Queensland Maroons head coach Billy Slater has praised his side for battling through adversity during Game 2 of the State of Origin series, before lumping praise on two stars who may not even have featured in a full-strength Maroons outfit.
The Queensland side, already trailing the series 1-0 after squandering a 14-point lead in Sydney during the series opener after Kalyn Ponga was sent off, found themselves down in the first half at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Wednesday night.
They then lost Tino Fa'asuamaleaui and Cameron Munster to head injury assessments, but fought through to concede no more points and even laid on a try.
Slater said he was pleased with the way his team went about their business.
"I thought we handled a fair bit of adversity in that first half. There were a few things that were out of our control with some [head injury assessments], and I just thought we handled that to the best of our ability," Slater said during his post-match press conference.
"On the back of that, we went into the second half and really chased our game.
"We got it right in the first 15 or 20 minutes of the second half, and that put us in a really good position."
Slater was then quizzed as to whether he gave thought to bringing Reece Walsh off the bench when Munster was off the park, but called it a 'soft' contingency.
"I spent a fair bit of time on contingencies. Some hard contingencies and some soft ones. That was a soft one. Rather than making a change with our fourth interchange player, we thought we could just make that soft one, and the guys did a really good job around that.
"Certainly, there were some challenges with the footy, but the most important thing was that we handled things without the footy.
"The effort off the back of that with the team, it put us in a good position."
After halftime, with Munster back on the park, Queensland streaked away with the win, scoring six tries in a 25-minute window.
Sam Walker, who was fantastic in the demolition of the Blues' defence, was given enormous praise by Slater.
The Roosters' halfback may not have even played in the series had Tom Dearden been fit, but he put up a great display in Game 1 and backed it up by being named man of the match in Game 2.
"He got his game right. It's hard. He is so humble and so respectful, but oozes confidence in his own ability," Slater said.
"The more time I've spent with Sam, the more I understand the greatness of his game.
"He just handled pressure situations so well. Like, think about that try off the scrum. He is in a pressure situation there, and he handled it with calmness and with skill.
"That's not easy.
"He works so hard on his game. He is the last one out on the field working on parts of his game, and that's why he has a medal around his neck.
"If you want to be good at something, you spend time on it. He spends a lot of time on his goal kicking, and you get rewarded for the hard work you put in."
Walker didn't do it on his own, though.
Captain Cameron Munster and hooker Harry Grant were also fantastic, but it was Selwyn Cobbo who stole headlines by scoring a hat-trick.
The outside back was also sensational in carrying the ball out of his own end, and Slater said his performance was down to hard work.
"You get what you deserve in our game, and Selwyn is getting what he deserves at the moment," Slater said.
"He has worked really hard, he is nice and fit, he is happy, has a big smile on his face, and he is in a great space.
"His footy is reflecting that. I think the start of our second half, he really triggered us. That carry from the back field, where he broke the line, that kick started us.
"He was great in Game 1 as well. He is in a good space."
