Backstage with Cooper & Matty Johns
Origin 2 REACTION! | NSW Defensive Collapse, QLD Blueprint & Cobbo Magic!
17 Jun 2026
Transcript generated automatically by AI and may contain errors.
Chapter 1: What were the key moments in the NSW vs QLD Origin 2 match?
You know what? I think Laurie's got them right where he wants them. You know what? It's all part of the master plan, my friend. Suncorp Decider Game 3. This is what State of Origin is all about. But if you're listening on podcast or Spotify, hit the subscribe button for us. And if you're watching on the YouTube, let's try to get our YouTube subscribers to 30,000. And guess what, Matthew?
We've still got some Mate vs. Mate caps still available.
Oh, and the Decider.
New South Wales flew off the shelf in the first game because obviously they won. Now Queensland winning. So get them before game three so you can wear them to your respective pubs or if you're going to the game. Yes. But what a game that was. Quite a unique one.
We're going to go through a bit of an overview of the game, people's performances, some potential changes in game three coming to Suncorp. Yes. The biggest moment, Matthew, we spoke about it during the game, and I think a lot of the people at home would have got the same sort of vibe. That defensive set right before halftime, Queensland were on the ropes.
New South Wales, I think they were up 12-8, and they had two sets and an attack. They had a repeat set, a six again there. Queensland were out on their feet, and they managed to stop New South Wales, who had a lot of momentum. Yep. And we said at the time, we said, if Queensland stop this, I think they run away in the second half and win it. It was such a defining moment for that game, wasn't it?
It really was, Coop. And as we go through the run of the game, you'll see the first half sort of New South Wales dominated for the most part of that first half. But Queensland sort of hit back towards the back end. They got the Liero try. But what you've got with 12-8, and all of a sudden if New South Wales have got that, and let's remember, they're attacking there right on halftime.
They get two sets of Max Plath. Munster's not on it. Maxi Plath is defending on the edge. So Munster's one of their primary communicators and dictates how he reads defence very, very well. So big opportunity there. One thing Queensland do very well, boys. Queensland... individually and collectively.
Queensland players have got a very, very good sense of the dramatic, and I mean this, individually and collectively, is that when they're under adversity, they know exactly what they have to do, the sense that this is a really important time in the game and what they have to do under adversity to turn this game around and pull off a, you know, whilst I wouldn't say miraculous victory, but like they've done in the past.
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Chapter 2: How did QLD's tactics impact the game's outcome?
You can see them lift because they go, okay, we can be part of one of those great Queensland wins. Yeah. So 12-8, New South Wales are leading. And the Queensland, you know, we dominated that first half for the most. Then Queensland just pulled a little bit back with the Liero try. But if we go in there and we score, suddenly it's 18-8 up. We go into the sheds, our tails are right up. And...
Queensland, you know, we've just suppressed that momentum a little bit. And so it's a big one. You know, Queensland in the past, and as I showed again tonight, had the ability to turn a contest with their defence, with effort. And what Queensland do very, very well in those situations is absorb pressure. That's what they're brilliant at. Yeah.
I thought that if the tail of the tape of the game, I thought, like, We're going to go through them. New South Wales, they won the yardage for the most part in the first half. That second half in yardage, though, were absolutely smashed.
You know what it comes from? It comes from whoever kicks off first in Origin, they get so much of an advantage. New South Wales kicked off first. Queensland just... You can never get out of your own 40 in that first few sets of origin. And you start, basically, I think Sam Walker kicked the first one, and they catch it on their own 40, and they start to dominate field position.
Second half, the exact same thing happened. Queensland kicked, and then we trapped them, and New South Wales didn't get out of their end for the first 10 minutes.
Well, that's it. I just thought throughout the game, and we'll run through it bit by bit, but I just throughout the game, I thought the New South Wales, particularly the second half, they constantly looked indecisive and nervous with the football, like just hesitant with the football. Queensland just looked really decisive and really aggressive. That's how they looked.
And so when you marry those two things up, You know, those two factors, it explains why New South Wales, the Blues were steamrolled that second half. It's funny because if we go through the game, the first 20 minutes of the game, the first couple of sets, Queensland were good. Yeah. And they shifted the ball to their left side, their favourite side, Queensland left side, Katoni side.
