{"id":315626,"date":"2023-07-12T12:24:27","date_gmt":"2023-07-12T12:24:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=315626"},"modified":"2023-07-12T15:01:39","modified_gmt":"2023-07-12T15:01:39","slug":"johns-in-awe-as-stars-magic-rips-maroons-to-shreds","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=315626","title":{"rendered":"Johns in awe as star's 'magic' rips Maroons to shreds"},"content":{"rendered":"

NSW Blues<\/a> five-eighth Cody Walker<\/a> has been lauded for his phenomenal performance in State of Origin III, having not played for the side since 2020.<\/p>\n

The South Sydney star had a hand in a number of tries, finishing with \ufeffa try assist and line break assist each, as the Blues defeated Queensland 24-10<\/a>.<\/p>\n

On Walker's left side, debutant Bradman Best finished with a double and Josh Addo-Carr one try, with the five-eighth playing a role every time, earning the admiration of Blues legend Andrew Johns. \ufeff<\/p>\n

LIVE UPDATES:<\/strong> State Of Origin 2023 Game III live scores<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

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"He's just got magic in his hands, it's the only way to describe him," he said on Nine's coverage.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

"He could go for another five, six, seven years."\ufeff<\/p>\n

Post-game, Queensland assistant coach Johnathan Thurston was also full of praise for the five-eighth.<\/p>\n

"I thought Cody was the difference tonight," he said. \ufeff<\/p>\n

After Best was denied a try inside the first three minutes due to an offside call, Queensland scored first moments later when David Fifita pounced on a loose ball close to the line.<\/p>\n

Watch the State of Origin decider on catch up on<\/strong><\/em> 9Now<\/strong><\/em><\/a><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

\"Blues\u00a0go\u00a0sideline\u00a0to\u00a0sideline\u00a0for\u00a0electric\u00a0try\"<\/p>\n

The Blues then went into action with Brian To'o and Addo-Carr helping NSW take the lead inside the first 20 minutes, after the latter's chip and chase effort<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Denied a try earlier, Best finally had his debut four-pointer in the 23rd minute, with Walker putting him through a hole to stroll over. \ufeff<\/p>\n

Both sides then \ufeffhad their fair share of errors and penalties before a piece of Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow brilliance put Queensland back in the game. The centre grubbered ahead after a line break, running past Brian To'o to make it 16-10.<\/p>\n

Right on half-time, the Blues went further ahead at 18-10 after a Stephen Crichton penalty goal.<\/p>\n

\"2023<\/p>\n

Origin-winning coach Phil Gould \ufeffbelieved a change in the Blues' combinations was key to the strong start.<\/p>\n

"\ufeffI think the South Sydney combination have been the difference tonight," he said at half-time.<\/p>\n

"You know, having (Damien) Cook at dummy half, Cameron Murray in the middle, and Cody Walker has been outstanding on that left edge.<\/p>\n

"Every time he gets the ball, the pace of the play changes and he threatens the defence.<\/p>\n

"He's got Foxx (Josh Addo-Carr) away a couple of times. Bradman Best, he nearly got a kick try in the first couple of minutes. He's got them bamboozled on that left edge."<\/p>\n

\"Teddy<\/p>\n

After a physical second half, Walker's fingerprints were all over another try in the 65th minute when he put James Tedesco in the clear for a line break before the skipper found Best in support to score his second of the night. \ufeff<\/p>\n

Despite a number of close calls to both sides, NSW held on for the 24-10 victory to stop a Queensland sweep with Walker awarded man of the match. \ufeff<\/p>\n

Reuben Cotter was given the Wally Lewis Medal for man of the series. \ufeff<\/p>\n

For a daily dose of the best of the breaking news and exclusive content from Wide World of Sports, subscribe to our newsletter by<\/strong><\/em> clicking here<\/strong><\/em><\/a>!\u00a0<\/strong><\/em>\ufeff<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

NSW Blues five-eighth Cody Walker has been lauded for his phenomenal performance in State of Origin III, having not played for the side since 2020. […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":315628,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/315626"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=315626"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/315626\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":315630,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/315626\/revisions\/315630"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/315628"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=315626"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=315626"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=315626"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}