Queensland Maroons coach Billy Slater has revealed he thought having both Kalyn Ponga and Reece Walsh on the field at the same time during the second half of Game 3 in the 2024 State of Origin series was going to be the best way to break the New South Wales Blues.
The Maroons, who failed to score a try in the game that eventually finished 14 points to 4 in favour of the Blues - just the third time the Maroons have failed to win an Origin decider at home - brought Ponga into the side for Game 3 at the expense of Jaydn Su'A.
In a game that seemed tailor-made for the Knights' star after a physical first 50 minutes, Ponga failed to have the desired impact.
Walsh also seemed hampered by injury at certain points, but Slater said he wanted both players on the park.
"He [Walsh] was certainly getting hit a fair bit without the footy. Given the situation we were in on the scoreboard, having them both out there was definitely the best option," Slater said during his post-match press conference.
Despite limited impact on the game, Slater confirmed his plan was always to bring Ponga on around that time of the game, and said he believed the Knights' fullback was 'impressive'.
"That was the plan. I thought he [Ponga] did a great job. He was very impressive throughout the week as well. I thought he did a great job defensively in the middle of the field, he took the line on in attack. I would have liked to get him a bit more space, but that wasn't to be. I think he was good," Slater said of Ponga during his post-match press conference.
Slater admitted having both Ponga and Walsh in the team moving forward with big-minute forwards was a likely prospect.
"I can't see why not. When you have guys like Pat Carrigan and Reuben Cotter who can play huge minutes... We took Reuben off and were looking for an opportunity to get him back on there. When you have that flexibility in your team, you can have a bit of a flexible bench," Slater said.
"Why not? I've played with Karmichael Hunt. I've played alongside Darius Boyd. Kalyn has played alongside Reece Walsh. Sometimes you can look at the footy, look at positions and go with the traditional, or you can actually be inquisitive and think of different ways to play the game. I'm not saying that's what we did, Kalyn just played in the middle of the field, but there are options out there and maybe we just don't explore them enough."
Ponga has previously played lock forward for the Maroons, who have often used a utility at Origin level. The latest was Selwyn Cobbo in Game 1 of this year's series, although he wound up playing in the centres after Walsh himself was knocked out in the seventh minute.
