Watching Greg Inglis hitting hard and axing NSW players in half revived memories of a rampaging Mal Meninga for South Sydney coach Anthony Seibold.
Seibold was delighted with Wednesday's State of Origin performance by his quartet, rounded oout by NSW rookies Damien Cook and Angus Crichton and try-scoring Queensland winger Dane Gagai.
Appetite for destruction: Greg Inglis fells Tyson Frizell during the first match of the State of Origin series.
Photo: AAP
Inglis captained a losing Maroons side but his devastating tackles will feature on the highlights reel in the coming days and weeks, chief among them a couple of bone-jarring efforts on Tom Trobojevic and Nathan Cleary.
Seibold spoke with his four players early on Thursday and while they all indicated they wanted to back up against the Titans on Friday night, he said would make a call on their availability once they arrived on the Gold Coast.
NSW players said after the game Inglis had been a "man on the mission" and Seibold loved every minute of it.
Advertisement
"Without wanting to compare players, he was a bit like Mal Meninga, just with his presence and physicality in his game," Seibold told Fairfax Media.
"When I was a kid watching Mal he had that aura about him and physical presence. Greg was great to watch.
"Physically, Greg is in really good shape at the moment and we've started the season with some really strong performances from him.
Individually, all our players were very good. Greg was Queensland's best player, 'Gags' is made for Origin and showed it again [on Wednesday] night, Cooky had a significant impact on the game while Gus played 50 minutes on an edge and made 36 tackles. I was really proud of all four guys. It was also great experience for the two debutants."
Meninga, the former powerhouse centre who is now the Kangaroos coach, is a huge fan of Inglis and would have been proud of his efforts to try and spark the Maroons.
As Queensland coach Kevin Walters said after the match: "I thought Greg was our best player, and if we had 17 Greg Inglises we probably would have won that game."
Cook will be relieved to run out for the Rabbitohs with Inglis rather than against him as he did at the MCG, where he was on the end of a few of his club captain's thumping hits.
"He found me a couple of times," Cook said.
"He's been playing good footy this year, he's been building on [his form] since coming back from a big injury, and he was flying [Wednesday night].
"For Souths' sake, I can't wait to see him keep building momentum into our game."
Cook was dynamic out of dummy-half and looked like a State of Origin veteran despite never having experienced the arena before Wednesday night.
A darting run of his led to NSW's opening try and he made a game-high 53 tackles while not missing one.
The 26-year-old speedster went down with a sternum injury midway through the second half and was still in pain after the match but scans were expected to clear him of anything serious.
Queensland centre Will Chambers was suspended for one match on Thursday over the incident that floored Cook, pleading guilty to a dangerous contact charge after raising his knee as the Blues hooker attempted to tackle him.
"I wasn't coming off, that's for sure," Cook said.
"It was a little lesson I learned about the physicality of Origin. It's what it is all about. It was good to have a couple of the senior boys out there who kept talking throughout the game.
"I defended next to 'Boydy' [NSW captain Boyd Cordner] for a bit and he was always talking to me. Things like that from leaders and experienced players really calm you down and keep you focused.
"To have Jimmy [Maloney] in the halves, and and even 'Nath' [Nathan Cleary] as well and how calm he was … it allowed me to do my job."
Seibold said his team had prepared during the week as if the Origin players were not playing.
Souths are third on the NRL ladder and won seven of their past eight matches.
Christian covers rugby league for The Sydney Morning Herald.
Most Viewed in Sport
Morning & Afternoon Newsletter
Delivered Mon–Fri.
