Smith juga memuji penyelamatan krusial Selwyn Cobbo yang menggagalkan peluang emas New South Wales tepat di garis gawang.

"That was so close," katanya.

Komentator Nine lainnya, Mat Thompson, melontarkan pujian atas kerja sama tim Queensland yang menghasilkan sebuah try luar biasa sebelum jeda.

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"An absolute pearler, that is top shelf," ujarnya.

Cedera Nathan Cleary dan Pemulihannya

Sebelum pertandingan, kondisi kebugaran setengah lapangan New South Wales, Nathan Cleary, sempat memicu kekhawatiran akibat cedera pinggul yang dideritanya sejak laga pertama.

Cleary mengungkapkan proses pemulihannya. "I didn’t even know it was Addin’s head at the time.

All I remember was it was pretty sore. I got to halftime, got it needled and it was sweet," ujarnya.

Ia menegaskan komitmennya untuk tetap bermain demi tim meskipun harus menahan rasa sakit. "I wasn’t coming off.

It wasn’t even on my mind. I just hoped, at halftime, the needle would work, and it did," katanya.

Cleary juga mengapresiasi kerja keras tim medis yang membantunya pulih tepat waktu. "It was good we had the week off – that definitely helped.

I’m just lucky to have the physios and medical staff we have at NSW and Penrith," ujarnya.

Dokter tim Blues, Nathan Gibbs, mengonfirmasi detail cedera yang dialami Cleary.

"He suffered a direct blow to the iliac crest on the pelvic bone, and the abdominal muscles attached to that.

There was also a tear to his abdominal core, which the scans confirmed," jelasnya.

Pertandingan babak pertama berakhir dengan skor ketat 12-8.

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Cameron Munster dilaporkan telah mendapat izin medis untuk kembali bermain di babak kedua setelah lolos protokol HIA kategori dua.