Brad Fittler revealed he felt "uneasy" about his sides defence throughout the game as his new combinations struggled to gel in the State of Origin opener.
Fittler blooded five debutants for the Suncorp Stadium encounter and they had a mixed night in the series opener. After failing to inject himself in the game, pivot Cody Walker was replaced in the 57th minute, before being reintroduced when the Blues fell behind.
Not at his best: Cody Walker had a very quiet game in his first Origin.Credit:AAP
After opening up an 8-0 half-time lead, NSW was overrun in the second stanza and must win in Perth to keep the series alive.
Fittler substituted Jack Wighton for Walker in a bid to shift the momentum.
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"I just felt like they had won a big chunk of the second half," Fittler said. "I felt like Cody was struggling to get into the game. Jack did a brilliant job – it was a shame he threw an intercept – but prior to that his runs were great.
"There was an opportunity to get Cody back on when we needed a few tries. He came on and did a great job. He set up one try and looked dangerous for the rest of the game. I thought it worked well."
The Maroons exposed NSWs edge defence as the new combinations struggled to gel without the football.
"I dont think we worked together that well on the edge in defence," Fittler said. "They had some good players asking questions but I didnt think they asked good enough questions to have us panic like we did.
"That was pretty disappointing."
Asked why they got exposed, Fittler said: "Dont know. Missed the occasion or lack of communication. Just a bit of panic there. I didnt see much of that last year.
Professional foul: Latrell Mitchell is sent for 10 minutes in the sin bin. Credit:NRL Photos
"Be interesting how they felt out there. Some games you feel like part of a wall, at other times you're on your own. At some stages it felt like they were on their own."
Fittler woudnt be drawn on whether there would be changes, but felt halfback Nathan Cleary performed strongly.
"I thought he was good," FRead More – Source
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