NSW great Andrew Johns says Queensland should “pull the trigger” and drop captain Daly Cherry-Evans, believing Tom Dearden should be picked at halfback.
The Maroons lacked any real strike in attack in their 18-6 game one defeat to the Blues at Suncorp Stadium, scoring just the one try through Xavier Coates at the 45th minute.
Remarkably, the Maroons only have one try in their last two games at home, after they failed to cross the line in last year’s decider at Suncorp, which they lost 14-4.
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At 36, Cherry-Evans is the oldest player in Origin history, and Johns believes his age may have finally caught up with him.
“Look, no one beats Father Time and DCE is what, (36)? I think they have to pull the trigger and bring Dearden in,” Johns told Channel 9.
“The big one is Dearden and whether they pull the trigger on Dearden with DCE.”
Dearden played off the bench for the Maroons, and after the game, he said Queensland’s lack of tries came down to not putting enough pressure on their opponents.
“The tries come off building your game and putting them under pressure. I think that stuff sort of looks after itself,” Dearden said.
“So if we’re looking at our game, we need to be a lot more disciplined and put the pressure a lot more on them and I thought we were sort of ill-disciplined and gave a few cheap penalties, we just let them off the hook.”
Dearden admitted the Maroons weren’t at their best.
“The most disappointing thing is we didn’t get our best footy on,” he said.
“Playing here at Suncorp in game one you want to be throwing out your best performance and we didn’t get that on tonight.
“I think that’s the most disappointing thing and you probably walk away with a bit of regret.”
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Disappointed Maroons reflect on loss | 01:46
Cowboys co-captain Dearden played five-eighth for the Maroons in last year’s series in the absence of Cameron Munster, but Munster’s return this year saw him pushed back to the bench.
Dearden also featured at five-eighth for the Kangaroos in last year’s Pacific Championships, a tournament that Australia won.
The 24-year-old was hopeful the Maroons can put on a better showing for the rest of the series.
“We need to get back to the drawing board and come ready to play for the last two games,” Dearden said.
Game two will be played on June 18 in Perth, and game three in Sydney on July 9.
