State of Origin: Tom Dearden reflects on Queensland Maroons victory on debut

Dearden produced one of the great Origin debuts deputising for the Covid-stricken Cameron Munster in Queensland’s stunning series-clinching win at Suncorp Stadium on Wednesday night.

Much like Munster in his 2017 debut at Suncorp, Dearden played the game of his life to go within a whisker of being crowned man-of-the-match in Queensland’s 22-12 victory.

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It was just over a year ago that Dearden’s career was at a crossroads after he was banished to reserve grade and then released by the Broncos to join the Cowboys, arriving in Townsville a shattered young man.

Now Dearden, 21, is celebrating the finest moment of his blossoming career after playing a starring role as the superstar Munster’s replacement in Queensland’s dramatic decider victory.

“I’ve dream of it as long as I can remember,” Dearden said.

“To be able to experience what it’s like to run out at Suncorp in a decider is a special moment.

“I did (feel comfortable). I’ve been here throughout the whole series so I knew exactly what they expect their players to do for Queensland.

“It was a tough couple of years to start my career. I used to tell myself, when you are a kid you think playing NRL is a dream come true. I kept telling myself ‘how good is this? I’m playing NRL’. It was a tough start, but I still love playing the game.

“I stuck at it. That’s all it takes, if you stick at something then it will turn around for you.”

Dearden grew up idolising fellow Mackay product Cherry-Evans, who is 12 years his senior.

Little did he realise they would one day run out in a Maroons jersey together and win a State of Origin series.

“He was (my idol), he played at Brothers in Mackay, my junior club,” Dearden said.

“He is someone I looked up to as a kid growing up. Even the coaching staff, I looked up to all of them.

“I have to pinch myself when you’re in camp being coached by those coaches and taking the field with Daly Cherry-Evans. It’s a special moment.

“Daly was unreal for us. He is a true Queenslander and one of the greats to wear that number seven jersey, even considering the players that have played there before.

“It was really special to see him captain us to a win with a lot of pressure on him. It’s a privilege to play alongside him.

“Once we heard ‘Munny’ was out (last Friday), we decided to catch up for coffee. I am a different type of player to Munny and wanted to make that clear so we were on the same page.

“He spoke about keeping my role simple and focusing on what I can do for the team. He gets the team around the park and I can run the footy.”

Cherry-Evans left their coffee date knowing Dearden was ready for a baptism of fire.

“We had a coffee when he was in and he asked me all these questions and straight away from the smiles and the nods I knew we were going to be all right,” Cherry-Evans said.

“Tom said ‘you run the team, you kick, and I will chase all night and look after my side’. He never lied. He lived up to his word. Everything he promised he would do, he did it. They are the people you love to play with.

“We knew we would have to change a few things with Tommy coming in, but the style of footy we played, he complemented us. Tommy is tough and everyone around him was there to work.

“Sometimes things don’t work out in footy and you just have to keep persisting and he has persisted. That’s why he is playing good footy at the Cowboys and that’s why he is playing for Queensland now. Because he is so persistent, he is so competitive.”

Dearden did all the little things right in his Origin debut.

He tackled tenaciously, chased every Maroons kick with energy and laid on a beautiful pass for Valentine Holmes to score the first try.

To be in the conversation for man-of-the-match honours on debut in a decider is a remarkable achievement and Maroons hooker Ben Hunt, a former Broncos halfback himself, was in awe of Dearden’s fightback.

“It was a massive effort from Tommy, they targeted him defensively, they went at him and he had a really good game,” Hunt said.

“I have been at the Broncos and it would have been difficult for a young kid. To go through and change clubs and everyone coming at you and putting you down, it’s a real credit to him and his family.

“He has turned his career around and playing good footy at the Cowboys and he can now do it at Origin level as well.”

UNLIKELY TRIO JOINS MAROONS ORIGIN FOLKLORE

Robert Craddock

A boy became a man and two lion-hearted Queenslanders delivered the performances of their lives in one of the craziest games of rugby league ever played.

Tom Dearden, a subdued, ghost of a player when he joined the North Queensland Cowboys this time last season and the sage duo of Daly Cherry-Evans and Kalyn Ponga somehow survived and thrived to deliver an instantly iconic Maroon victory in the Battle of Brisbane.

History will remember it one of most brutal, frantic, compelling and downright mad games league has seen.

With two men down, Queensland enhanced their legacy for being the greatest scrappers in big time football.

When Ben Hunt raced 70m to score in the corner to seal the win he became the highlight hero of the 22-12 victory but the true tale was hidden behind him.

Stream the FOX LEAGUE State of Origin Game 3 REPLAY on Kayo with no ads during-play. Both full and condensed replays available to stream from 11PM AEST. New to Kayo? Start your free trial now >

Rugby league jumped in a time capsule and roared back to the 1980s when wild men roamed free, tempers roared, heads were crunched and spirits were bent and broken. Fatigue sent composure levels soaring into the red zone as brains became fried.

Stunning acts of bravery and boldness were mixed with simple errors as players radar scrambled under pressure which would melt a cement grandstand.

There are times when State of Origin football seems like the most compelling sporting contest on the planet – and this was one of them.

It was a night which called for leadership in spades and Maroon captain Cherry-Evans provided it with daring kicks, crucial tackles, crisp passing and somehow keeping his head when others were exploding to become league’s version of a wartime general.

Kalyn Ponga was just superb, slicing, dicing, conjuring, finding space when others were finding brick walls.

And Dearden, so fragile last year, was simply a man of steel, chasing kicks, making key tackles, rolling the dice when a dice roll was call for.

The game was pure madness, as beautiful as it was brutal. There was spoonfuls of delicious skill but this was the night of the sledgehammer and the scramble.

Punching is an absolute “no-no’’ in the modern game yet Dane Gagai, furious at Matt Burton for flooring Kalyn Ponga, let go with a series of haymaking lefts and rights which saw both men sent to the sin bin.

It’s difficult to believe there has been a more brutal start to a game of rugby league than this one.

Old fans like to hark back to the drama charged, free for all years of the 1980s but players these days are bigger, fitter, often stronger so the level of physical damage they can inflict when they turn kamikaze is off the charts.

Technique and timing went missing as players launched themselves like human skewers. You just wouldn’t see it in a club game.

It was a brutal old-fashioned, knock ‘em down, drag ‘em out interstate derby where three players knocked near senseless in the opening two minutes.

Cameron Murray wobbled off like a drunken sailor, Selwyn Cobbo was driven off in a medicab and Lindsay Collins done for the night after a sickening head knock after teammate Tom Gilbert’s ferocity on the other side of the tackle was transferred to Collins head and neck.

Queensland’s against-the-odds win was straight out of the caramel coloured pages of history. The bookies – will they ever learn? - had Queensland $3.50 outsiders and only friends, family and the blind faithful were backing them despite the sumptuous odds.

For all the talk of the Maroons great record in Suncorp deciders – beaten only twice in the last 10 - it was clear that they were going to have to play out of their skins to take the series and so it proved.

This was a huge win for debutant coach Billy Slater because he can pocket his success and sleep easily until the next series starts in 10 months’ time. Every new coach needs an early scalp and he’s got one.

From the moment he took control of the team on day one of the first camp, Slater has been measured, calm and considered and weathered the pressure of mid-series collapse can only harden his shell.

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Under Slater there have been no baffling selection shocks, big predictions or Blues baiting. He coaches as he played, with meticulous preparation and a desire to minimise distractions.

Calling in big guns Johnathan Thurston and Cam Smith into camp was a reminder to the current crop of the history of their crusade.

The message obviously got through.