NSW Blues head coach Laurie Daley has confirmed there are no new problems with Mitchell Moses' hamstring or fitness despite the five-eighth being taken out of the game in the final minutes.
Moses, who was under an injury cloud right up to kick-off in Game 2 after sitting out Game 1 and earning a recall for the trip to Melbourne, raised eyebrows when he was spotted on the interchange bench in the closing minutes of the game.
Daley, though, said he had been taken off the park for protection.
"We just wanted to look after him. He is okay, there is nothing to gain by having him out there, so we just took him from the field. His hammy is all good," Daley said during his post-match press conference.
Moses, being taken out of the game, came after the Blues squandered a halftime lead, letting in six tries in just 25 minutes.
The blame can hardly be attributed to Moses or halves partner Nathan Cleary, but the jury will be out on their performance given pre-match questions about not only their combination, but the fact Ethan Strange, one of the Blues' best in the series opener, was benched to accommodate Moses' return.
Daley said the duo had their moments in the loss.
"They had their moments, but again, when you're under the pump, no field position and your ruck is getting pounded, we weren't as good on the ground as what Queensland were. Their ruck seemed a lot faster, and ours seemed a lot slower," Daley said.
"They did a really good job there, and we just made it hard on ourselves.
"There are some things there that we can fix."
Cleary finished the game with a try assist, while Moses had none, but did manage a tackle break within his six runs of the footy.
The duo shared kicking responsibilities, with Moses' long-range kicking game seeing him throw down 337 metres from 9 efforts, while Cleary had 259 from 11.
Despite that, there was a feeling that the Blues lacked creativity with two out-and-out halfbacks playing in the halves, and Strange could be a firm chance of returning to the starting side for what is now a live decider in Brisbane after the disastrous second half in Melbourne.