They made a break and they led 2-0. And then a really big moment was when they kicked off New South Wales, Tommy Flegler dropped that ball. And when Tommy Fliller dropped that ball and Marky Mark picked it up and went inside and Katoni scored, that sparked a little period of dominance for New South Wales. And I thought Queensland cooped there. They actually looked quite rattled. Yeah.
Like if you look at that, go back and watch the 20-minute period after that try. They look really indecisive in yardage. Yeah. You know, they're looking like, okay, we're pushing towards the end. There was one point that Harry threw the ball to Munster and Munster sort of went there and you see him go to Harry like, you know, why did you throw it to me?
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Chapter 3: What was Selwyn Cobbo's role in QLD's victory?
And you saw... the next attacking set, New South Wales, they started to get very expansive with the footy. I think Katoni actually, they hit Katoni, threw it over the sideline. But then that was sort of a turning, like they didn't go into their shell from their New South Wales. New South Wales continued to play that style of footy. They actually played a really good attacking brand.
Just continuing to get it to Staggs on the right side early and then Kohler on the left side early. Not too many block shakes. It was really flat and they were getting the ball there quickly. And it didn't give the Queensland Edgers any time to, first of all, identify what was coming at them or get line speed with it.
And during that period, we were winning the yardage. And so, consequently, when New South Wales win yardage, you're constantly getting Mitchell Moses and Nathan Cleary into attacking key positions. Yeah. And you're going to score points.
And that one there, Nathan put a kick through, it rebounded off Munster and threw it over to Marky Mark and we're leading 12 points to two and they're sailing along. But then that try at Queensland... Again, mate, you know, and the tale of the tape is constantly Queensland moving the ball to their favourite side, understanding their strengths and where they can find us vulnerable.
And, you know, we were having all the running and all of a sudden Queensland got the ball. They just moved the ball to that left. Hammer beat Cattoni and Dylan Lucas went down the next play. Harry scoops it up and away he goes and they score and it's 12 points to wait. It... In an interesting period here, it said Munster went off for the HIA after that. Plath goes to six. Very interesting there.
The most logical play you would think at that time would be, okay, here we go. Reece Walsh to fullback, Cullen into six. It's logical. Now, Billy's just recognising the game. Hang on. The game's not breaking open yet. I'm not going to throw all the chips in at the moment. So instead...
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Chapter 4: What defensive issues did NSW face during the match?
He goes Plath at six, okay, which looks a more risky play, but I don't think it is. He goes to six to shore up the end defensively and he decides, okay, for this next period, I'm going to go without ā I'm going to play with one less creative player and just lean on ā Lean on Caelan a little bit more to just do a little bit more.
It's funny, during that period, Coop, I thought in that period, Sammy Walker's football, he really missed Munster there. Yeah. I thought he was absolutely brilliant in the game. I thought that was just one period where he dipped slightly.
I think they had a bad plan. I don't think they, you know... No one has a plan for that when a creative goes off, but I think they should have used Max Plath up front a little bit more, playing like an Isaiah Yeo type ball playing role up the front and then allow Sammy Walker and Caelan Ponga to combine the secondary at the back.
But a lot of the times they just send Max Plath to the short side and allow Walker and KP just to sort of combine on one open side, but they couldn't create any numbers because they were manned down a little bit. And then in defence, I think... They did look vulnerable a couple. This is where New South Wales should have taken advantage of it. They nearly took advantage of it once.
They went down that right side. When you've got a larger body who's not used to defending at that half spot where you've got a back row running your inside shoulder, you've got to check him and then get out the back. They did it once. They put Moses on Plath's outside shoulder, and they actually looked really under pressure. Marky Mark nearly scored in the corner.
But Cobbo just did enough to, he planted it on the line. But it was the only time they went back to that side. They looked good in that side. They probably played a little early knowing that Plath was there. They could have gone a little bit deeper, held him up more. But New South Wales didn't go back to that side and put the same thing on.
They're a little bit disheartened because Marky Mark didn't score. But I thought they could have taken a little bit better advantage from that.
