Blues confident tide will turn after Origin boilover

Michael Ramsey |

The shell-shocked Blues say they will respond for Origin’s decider after their Perth disappointment.
The shell-shocked Blues say they will respond for Origin’s decider after their Perth disappointment.

A wounded NSW say they’re too good to be down for long and have vowed to return to their best as State of Origin heads to a game-three decider in Sydney.

It comes as NSW forward Liam Martin calls out social media abuse he received in the wash-up from the 26-24 Origin II loss to Queensland in Perth.

The Blues were left to lament early errors on Wednesday night, giving away eight penalties in the opening 40 minutes.

A second-half ledger of four tries to none should have been enough to propel NSW to a comeback victory but Zac Lomax kicked just two of five conversions to leave the door open for the Maroons.

NSW players celebrate a try.
The Blues celebrate Angus Crichton’s try at Optus Stadium. (Dan Himbrechts/AAP PHOTOS)

The poor start has left coach Laurie Daley with plenty to ponder.

But prop Payne Haas says the Blues never doubted they could get the game back on their terms, and extended that confidence to the July 9 decider.

“We knew the tide was going to turn, we’re too good to be down and out. So we’ll be back next game,” he told AAP.

“We always believe in each other. We know we have that spirit. We love this jersey, we love playing for each other.

“We probably just shot ourselves in the foot, to be honest, in the first half. When you complete at 56 per cent and have an 8-0 penalty count, it probably doesn’t help in these kinds of big games.

“It’s something we’ve got to fix, and we’ll fix it for sure in game three.”

Centre Stephen Crichton said the Blues had paid the price for fundamental errors.

“It’s Origin, so you’re always going to pay for your mistakes,” he said.

“We put too much pressure on ourselves and that was the story of the first half … the game kind of got away from us.

“We came back in the second half and played our style of footy.”

Stephen Crichton
Stephen Crichton touches down for a NSW try in Perth. (Dan Himbrechts/AAP PHOTOS)

Blues second-rower Martin took to social media after the game to share an abusive message he received from a viewer in the wash-up from NSW’s loss.

Martin advised his Instagram followers “don’t be like Beau” on a screenshot from the user who called him a “disgrace to rugby league” among other insults.

“I don’t care what they say on the field, call me a grub or whatever. But that overstepped the line and I just have to call it out. It’s not on,” Martin said.

“I don’t think in the game there is room for that, it’s not on. It’s pretty disappointing but he will learn his consequences I guess.”

AAP