it is his time” when asked about Dearden’s inclusion in his post-game press conference.
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PAIR OF SHOCK BILLY MOVES PAY DIVIDENDS
For most, Billy Slater’s decision to pick Kurt Capewell for Game Two was somewhat puzzling
The Maroons’ forwards were dominated by the Blues pack in the series opener, so it was expected Slater would opt for a bit more grunt and size.
Instead, Queensland went with the experienced Capewell in the back row, despite the fact the veteran has been mostly playing in the centres this season.
With that said, Capewell certainly deserved the call up, given his outstanding form in 2025 for a Warriors team among the ladder leaders.
Thankfully for Queensland, Capewell carried his club form into the Origin arena.
The 31-year-old was in everything, scoring a try and even recording the match-winning play when forcing a Payne Haas error with a strong tackle, thwarting a final Blues raid on the Maroons line.
“What a performance by Kurt Capewell. He’s been enormous,” Cameron Smith said in commentary after Capewell’s key tackle.
Capewell scored a first half try, ran for 83 metres, had three tackle busts and made 36 tackles with just two misses.
It was a stellar effort as Capewell’s defence was under the microscope in the lead up to Game II due to the fact he leads the NRL in missed tackles (75).
“He was outstanding for us. He’s such a workhorse,” Maroons skipper Cam Munster said post game.
Capewell and fellow second rower Reuben Cotter were both stout in defence and threw their body at everything.
It’s a safe bet they’ve done enough to keep their spot for the decider after Slater’s post-match interview comments.
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“There’s a reason why the Warriors are doing well and it’s because they have players like Kurt Capewell in their team,” Slater said.
“There was a bit of talk around the number of missed tackles but I didn’t actually know that. It probably goes to show that I don’t look at numbers, I look at their actions and he has done an amazing job.
“It might have surprised a few but it wasn’t that out of the blue for me.”
In addition to Capewell, Slater gambled with a big switch to his backline ahead of Game II.
He moved Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow, arguably Queensland’s most lethal outside back, from the centres to the wing with Valentine Holmes reverting to his natural centre position.
While his opposite man Brian To’o scored a hattrick of tries, Tabuai-Fidow was left stranded on two occasions and couldn’t do anything to stop the burrowing Blues gun.
The 23-year-old also came up with an unlucky error in the second half which led to a NSW try on their comeback trail.
But outside of those flaws, his attacking display was without fault, adding to what is an already stellar Origin try-scoring record.
After his double in Perth, Tabuai-Fidow has now scored 11 tries in nine Origin games — with his aerial prowess impressing Queensland legend Cameron Smith.
“Well taken by Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow. He’s been strong in the air,” Cameron Smith said.
“In defence and also in attack. He’s comfortable with that aerial kick, the Hammer. Just watch him leap up under all sorts of pressure.
“He’s having a wonderful season with his club side. The Dolphins. Game One on his back there. He’s Jeremiah Nanai played the full 80 in the series.”
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Tabuai-Fidow’s successful positional switch comes after comments from club coach Kristian Woolf, who was left puzzled by Slater’s decision.
“It’s certainly not a position we’ll look at playing him here,” Woolf said.
“I’m not sure what the idea is. I think he’s a fullback, that’s his best position. He’s done a great job in the rep arena as a centre.
“I’m not in those camps so I won’t talk about selections. He’s a talented footy player. We all know that.”
However, Tabuai-Fidow himself had no concerns before the clash and clearly took that attitude into Game II.
“It wasn’t good losing in Game One, but I can be a lot better in this game and I’m excited to get another chance,” he said.
“I don’t mind moving to the wing. If I get space, I can use my speed and I can get the ball back quickly on kick returns.
“I was pretty quiet (in Origin I). I didn’t get too much clean ball.”
‘ABSOLUTE MASTERSTROKE’: MUNSTER CAPTAINCY CALL PAYS OFF
Andrew Johns called it an “absolute masterstroke” from Billy Slater, although the Maroons coach said that Cameron Munster has always been leadership material even without the ‘C’ next to his name.
But Johns said it was different this time around, arguing the decision to appoint Munster captain was a clever way to get the most out of the talented and enigmatic playmaker.
Munster set the tone for Queensland with his running game, recording 15 carries for a team-high 112 metres while also busting four tackles.
“This is what he was looking for in giving Munster the captaincy,” Johns said on Channel Nine.
Of course, Slater played that line of thinking down in his post-game press conference sitting next to Munster, telling reporters the Storm five-eighth has led the Maroons since he was a kid.
