Harry Grant left bloodied after brutal clash with teammate as State of Origin Game II goes from bad to worse for Queensland in nightmare first half against NSW Blues
- Harry Grant was bloodied during Origin II
- Queensland were destroyed in a terrible first half
Harry Grant had a first half to forget in the second Origin game of the year as Queensland suffered an absolute onslaught against NSW Blues.
Fresh from a dominant victory over the Blues in Sydney, the Maroons were left stunned after being picked apart by their arch rivals at the MCG.
And to rub salt in the wound, a defensive mishap from Queensland saw Grant clash heads with teammate Reuben Cotter as they failed to tackle Spencer Leniu.
Grant was patched up with a makeshift head bandage and sent back into the fire.
NSW eventually ran out dominant 38-14 winners in a contest that left the Blues more confident than ever of sealing an historic victory at Suncorp Stadium in the series decider.
The Maroons were stunned early in the match, but the forwards as a collective - so impressive in the past two series - were not up for the contest.
Haas ran for more than 190 metres, more than Collins and Cotter combined.
Harry Grant was left bloodied during Game II of State of Origin on Wednesday night
Grant clashed heads with teammate Reuben Cotter as they failed to tackle Spencer Leniu
The sight of fullback Reece Walsh taking a forward-style hit-up from near his own line will no doubt be pointed out to the pack.
That reality will be a great cause of concern for coach Billy Slater, who will know only too well that playing game three at Suncorp Stadium will not be enough to get the Maroons home.
Queensland lost their mojo and belief during the MCG massacre.
Centre Valentine Holmes will be having nightmares about Latrell Mitchell, who outplayed him in every way.
When Holmes made a misread in the first half and Mitchell put Brian To'o over it appeared to put the entire Maroons right edge defence out of whack.
Queensland's 38-10 win in game one against a 12-man NSW papered over cracks in their football.
Slater will have some big decisions to make ahead of the decider.
