State of Origin Game 2 result: Daly Cherry-Evans revelation, Queensland press conference, Paul Gr

Queensland couldn’t get anything right on the field last night and it’s been hammered for faltering just as badly off it.

Footy legends have pointed the finger at captain Daly Cherry-Evans and coach Paul Green for their performances in the post-match press conference after being thrashed 26-0 by NSW to cough up a humiliating series defeat in just two games, following on from game one’s 50-6 hiding in Townsville.

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Former State of Origin stars Braith Anasta and Cooper Cronk took aim at the Maroons’ brain trust, accusing them of deflecting from the real issues as Cherry-Evans in particular delivered some sobering news no Queenslander will want to hear.

Cherry-Evans’ damning revelation

The devastated halfback fought back tears in an on-field interview after his side’s demoralising defeat and was still reeling when he fronted the press.

Queensland was in the contest for the first 15 minutes but after that its intensity dropped off and it simply couldn’t match a more slick, more powerful Blues outfit. While Cherry-Evans didn’t question the team’s passion, alarmingly, he did reveal NSW was more motivated because it was seeking revenge for last year’s shock series defeat.

“I think we’ve got to be motivated by the fact this has all happened and stop the bleeding (in game three),” Cherry-Evans said.

“I don’t think we were lacking passion, I believe after last year they were probably more motivated to win the series than we were.”

Asked what went wrong at Suncorp Stadium, Cherry-Evans added: “Probably with the motivation factor — you’d have to say theirs is a lot higher than ours at the moment and it’s something we can fix though.”

The Queensland spirit is something that has long been synonymous with Origin so to hear Cherry-Evans speak so candidly about lacking in that area was a damning indictment on his team.

The Manly playmaker also said he couldn’t process how big an impact the 11th hour withdrawal of Ronaldo Mulitalo because of question marks over his eligibility had on the side, saying “we’ll never know because it’s never been seen before”.

Queensland legend Cronk was scathing of the Maroons skipper, whose position as captain has come under scrutiny after failing to throw a punch in attack across the opening two games.

“There was zero conviction there,” Cronk told Fox League after Cherry-Evans’ press conference comments.

“If I’m DCE I put my hand up as captain and halfback and say, ‘It’s not all on me but a large percentage is on me because I didn’t tell this person to get to this position or I didn’t have my lead runners right’.

“For me the lack of motivation — and this is Origin — you’re playing at Suncorp, I’ve run out at Suncorp and there’s enough motivation in that roar when you run out onto that field.

“You lost, there’s nothing wrong with owning it and vowing to fight your way back next year.”

Green blasted for ‘deflection’

Unsurprisingly, there were plenty of questions about the Mulitalo debacle and who is to blame — whether it be the player himself, the Queensland Rugby League (QRL) or the NRL.

Green said the circus was “very disruptive” and while he didn’t use the last-minute re-shuffle as an excuse for the result, the Maroons coach was clearly upset as he suggested the NRL was at fault in the messy affair.

“It’s obviously a massive breakdown in the process. And I don’t think that’s finished yet,” Green said. “With all the information that was available to us, he was eligible to play.

“He signed his last two (NRL) contracts and in that he signed his eligibility to say he was ‘yes’ for Queensland.”

When a reporter pointed out just because Mulitalo ticked a box saying he was eligible for Queensland, it didn’t mean he actually was, Green replied: “What do you mean? That’s part of your contract. That’s the process.

“We (the QRL) don’t register the contracts. We’re not part of that process. We just get a list (from the NRL) off a database, which says they’re eligible, based on that.

“There were a lot of conversations (with the QRL hierarchy) that went on.

“It’s not ideal but I thought we handled it well.”

Ex-NSW five-eighth Anasta said Green should have shut down the Mulitalo discussion and instead focused more on Queensland’s on-field failings.

“What a deflection that was. For the first five minutes we’re talking about Ronaldo Mulitalo,” Anasta told Fox League.

“I said ahead of game one, Paul Green was so focused on making sure his side was the underdog. I saw that as poor leadership, I saw that as an excuse, and I see that (Mulitalo) the same.

“That should not be your focus after a loss like that. A record-breaking, poor performance in games one and two, and all he was worried about was Ronaldo Mulitalo.

“That was insignificant. Ronaldo wouldn’t have changed that.”

There are now serious questions about whether Green will be given a shot at redemption next year, as he only signed a one-year deal with the QRL. Maroons fans have already started pleading for Queensland to send an SOS to Wayne Bennett, who guided the state to an incredible upset series win in 2020.

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