Redemption fuelling No.6 Munster

BRISBANE: As rugby league admissions go, a Queensland State of Origin player admitting New South Wales simply “wanted it more” in game one is about as damning as they get.
But in the opinion of Cameron Munster, that’s the basic explanation for why the Blues secured an emphatic 50-6 victory over the Maroons in Townsville.
As hard as it is to admit, it’s also an attitude deficit that Munster and his teammates are determined to make up for when they face the Blues in a must-win game two at Suncorp Stadium on Sunday.
“At the end of the day, rugby league and Origin’s about desire and effort and we just didn’t have any of that in the first game,” Munster said.
“They wanted it more.
“They ran harder, they tackled harder. That’s rugby league. It’s a simple game and if you’re not running harder than anyone else, they’re obviously going to run over you.
“It’s just desire mate, that’s what we need.
“We need all our 17 players to run harder than them on Sunday.”
Munster admits upon reflection he shouldn’t have played in Townsville as he was still battling a foot injury that had sidelined him since early May.
Having regained his fitness and form in the NRL with Melbourne over the past two weeks, leading the Storm to big wins over the Warriors and Wests Tigers, the 26-year-old is itching to set the record straight.
“I don’t like to make too many excuses but being a month out of footy and then expecting to play your best footy in the first game of Origin, it’s probably pushing it a bit,” he said. – Yahoo Sports Australia

Capewell welcomes another challenge to mark Trbojevic

BRISBANE: It’s arguably the toughest job in rugby league at the moment but Kurt Capewell is welcoming another State of Origin match-up against Tom Trbojevic.
The New South Wales superstar continued his red-hot 2021 form in game one in Townsville, scoring a hat-trick as the Blues romped to a 50-6 victory.
That performance had many questioning whether Capewell would retain his centres spot for game two or be moved to the back-row where he plays his club football with Penrith.
Coach Paul Green has kept the faith with the hard-working 27-year-old, who scored Queensland’s only try in their Game-one humbling for his first points in a Maroons jersey, naming him to once again go toe-to-toe with Trbojevic. – Yahoo Sports Australia

Enforcer Papalii eager to lay platform for forwards

BRISBANE: Queensland enforcer Josh Papalii believes he can still play aggressively after spending his three-week suspension adjusting his tackle height in a bid to avoid future bans.
Papalii was the first player sent off under the NRL’s high contact crackdown. His shot on Canterbury winger Tuipulotu Katoa in Magic Round costing the front-rower a three-week ban that ruled him out of Origin one.
The 50-6 thumping was the first Origin Papalii had missed since game three in 2016 and he said the disappointment at watching the Maroons get beaten comprehensively by the Blues had fuelled his desire to lead the way at Suncorp Stadium on Sunday.
“Very hard and very tough to watch seeing the boys go through it,” Papalii told NRL.com.
“That’s the beauty of a three-game series, you can right your wrongs in games two or three.
“I think it was in the second week that I realised that with the three-week ban I got that I would be missing game one and that is always tough especially when you’ve played back-to-back games for Queensland.
“You always want to be involved in every game you get the opportunity to play. It was a bit tough but in saying that I’ve just got to aim a bit lower I think.”
Papalii has built his game on aggression.
Whether it be his strong carries through the middle of the field or his bruising hits in defence, he is an old-school enforcer that lifts the team with his tough actions.
But the 29-year-old knows he only needs to slightly change his ways if he is to thrive in this new era of rugby league.
That means bending his back a little more and aiming a bit lower, not tackling softer.
“Yeah, I think you can (still hit hard), you just can’t hit hard in the head,” he said.
“Obviously I’m a bit bigger than the backs running out of trouble and I’ve just got to bend that big back of mine and just aim around the ball.
“A lot of training has gone into the three weeks I was suspended and I’ve been working on it.
“I think what the NRL is doing is defending the players who are out there putting their body on the line.
“We’ve seen the likes of Boyd Cordner and Jake Friend retire due to head injuries and that’s the last thing we need.”
Maroons five-eighth Cameron Munster said the return of Papalii would have an enormous impact on the Queensland pack, which also had to combat the early loss of Christian Welch in Origin one after he failed a head injury assessment after just 12 minutes.
Papalii is a veteran of 18 Origin games and knows how to handle the intensity of Origin, as shown by his starring role in last year’s decider.
“Having Paps back, he is a big enforcer for us,” Munster said.
“I’m sure the boys in the middle will be getting a couple of feet taller than what they usually are.” – NRL

Arrow set to join side

BRISBANE: Queensland back-rower Jai Arrow is set join his Maroons teammates at training today after leaving hospital following treatment on an arm infection.
Arrow was sent by team doctor Matt Hislop to hospital on the Gold Coast after arriving in camp on Monday to treat an existing infection with intravenous antibiotics and the South Sydney star missed Tuesday’s training run at CBUS Super Stadium. – Yahoo Sports Australia

Briefs

Welch targets Cleary
BRISBANE: Maroons prop Christian Welch has vowed to harass New South Wales maestro Nathan Cleary all night at Suncorp Stadium in game two of the State of Origin series and replicate a tactic that helped Queensland win last year’s series. Welch, known as “White Rhino” by his Storm teammates, is regarded as one of the game’s best exponents of pressuring kickers and will lead Queensland’s seek and destroy mission to prevent Blues half Cleary.

Redemption eyed
SYDNEY: Maroons centre Dane Gagai feels he owes it to Queensland to inspire an Origin victory on Sunday night after he was owned by Latrell Mitchell in the series opener when his preparation was ruined by three days in hospital.The Maroons’ preparations to keep the series alive were again thrown into chaos on Monday evening when Jai Arrow was sent to hospital for intravenous antibiotics to treat a skin infection that had forced his arm to swell.

Line-up exposes club
BRISBANE: If the Broncos’ decline as an NRL giant needed to be made any clearer, Queensland’s State of Origin game two line-up rams it home. For just the second time since 1997 and the Super League war, the Maroons have picked a team without a Brisbane player. The only other time Queensland have taken to the field without at least one Bronco in their line-up in the past 23 years was game three last year — and that was because winger Xavier Coates was injured. – Agencies