SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA – AUGUST 04: Referee Ashley Klein gives a penalty during the round 20 NRL match between the St George Illawarra Dragons and the Parramatta Eels at WIN Jubilee Stadium on August 04, 2019 in Sydney, Australia. (Photo by Mark Kolbe/Getty Images)
New South Wales Blues coach Brad Fittler has blasted a missed forward pass in the lead up to Queensland’s second try in Origin 2, but admitted it probably didn’t impact the result.
The Maroons took a 10-0 lead into the halftime break of Game 2, which they ultimately went onto win 32 poins to 6, but both of the first half tries carried controversy.
The first try, to Valentine Holmes, appeared to see him fail to ground the ball while questions were also asked regarding Xavier Coates potentially knocking the ball on in an aerial challenge. After being sent to the bunker with an on-field call of no try, the verdict would be overruled.
The second try, scored by Murray Taulagi, also appeared to come with a badly missed forward pass from David Fifita in the lead up.
Fittler said it was a bad call.
“Yeah,” Fittler said during his post-game press conference when asked if the try leading to Queensland’s second try was forward.
“I thought the touchie was in a really good position to call it as well so that was a bad call, but they beat us by more than a try. I’m not sure if that would have made a difference. They just seemed to tick the scoreboard over pretty consistently the whole night. The first couple were questionable but it wouldn’t have made a difference I don’t think.”
The end of the contest also exploded between the two sides, with Josh Addo-Carr sin binned for punching, and both Jarome Luai and Reece Walsh sent off for head butting.
Fittler said there was nothing in.
“There was nothing. No one got hurt,” Fittler said on the end of the game.
“I didn’t see an issue.”
His opposite coach Billy Slater had a different opinion though, and went a step further to say the Blues had targetted Walsh throughout the series to date.
“It’s State of Origin. It means a lot to both teams. There has been a bit go on in the first two games and it probably just boiled over a little bit,” Slater said.
Looking at it from our point of view, they went after him [Walsh]. Fox [Josh Addo-Carr] went after him in the first action in Game 1, Pangai [Junior] came after him about 20 seconds after. They had a go at him and put him under pressure, but he has to learn to accept that’s coming for the next 15 years. Trust me, I know.
“But he rose above it. He will learn though. He is 20 years old, but boy hasn’t he had some sort of series, and he has earnt that. He has earnt that through his professionalism and actions week-to-week at the Broncos, and then when he has come into camp, Reece wants to be as good as he possibly can. If he can continue that want, there is no ceiling that Reece Walsh can’t get to. He has been a big part of this team this year.”
All three players have been slapped with fines by the NRL’s match review committee and will be free to play for their respective clubs this weekend.
Source:: ZeroTackle
