The ratings are in:
1. MATT MOYLAN: Struggled to make an impact. Appeared to shirk the tough job of performing kick returns at times. Must have felt like he’d been on the dancefloor with Gorden Tallis after being rag-dolled nine metres backwards into his own in-goal. Rating 5/10.
2. BLAKE FERGUSON: Defended well. Almost forced Dane Gagai into touch when the Queenslander scored his 80m effort in the first half. Despite combining well with Dylan Walker, missed three tackles as a result of the huge amount of traffic Queensland sent his way. Rating 6/10.
3. MICHAEL JENNINGS: Spilled the ball to give Dane Gagai the chance to run 80m in the first half. Messed up his defensive read and allowed Gagai to score his second try. Committed the most unforgivable error of the 2016 series when he knocked-on and butchered a certain try for Tyson Frizell. You can expect him to borrow a play from the Justin Hodges playbook and go into hiding — much like he has in the centres for Parramatta this year. Rating 2/10.
14. DYLAN WALKER: Committed too many sins in front of the whistle blowers and thus handed out gifts to Queensland like Oprah after a trip to a car yard. Despite this, defended Inglis well. Rating 7/10.
5. JOSH MANSOUR: Carried the ball strongly out of his own end, but his opposite scored three tries. ‘Nuff said. Rating 6/10.
6. JAMES MALONEY: Mixed night with the boot. His grubber should have resulted in a try to Tyson Frizell before Michael Jennings interrupted. His second half dash to out-pace Cooper Cronk and Justin O’Neill and score under the posts was a streak that even Wati Holmwood would have been happy with. Rating 6.5/10.
7. ADAM REYNOLDS: Beautiful run to split the Queensland defence and set-up Tyson Frizell’s try in the 57th minute. Just lacked class inside Queensland’s red zone and struggled to produce a threat on fifth-tackle plays. Rating 7/10.
8. AARON WOODS: Made meaningful runs and threatened to punch holes in the Queensland line at the times the Maroons were caught on the back foot. Also made some important tackles, including a couple try-savers on Darius Boyd. Rating 7.5/10.
9. ROBBIE FARAH: Straightened up the NSW attack and looked dangerous when NSW were on the front foot. Yet again, Wests Tigers fans will be ripping their hair out. Rating 7/10.
10. JAMES TAMOU: Barely seen. Seems certain to have his neck on the chopping block. No impact up front — not exactly what Penrith fans were looking to see from the man they’ve just paid top dollar for. Rating 4/10.
15. TYSON FRIZELL: Impressive on debut. Showed admirable heart when he nearly chased down Gagai and would be a NSW hero if Michael Jennings didn’t get in the way. Rating 8/10.
12. JOSH JACKSON: Continually made key plays and did everything Laurie asked of him. Laurie should have asked for more. Rating 6.5/10.
13. PAUL GALLEN: A sad way for a proud warrior to be walking away from Suncorp Stadium for the last time. Overpowered by his Queensland rivals in the engine room. Will at least have the satisfaction of knowing he enticed Sam Thaiday into giving him an old fashion pile-driver that will rub out the so-called third-man-in for a couple games. Rating 5/10.
11. GREG BIRD: Always muscled up in defence, but sometimes you have to do more than that. Rating 6/10.
16. DAVID KLEMMER: This round goes to Josh Papalii. NSW was on top when Klemmer and Papalii entered the fray. They weren’t 10mins later. Rating 5/10.
17. ANDREW FIFITA: Gave NSW an attacking edge with his offload game, but was lacking in grunt when it really mattered. Rating 6/10.
18. JACK BIRD: A promising cameo that probably made Dylan Walker more nervous than Queensland. Put forward a reasonable case to remain in the side for Game 3. Rating 6.5/10.
