Queensland coach Billy Slater has revealed he was unsurprised with Tom Dearden's performance, Kurt Capewell's return, Harry Grant's bounce back, or the way Cameron Munster captained the state during the second game of the 2025 State of Origin series.
After a dismal performance at home in Game 1, the under pressure head coach pulled the trigger on a handful of changes.
Daly Cherry-Evans was axed, with Cameron Munster taking over as captain, and Tom Dearden the number seven jumper, while Beau Fermor was also dropped for Kurt Capewell.
That, despite the Warriors' second-rower leading the competition for missed tackles.
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Slater though said he doesn't pick his team on numbers.
"There is a reason why the Warriors are doing well, and it's because they have players like Kurt Capewell in their team. That's what successful footy teams look like. They have hard-working players that are willing to put everything into the footy team, and that's what Capes does," Slater said during his post-match press conference.
"There was a bit of talk around the number of missed tackles and that on his stats sheet, and I didn't know that until I read it in the paper.
"It goes to show I don't look at numbers, I look at habits in players, I look at their actions, and how they contribute to their footy team. He has done an amazing job. He has played at centre, in the back-row, he is in great shape, he is nice and fit, and he is a team-first player. He might have surprised a few, but it wasn't out of the blue for me."
In the halves, Cameron Munster took out man of the match honours in his first game as Queensland captain, becoming just the third skipper of the state to win his first game away from home.
"Absolutely. Even without being the captain, Cameron Munster has really led this footy team. He led it as a kid when I was still playing in 2017, Game 3. He led it with his actions, and that's what he did again tonight," Slater said.
"He just has the 'c' next to his name now. He has to go and flick the coin, and make decisions on captain's challenges and all that sort of stuff, but he has been a leader right from the start, and it's a pleasure to have in this footy side."
He was backed up by Tom Dearden in the number seven, who also had a strong game.
Cherry-Evans axing invoked a media storm this week, but Slater said he wouldn't say a bad word about his former captain, simply suggesting it was 'Tom's time'.
"You won't get a negative word out of me for Daly Cherry-Evans. He is a wonderful player and has been a wonderful player for a long period of time," Slater said.
"It's Tom's time now and he didn't surprise any of us in what he put out there tonight. Really proud of him and that's the first time he has worn the number seven jersey for Queensland, and I wouldn't imagine it'll be the last."
Munster himself admitted the duo have things to work on ahead of Game 3, but said there was plenty of off the cuff footy played which made the Maroons a dangerous beast and hard to handle during the first half.
"It's just playing off the cuff footy, eyes up footy. We have structures in place, but that goes out the window when you see opportunities and it just takes one little moment. If we execute, we execute. Sometimes we won't," Munster said.
"It obviously came off for us tonight in the first half, but it might not come off for us in Game 3. We had a great combination me and Tommy, we can build on that, and we have somethings we can work on."
Harry Grant too was also put under the blowtorch after an abysmal Game 1.
A narrative was created around Queensland never having won while he started a game, but Slater said it was just that - a narrative - labelling it unfair.
"You can make a narrative around anything. Do we all think Harry Grant is a good dummy half? Probably the best dummy half in the game?" Slater asked.
"So creating a narrative around that [Queensland not winning when he starts] is probably a little bit unfair. We are talking about numbers here, and the team hasn't played well when he has started at dummy half, but he is a wonderful player.
"He'd be the first to admit he was below his standard in Game 1, but Harry doesn't do that too often. It didn't surprise me that he had the first half that he did."
Queensland will now head to Sydney in an attempt to win back the Shield.
