Andrew Johns has called for Queensland captain Daly Cherry-Evans to be axed and replaced by Tom Dearden at halfback.
The fallout from NSW’s 18-6 defeat of the Maroons in the State of Origin series opener at Suncorp Stadium will include what changes Queensland make in Perth for game two on June 15.
Cherry-Evans, the oldest Origin player in history, was below his best in his 26th match for the Maroons and NSW’s greatest half said it was time for Dearden, who played No.14 on Wednesday night, to replace him.
Johns also expressed the view that the Maroons, who were dominated up front and out wide, were not capable of fixing their issues.
“Look, no one beats Father Time and DCE is what, (36)? I think they have to pull the trigger and bring Dearden in,” Johns said on Channel Nine.
” I don’t know where the improvement comes with this group.
“NSW, if they were on tonight, they they win by 40 or 50. They left so many tries out there and they’ll be better for that.
“I don’t know if they can go up another level, Queensland. I think there has to be changes with (Canberra prop) Corey Horsburgh, he’s one I think can add something.
“(South Sydney forward) Jai Arrow is an Origin player, but the big one is Dearden and whether they pull the trigger on Dearden with DCE.”
North Queensland co-captain Dearden played five-eighth in last year’s series and was outstanding at No.6 for Australia in last year’s Pacific Cup.
Cherry-Evans was asked if he wanted another opportunity in Perth to show that he is not a spent force.
“Yeah, definitely. I guess with losing comes the question,” he said.
“So we’ve opened ourselves up to these sorts of questions, but I’d love the opportunity to come back and correct it.”
Former Maroons skipper Cameron Smith also weighed in on the Cherry-Evans issue when asked if it was time to “move on” from the Maroons captain, but he made it clear coach Billy Slater would be the crucial voice.
“Well, there’s always that temptation and I think Billy will have that discussion with his selection panel and he’ll go through this game thoroughly,” Smith said.
“He’ll watch it multiple times from different angles from the high shot, from a reverse camera, from the shot that everyone watches on TV. And he’ll pick it to pieces and he’ll do his due diligence on what happened.
“There’s no doubt that the key position players of Queensland lacked a bit of cohesion tonight. In the crucial moments of the game they just couldn’t get the job done.”
The Maroons had poor discipline, were clunky in attack and failed to own the middle of the field. They also had dud last tackle options and missed 48 tackles. Slater said the reasons why those factors prevailed were yet to be determined.
“That’s probably something for the review, and looking through the the tape and, obviously sitting down with the group. At the end of the day it’s got to come from the players,” he said.
“I definitely don’t think it’s a personnel thing. I know what this team’s capable of and and that’s why you can probably see I’m disappointed because they haven’t played their best footy.
“I feel responsible to try and help them get there. So it’s definitely not a personnel thing. They’ve had a great attitude as well. But to the discipline side of the game, the attitude wasn’t good enough.”
