New South Wales Blues head coach Laurie Daley has refused to pin the blame on goal kicking for his team falling short in Game 2 of the 2025 State of Origin series at Optus Stadium in Perth.
The loss marked the first time the Blues have lost in the west despite scoring five tries to four during the game.
New South Wales started the game strongly with a try, but then had to wait until the second half to score again, almost mounting the biggest comeback in State of Origin history.
That, despite scoring an extra try, with Zac Lomax, who took over goal kicking duties from a hampered Nathan Cleary who was struggling with a tight groin, only slotting two from five.
That follows a Game 1 horror show, where Cleary was only able to slot a penalty goal, but missed three conversion attempts, with Lomax also missing one after a change in kickers for the final attempt of the night.
It means the Blues have kicked jut three from ten throughout the series, but coach Daley said there were far more pressing issues for the Blues, who were blown off the park in the first half by the Maroons and conceded an 8-0 penalty count during the first 40 minutes.
"You want to kick goals, but there was a lot more things that we needed to do that I was disappointed in. Goal kicking is way down the list. It's more about our execution, intent. There was a lot of things we didn't do well in the first half," Daley said during his post-match press conference.
Daley said his side had opportunities to win the game, even with the goal kicking issues.
"I think when we look at the video, we will see opportunities [to win the game in the last ten minutes]. We created five tries to four, but I just get back to discipline and completions. We were nowhere near the mark in the first 40," Daley said.
"I was proud of them in the second half because they dug deep and showed everyone what they are capable of doing, but you have to go two halves. It's an old cliche, but it's true."
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Captain Isaah Yeo said he was frustrated with the Blues' discipline, where errors and penalties shot them time and time again during the opening half of footy at a wet and wild Optus Stadium.
"We were our own worst enemies. We were on our own tryline a lot just through our discipline, through errors. We couldn't get out of our own way at the time and then they had all the momentum," Yeo said.
"It was a game of two halves. I felt like we had momentum through the middle of the field in the second half, but you can't do that to a pack like that who are emotional off Game 1.
"More so as a team, Cam Munster ran a lot and they just wanted to be in the game. When things are going right for you, everyone wants the ball.
"We didn't do a good enough job of just holding their hands up. We compounded too much whether it was ill-discipline where we'd finally get the ball back and drop it early, or wouldn't get a good set end.
"I thought we spoke about it really well at halftime, there was no panic, so that was a good thing, but you just can't miss the jump in this. Sometimes scoring the first try can be a bad thing, and that might have been tonight."
