NSW Game 1 Player Ratings

40/20's NSW Blues player ratings after they suffered a 16-10 loss to the QLD Maroons at Accor Stadium

James Tedesco (9.5/10)

Minutes: 80

266 Run Metres, 1 Line break, 8 Tackle breaks

The Blues skipper was their best on ground, as per usual. When the going gets tough, the tough get going and James Tedesco stepped up. Had the blues come back to win the game it would’ve been purely down to Tedesco's output. The one blemish on an otherwise perfect game was the kick inside to Cleary on third tackle which was recovered by Valentine Holmes.

Brian To’o (7.5/10)

Minutes: 80

205 Run Metres, 75 Post Contact Metres, 8 Tackle breaks

Brian To’o is fast becoming one of the most consistent players in the blues side, notching up his third 200+ run metre game, with 75 post contact. His starts to the set were amazing, bending the line back on every run. Close to the line he didn’t quite have that same contribution, however you can’t blame him for Jack Wighton being the man to target on that left edge.

Kotoni Staggs (4.5/10)

Minutes: 53

78 Run Metres, 13 Tackles (3 missed)

Kotoni Staggs’ didn’t overly disappoint in his origin debut, however he didn’t have that Staggs impact that we know and love. He had a couple of damaging runs but didn’t seem to be involved enough, and the shoulder injury suffered in the 53rd minute didn’t allow him to fully show off his skill in the origin arena.

Jack Wighton (8.5/10)

Minutes: 80

12 Tackles (100% tackle efficiency), 2 Line breaks, 165 Run Metres

New South Wales’ best on ground in the first half, by far. His second half was quiet by comparison up until the last 15 minutes, but it was still a great performance for a man under so much pressure pre-game. It was clear that Freddy made the right choice when putting Wighton into the Blues no.4 jersey, and good on him for it.

Daniel Tupou (7/10)

Minutes: 80

26 Runs, 206 Run Metres, 73 Post Contact Metres

The big controversy pre-game was the axing of Bulldogs speedstar Josh Addo-Carr, in favour of this man. Tupou didn’t disappoint, playing at his consistent best, running for 200+ run metres (yet again), and dominating under the high ball. You can see why he was picked over the Fox, however his attacking presence may have been missed.

Jarome Luai (6/10)

Minutes: 80

2 Try assists, 0 errors, 73 Run Metres

Jarome Luai was the better half out of the Panthers duo, however that may be more of a comment on Cleary’s game then his own. Luai’s attacking presence was felt, having a hand in both of the Blues tries with nice touches to Wighton and Murray. You can’t overly fault his game by looking at the stats, however he looked lost at times, disrupting some attacking plays the blues put on by being a metre or two out of place. He wasn’t disappointing, but he wasn’t as good as we know he can be.

Nathan Cleary (5/10)

Minutes: 80

128 Run Metres, 1 Line break assist, 595 Kick Metres

Expect a bounce back in game two. Nathan Cleary’s kicking game (for a man who took 20 of the teams 25 kicks) was poor, nearly every attacking kick would land on the 10m, rather than the goalline, and it was a detriment to the Blues attack. He ran the ball well, however the kicking game was not good enough for the NRL’s best player.

Payne Haas (8.5/10)

Minutes: 60

143 Run Metres, 70 Post Contact Metres, 41 Tackles (0 missed)

The NRL’s best front rower, and potentially even best forward, proved as such despite fighting a losing cause. Every run he made bent the line back, with 70 of his 143 hard earned metres being post-contact.

Damien Cook (6/10)

Minutes: 80

56 Tackles (0 missed), 96 Run Metres

There was a lot of criticism around Damien Cook's game in Origin I, however I personally thought he played a decent enough game. He made a whopping 56 tackles, 0 missed and was very sharp in attack when running it. My biggest criticism of him was his 5th tackle options, where on numerous occasions a ball hit the ground, or he circled around not really knowing who to pass it to.

Reagan Campbell-Gillard (7.5/10)

Minutes: 39

10 Runs, 106 Run Metres, 0 errors, 22 Tackles (3 missed)

Big Reg was impressive on debut, playing just 39 minutes but being, in my opinion, the second best forward on the field for the blues. Every run he came off the back fence as he does in club land and gave it his all. Did absolutely nothing wrong and made a handy 106 metres from only 10 runs.

Liam Martin (4/10)

Minutes: 80

31 Run Metres, 51 Tackles (4 missed)

Easily the most disappointing player on the field, replacing Cam Murray in the starting side, playing 80, then having very little impact. His seven runs for 31 metres were poor to put it nicely, and his only real positive was the 51 tackles he made in defence.

Tariq Sims (5/10)

Minutes: 57

24 Tackles (5 missed), 83 Run Metres, 1 line break

Tariq is known to have a bit of mongrel about him but that seemed to lack on Wednesday night. He missed 5 tackles but the worst one led to a soft Daly Cherry-Evans try where he seemed to just let him stroll over. His running game was good enough, but I would expect him to be better for game II, if he gets that call.

Isaah Yeo (6/10)

Minutes: 55

128 Run Metres, 30 Tackles (3 missed)

A very quiet game for the NSW lock comparative to what he can do. Early in the game he suffered a head knock which I thought would rule him out, but he continued to play on and didn’t seem the same as usual. In saying that, his impact was still felt, NSW seemed a lot better when he was on the field, proven by the 10-0 scoreline in the minutes which he was on the field.

Stephen Crichton (3/10)

Minutes: 28

12 Run Metres, 8 Tackles (1 missed)

Misused. In Freddy we trust, but this decision blew my mind when it was made, and it continues to do so. I see absolutely no reason why Stephen Crichton was the bench option just to come on and play 25 minutes as a centre. He was never given the chance to show his talents and basically had to be a wildcard which would somehow get NSW out of a hole. Defensively solid, didn’t have enough runs.

Cameron Murray (6.5/10)

Minutes: 50

1 Try, 87 Run Metres, 33 Tackles (3 missed)

Should’ve started. But hey I’m not an origin coach, so I don’t know what I’m talking about. I have nothing much to say other than this bloke's impact for 30 minutes which he was not on the field was sorely missed.

Junior Paulo (4.5/10)

Minutes: 31

33 Run Metres, 1 line break, 18 Tackles (4 missed)

Ryan Matterson (5/10)

Minutes: 37

10 Runs, 77 Run Metres, 26 Tackles (0 missed)