In fact, Slater even had one particular game in mind. The decider in 2017, which Queensland won 22-6 on the back of an inspired Munster performance.
The young playmaker had 136 metres in that game to go with five tackle busts, two try assists, one linebreak and a linebreak assist.
At that point Slater, Cooper Cronk and Cameron Smith were all playing. But it was Munster, at just 22 years old and in his Origin debut, who stood tall with Paul Vautin declaring at the time that he had “made this jumper his own for the next 10 years”.
“In 2017, game three, he led it with his actions, and that’s what he did again tonight,” Slater said on Wednesday night after the 26-24 win.
“He’s just got to C next to his name now, and he has to go and flick the coin and make decisions on captain’s challenges and all that sort of stuff, but he’s been a leader right from the start and it’s a pleasure to have him in this footy team.”
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GOAL KICKING WOES ONCE AGAIN HAMPER NSW
The Blues went down by two points in Perth, and it was once again their form off the goalkicking tee that left much to be desired.
In Game I, Nathan Cleary kicked only one penalty goal while he missed three other conversion attempts before handing duties over to Zac Lomax.
Lomax, who missed his only chance in the series opener, once again took the tee in Game II with Nathan Cleary reportedly unable to practice his kicking due to a niggle leg issue in the lead-up to the clash.
But it was a similar story.
On the wet Optus Stadium surface, Lomax kicked two from five — which proved to be costly in a tight encounter.
“The Blues scored five tries to four. This one would sting for NSW knowing they could have wrapped it all up,” Phil Gould said.
“Well in the end they’ve been beaten on goal kicking. That’s what it was. They scored four tries in the second half and kicked one conversion, one hit the upright.
“Queensland had the benefit of a penalty in the first half. And that’s been the difference between the two sides.
“But I think it’s a game where both sides are going to walk away really disappointed about aspects of that game.
“Queensland can be very proud of what they did in the first half.”
Thanks to the Blues’ poor kicking, it was the first time since game one of 2005 that Queensland scored fewer tries and won. It was also NSW’s equal-highest score in a loss, with the 24 points in vain matching a defeat back in 2011.
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GUS SAYS BLUES PLAYED DUMB IN FIRST HALF SHOCKER
They may have charged home in the second half to nearly steal it at the death, but the Blues lost the game on the back of a horror first half.
Phil Gould believes the Blues only had themselves to blame for playing dumb football in the first half which saw them trail 26-6 after conceding 26 straight points.
“Well, I don’t know if that’s going to get them out of trouble, like just running around to hit blokes,” Gould said when asked if Spencer Leniu could get them back in the game.
“I mean, that’s part of Origin, the physicality of the defence and all that. You want that. Of course you do.
“But NSW have played quite unintelligently to be honest. You know, the game has
been very one out. They’ve played into the hands of Queensland.
“They’ve made it easy for Queensland to make their tackles and dominate them. And then they’ve just turned the ball over far too often, given away far too many penalties.
“And Munster and Harry Grant have just carved them up. They’ve been really good. The Maroons, Queensland, NSW, I say they’ve underestimated them, but by scoring that try early, I think they softened.
“Queensland were really up for the fight. NSW didn’t see it coming. That’s why you’ve got a scoreline like what you see.”
To their credit the Blues came back to score four tries in the second half, but it was too little too late.
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DALEY CLARIFIES CLEARY INJURY CONCERN
He gave up goal-kicking duties to Zac Lomax while halves partner Jarome Luai and even Latrell Mitchell chipped in as last-tackle kicking options in Game 2.
With a compression bandage wrapped around his right leg, it begged the question: was Nathan Cleary playing through injury and, if so, what did it mean for his availability in club land moving forward?
Cleary, of course, like the rest of his Panthers teammates will miss this week’s game against the Warriors but Penrith need him healthy for a late-season push towards the finals.
It sounds like the star halfback should be fine to return for next week’s clash with the Bulldogs after Blues coach Laurie Daley played down the injury in his press conference, revealing Cleary “just felt a bit tight in his groin”.
“So we wanted to limit the amount of force that he put through there,” added Daley.
Cleary didn’t look too limited by the injury as a runner, taking on the line on a couple of occasions.
His kicking game wasn’t as polished as it usually is, but he got through the game otherwise unscathed and while it is unclear how the tightness actually arose, it doesn’t sound like a serious issue for Cleary and the Panthers.
