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And you couldn’t fault any one of them, as well as his resistance to bring back Burton’s teammate Josh Addo-Carr as Daniel Tupou again shone, while halfback Nathan Cleary won man of the match with two tries in a stellar 24-point haul after drawing barbs for his game one effort.
“I’m very lucky and blessed to wear this jersey and now we have one more to go,” Cleary told Nine. “I think we can enjoy this, but we can’t be too pleased with ourselves. We have to keep working to be better. That was the statement from the last game. We have to be hungry and want it.”
NSW coach Brad Fittler looks relaxed next to Queensland counterpart Billy Slater during the Origin II lead-up.Credit:Getty
The only change which was forced upon Fittler - Wighton’s COVID-19 diagnosis - might have been the one that worked out best, and that had nothing to do with the Raiders star, who was NSW’s best in a game one defeat earlier this month.
Burton was pitched into the NSW centres, and it will just be the first of many games he will play in sky blue.
He scored once, set up another before half-time with the softest of hands which wouldn’t have left a fingerprint on the ball, and then launched one of those mesmerising bombs which even had Cowboys magician Murray Taulagi spellbound. Just for good measure, he decided to strip Dane Gagai at a crucial time too.
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Api Koroisau? You just felt safe when you saw him as starting No.9, and Damien Cook’s days as the loyal 80-minute Origin solider are almost done.
Jake Trbojevic? When you saw the sight of blood spitting out the side of his lip midway through the first half, you felt even safer.
“I’m here making the changes,” Fittler said. “My job is to pick a team that I think is going to win. Simple as that. For them to come out and stand up for us, I think that’s the biggest accolade you can get as a coach.
“Whatever changes I think have to be made to win a game, I’m happy to [make them] to win a game, I’m happy to be called a dud coach or whatever. You know, I can live with that. But for them to back us up with our decisions is what it is all about.”
Better to correct a mistake late, rather than never.
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