Isn't it funny there, Coop? We just spoke about that. We said about the ability to absorb pressure. And so Billy at that point, when Munster goes off, straight away they've scored. Queensland have scored. But he recognises Munster going off, okay, we're under pressure here. We've lost one of our most important men. He's gone off the field.
Queensland and New South Wales are going to recognise that. What do I do? What am I going to do here? Okay. I'm not going to go all chips on the race. Let's absorb the pressure. Let's put Maxi Plath on. Mate, bloke with aggression and energy, he's going to bring that to the football and just hold him out during this period. And it worked well. Yeah, I think so.
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Chapter 5: How did Cameron Murray influence the game dynamics?
Max Plath did the little round-the-corner pass to him. But... It was the story of that whole first half. And even the second half, which we're about to get into.
But every time Queensland looked good with the football, they were attacking that space in and around Cattoni, whether it was putting a block on him, making him check, and then have to chase Cattle out the back, or getting it out the back and giving it to the hammer, who'd either challenge him on the outside, or in that instance, cuts him back on the inside because he's so worried about his speed.
Then Harry Grant... Dylan Lucas was one marker and Harry Grant on fifth tackle, goes down that short side. When he goes down that short side on last, the whole New South Wales defensive line compresses and start chasing to where Harry went, thinking, oh, he's the major threat.
But they go long pass to Munster, who gets it out to Sammy Walker, gets it to Max Plath, and then a nice little pass to Trent Liera. They had a few really nice tries like that, Queensland. A little bit more... You saw game one, they had a little bit more set moves ready to go. Like they tried to catch James Tedesco out who was in the line with their little short kicking game.
They didn't have any of that this time. Didn't have any of that. They relied more on their football instincts and almost playing a little bit of Fijian touch football. Yeah, yeah. They did, Coops. Yeah, they certainly did.
You know, in that second half, two things. When you run through the tries in the second half, And Jack, it's one of two things. It's dominating Yardage and working the position for an attacking kick or working out really smart sequences to attack to their favorite side and put pressure on Katani. I mean, the first drive to halftime, Yardage dominates.
Now it gets them to an attacking kick, semi-walker high kicks. As you said, they come up with it in Selwyn schools. They try it at the far edge. But again, like you said, Maxi Plath, I mean, that bloke, mate, just his ability to find... And he did it twice in this game, Lieras trying that try.
The ability to find the right pass that's going to lead to a try in a tight, difficult situation is just outstanding.
Well, they've got like... They have ā particularly in their middle, like Max Plath and like Harry Grant offers it as well, but some of their mobile forwards, they've got great football instincts. Yeah.
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Chapter 6: What strategies are proposed for NSW to improve in Game 3?
Who then found that beautiful little kick to Selbon Cobbo. That's right. Just find the pass. Find the man. It was a good mix because, like I just said before, that game one, it was like the brilliance of Billy Slater's coaching in giving them some nice set plays, which they got three clean tries out of.
Whereas this one, it was a lot of just, you could tell their plan was to just, let's get up there, kick chase, a lot more effort-based, and our tries will come naturally.
Yep. Made definitely coups. Definitely. And the second try of hard time coup. was the combination of the two things we're talking about. Yardie's dominance. Sammy Walker puts high kick in. Brings a New South Wales error. They go to the scrum, and from the scrum, they do a nice little trick shot. Guess which side they hit? To their favoured left-hand side. Pressuring in and around Katoni.
Again, beautiful blind pass from Sammy Walker. Completely blind pass. So much trust there. And Kalen just rips around...
And it was actually, when you see that, Nathan Cleary knew it was coming. You could see he knew it was coming because Kalen fed it. And as Kalen fed it, he was wrapping around. He knew there was going to be a block inside Katoni and Kalen was going to get out in the back. Nathan actually did the right decision because...
You can be passive on that play or you can get out and shut it down before the fullback has time to actually be at the back of the block. And if you see it in slow-mo, Nathan actually did that really well. He got out and he put the pressure on. The only thing he didn't account for was the brilliance of Sam Walker. Because Sam Walker actually, Kalen was about three or four meters out of position.
