The rugby league world was reeling when Daly Cherry-Evans suffered the brunt of the State of Origin axe, all but ending an illustrious 26-game career for Queensland as Tom Dearden was ushered into the No.7 jumper.
But in the aftermath of his side’s thrilling 26-24 triumph to keep the series alive in Perth, Maroons coach Billy Slater offered an emphatic response when asked if his call had been vindicated.
“You won’t get a negative word out of me for Daly Cherry-Evans, he’s a wonderful player and has been a wonderful player for a long period of time,” Slater declared.
Tom Dearden was one of the best on ground as Queensland kept the series alive.Credit: Getty Images
“It’s Tom’s time now. He didn’t surprise any of us, I don’t think, in what he put out there, so I’m really proud of him. It’s the first time he’s worn the No.7 jersey for Queensland, and I wouldn’t imagine it would be the last.”
Cherry-Evans’ snubbing marked the first time in nearly three decades Queensland had dropped their captain midway through a series, but Dearden demonstrated he was the future of the state alongside new leader, Cameron Munster.
The North Queensland Cowboys star’s ability to dig deep and straight into the defensive line led to Kurt Capewell’s try and the first for Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow, while his pinpoint crossfield bomb for “The Hammer” created his second.
He ran with vigour for his 64 metres, yet more impressively, he came up with 25 tackles for no misses to announce himself as Queensland’s long-term halfback – a role that appeared Sam Walker’s destiny.
In what was the first time Dearden partnered with Cameron Munster in the halves, the pair linked up in a dominant opening 40 minutes to lead by 20 points.
While Queensland lacked direction in their game one defeat, the Dearden-Munster combination played straight at the Blues to pose questions and keep them guessing.
“[We just played] off the cuff, eyes up footy. We obviously have structures in place, but that goes out the window when you see opportunities, and that just takes one little moment for blokes to push into the right hole,” Munster said.
“We had a great combination of me and Tommy, we can build on that. There are some things we could both work on in the second half, we lost a bit of control there, we’ve just got to work on our discipline there.”
Dearden proved the perfect foil for Munster, whose debut as captain proved a man-of-the-match performance – finishing with a try and 131 running metres.
Slater believed all that changed for the five-eighth was the fact the “c” was next to his name, adamant the man many see as a larrikin had already been a leader since entering the Origin arena.
But to part ways with a leader in Cherry-Evans had the potential to make or break his Origin coaching career.
It was one of several selection calls which divided pundits, yet each proved effective.
Capewell was inspirational, scoring a try and coming up with several bruising hits, one that forced an error from Payne Haas while pinned on Queensland’s line with 90 seconds remaining.
Trent Loiero’s shift to lock was rewarded with 41 tackles despite leaving the field at one stage for a head injury assessment.
Tabuai-Fidow returned to his try-scoring ways on the wing, crossing twice, Kurt Mann’s debut off the bench yielded a try assist, and Moeaki Fotuaika overcame a poor game one to set a palpable platform in his opening stint.
But at the heart of the performance, particularly as they defended for the majority of the second half, was a desire to play for Slater, who had the pressure on him intensified following an emotional pre-game press conference.
Munster insisted he did not need to galvanise his playing group to put their heart on their sleeves for Slater. They already knew they needed to fight for the former Melbourne Storm champion.
“When you’ve got jabs or blokes in the media having a go at your coach, at the end of the day, he’s our coach, and he’s done everything he can to tick the boxes for us,” Munster said.
“We didn’t perform for him in game one, and he got a lot of slack for it and stuff in the media, and he didn’t deserve it. When you have someone jab at him like that it really hurts, it hurts me personally.
“I never tell him that, I’m telling him now – I love him, and I just want to do the best thing for Queensland and the best thing for him. He’s not doing this for him, he’s doing this for Queensland.
“When you have someone like that at the top of the helm, you just want to play for him.”
