Darren Lockyer captured in brutal scenes as Queensland left shell-shocked in Origin 2 thrashing

Darren Lockyer summed up the mood of all of Queensland on Wednesday night when he looked like he'd rather be anywhere else than at the MCG. The Maroons were blown off the park as NSW scored a stunning 38-18 victory to level the series and send it to a deciding third game at Suncorp Stadium.

The Blues raced out to a 34-0 lead at half-time, leaving Queensland players and greats shell-shocked. Lockyer was in commentary for Channel 9 and couldn't believe what he'd watched in the first half as NSW score six tries to none.

“Full credit to NSW but they were on the front foot the whole first 40. We’re on the back foot,” Lockyer said. “That’s where NSW are dominant. Every time they went into contact they pushed forward. The kickers were kicking on the front foot.

“We need to try and get some good kick chase. Get them coming off their own try-line and do exactly what they did to us in the first half. “Look, at this point in time you have to also start thinking about building some confidence for Game 3. This hole is enormous. It’s massive. I don’t know where we go from here.”

The Maroons played much better in the second half and scored three tries to the Blues' one, but the disappointment was written all over Lockyer's face. The Queensland legend struggled to get his words out at one stage in the post-match coverage, and looked like wanted to be anywhere else.

It was particularly noticeable when Lockyer was joined by James Bracey, Alanna Ferguson and Paul Gallen - three proud New South Welshmen who couldn't wipe the smiles off their faces. Lockyer was seen yawning and looking elsewhere as the other three lapped up the Blues' performance.

Phil Gould calls out Queensland over 'soft' Origin display

Speaking on Channel 9's coverage, former NSW coach Phil Gould labelled Queensland's performance 'soft' and said they were lulled into a false sense of self by their 38-10 in in Game 1. "We witnessed men against boys," he said. "This was over very early. I got the feeling right from the time Stephen Crichton first touched the ball and ran over his opponent steaming down the right hand side that physically NSW were superior here tonight.

"We have seen this before though, and I think I said it in the lead up to this game that Queensland when they're 1-0 in the series and they know they've got Queensland up their sleeve in Game 3, can be soft in Game 2. I think they came here with a soft mentality."

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Billy Slater lamented his side's slow start but was buoyed by their performance in the second half. “It felt like we were running uphill and we just couldn’t stop the momentum of the game," he said afterwards. "Part of that’s on us. We’ll look at our game and work out what we need to adjust and what we need to go after.

“NSW just got a snowball of possession and we held them out for a few sets and then they broke and got a try and it sort of went downhill from there. It’s a tough game to play. It’s a lot tougher when you’re tired. So, like I said, it snowballed against the team and we just couldn’t stop it.

“I thought the second half was quite good. I thought our actions, the way we started the second half, we went after our footy a bit more. We were patient. We weren’t looking for shortcuts to draw back the scoreline. It’s a real positive that the group pulled themselves together at halftime after the fuel tank that they used and played footy in the second half. We don’t want to be in that position.”