But Sam Walker just did this beautiful blind no-look pop pass, and he just gave it enough float and just popped it just enough so that Kalen could get it at full steam, get on the outside of Katoni Staggs, and he put Sel and Cobbo away in that left corner. It's almost ā Nathan would have been ā if you'd asked Nathan, I guarantee you said, like, I knew it was going to be man on.
If I got up and got aggressive, I could shut the play down quick enough. But he just didn't account for that X factor that Sam Walker has.
Sam, this has been the making of Sam's career.
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Chapter 7: What changes might NSW consider for the next game?
They go there. They put a dent. Harry scoops, and he goes. He goes through. And then they go two past Munster, who does the long kick to Jojo Fafida, who scores. And it... And like you said, like you said during your time at the Melbourne Storm working with Billy, that's one of Billy's favourite plays, a two-pass kick.
Well, because teams are so good at escorting, so if you get one pass like you see and someone just puts it, if you've got a great aerial threat like Mark Nwonganitawase and you just kick it there, some aerial threats can get up past the escort and still have a dent. But when you go a two-pass, Sam Walker and then rips it to Cam Munster,
It forces, I think it was the center was Tolu Kola at the time. It forces that edge to actually have to come up. The edge on fifth tackle, they want to just stay back, stay back, almost cheat the system. And then as the kick goes up, they can instantly create a wall around their winger just to protect him.
Yeah.
But if you act like you're going to run like that, two pass, it forces Tolu to come in and up on the end of the line in case they have a run. And then Munster just puts that beautiful kick in. They did it on two occasions. One, they got an error out of Toto. And this time, Jojo Fafita scored. But it just isolates a winger completely.
Yeah.
And because Toto's back there on his back foot... Jojo has all the momentum. He's running. And it's almost like a header in soccer. Yeah, it is. The centre-backs are sitting there just completely on their back foot, trying to get momentum and be aggressive to get up. But Jojo just had all the running. He'd come from outside in and just completely blindsided Tottenham. It was a beautiful try.
What about Billy's ability to ā Elevate those players like Selwyn. We can talk about it later, and Jojo. Under him, I don't know exactly what he does and how to coach him, whether it's just information or it's belief or what it is, but my God. Players that are being... Whoever he selects and takes a punt on, my God, they fire.
It seems like he just knows how to narrow their focus into what's important for him, you know, and get them ā for Selwyn, I imagine almost his biggest obstacle in his game is himself. You know, sometimes ā you know what I mean? Spot on.
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Chapter 8: What are the predictions for the upcoming Game 3 showdown?
some of their strengths are, where Billy goes, don't worry about, you know, don't worry about scoring two or three tries or trying to get an intercept or shut this down. Your focus is on yardage. And you could see him and Jojo from the start, their, like, back carries out of their end, particularly Selwyn.
Oh, power.
Like, he gave Nathan Cleary sometimes, like, Nathan's a great defender for a half too. He was getting up in Selwyn's face and just getting thrown off.
Like, it was Greg Inglis-like. It was. It was. I actually saw him a couple of the runs earlier. I thought, mate, Jesus, like, G.I., New South Wales got back into the game there for a second. Again, the Maroons dropped it off the kickoff again, and we scored 26-18. Within 16 minutes to go, again, guess which side they go? Straight to that left side, targeting Contoni.
And this time, Contoni, mate, he just flies outside in. It's almost like that's a defensive... decision from someone, I think, who was under pressure.
Oh, definitely.
I can see that. He's just raced outside in, collected Kaelin, mate, to be honest, probably lucky not to be sent, got 10, but it just left you short, the edge vulnerable, and Hammer goes and scores. Mm-hmm. And again, that's Queensland just going, you said about, you know, what is it that gives players confidence?
It's narrowing the focus and also giving them a GPS in their brain to say, right, this is what we're doing. This is, we're going to take the football. And in the first two games. Ponga has terrorised the New South Wales right-hand side defence by just basically just sitting himself in that sweet spot and saying to Queensland, you bring the ball to me, and it's worked time and time again for them.
Like you said, it was a decision that was a blow. I don't think he jammed coming outside in aggressive like that in game one at all, Ketone. I know the other centre, I think Critter had a few times in game one and Tolu had a few times in the first half in game two, but he hadn't been aggressive all day. He was quite passive, passive, but when you put...
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