Skipper praises coaches for win

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Blues winger Josh Addo-Carr celebrating after scoring the Blues’ second try in their 14-18 loss to Queensland.
Queensland forward Josh Papalii taking on the New South Wales defence.

ADELAIDE: Man of the Match Daly Cherry-Evans lauded the calming influence of coach Wayne Bennett and his all-star assistant Mal Meninga after Queensland scored a dominant Origin I comeback win.
Cherry-Evans was among a slew of strong Maroons performers including centres Dane Gagai and Kurt Capewell.
The captain, who recorded 168 metres from 16 runs, helped seal an 18-14 victory with a flawless second-half goal-kicking display at the Adelaide Oval.
With Queensland blooding eight debutants yesterday night, Cherry-Evans told Channel 9 he’d taken charge at training in the lead-up but gave most of the credit to Bennett and his crew featuring Meninga and Neil Henry. “We’re that lucky with the coaching staff we’ve got who have coached a lot of big games,” he said.
“They definitely did a lot of the settling of the nerves during the week.
“It allowed me to just concentrate on being the halfback, which was good.
“I’ve never been coached by Wayne before and he’s definitely got a presence about him.
“Mal, I’ve been lucky enough to be coached by him a few times, and no doubt he’s got a presence amongst him as well.
“But it’s not unnerving, it’s not unsettling, it makes you very comfortable and sure of yourself. We had that tonight.”

Maroons forwards Jaydn Su’A and Christian Welch tackling New South Wales’ Jack Wighton.

Cherry-Evans conceded he was “one of the biggest culprits of trying to play too sideways” in the opening term as Queensland went into the break down 10-0.
He said there was a plan to be “more direct” when the action resumed.
“Once we got those messages and once we got that clarity, I thought we found our groove,” Cherry-Evans said.
The 31-year-old also praised five-eighth Cameron Munster and first-time Origin hooker Jake Friend for their efforts in steering the ship.
“I feel I was doing a fair bit of yelling tonight, but I felt like Munster and Jake took control of the second half. We found a bit of joy out on the left edge and Munny’s kicking game was pretty top shelf.” – NRL

Maroons forward Christian Welch attempting to offload possession.