"Courageous effort!" Slater proud of Maroons after devastating loss 💪 — Queensland Press Conference

[0:01] It is what it is, yeah. [0:12] Yeah, we can argue all we want, but it is what it is. [0:16] Like, let's call them. [0:17] I haven't got any problems with it. [0:19] He's okay. [0:20] Yeah, he obviously feels he's let his team down, [0:23] but those things happen in games. [0:25] You know, they happen really quick. [0:26] I've played that position. [0:27] I know how hard it is, and spur of the moment, [0:30] it's wet out there. [0:31] Things happen. [0:32] Like, you know, I thought it was a courageous effort [0:36] from our players. [0:37] Like, I'm heartbroken for them. [0:40] Like, the effort that they put in. [0:43] You know, they played with so much heart [0:44] in that last 23 minutes, [0:46] and New South Wales did a great job. [0:49] They had to chase the points down, [0:51] and they got them right at the death, [0:53] but I'm super proud of our footy team. [0:58] Yeah, it was a tough night and a tough feeling, [1:01] but, you know, I thought they played with plenty of spirit. [1:12] Yeah, I thought he was great. [1:14] Yeah, I thought he was really good. [1:16] Yeah. [1:21] Oh, look, it's like Billy's talking about [1:28] with the positioning, like, spur of the moment kind of thing. [1:30] There's speed. [1:31] Cole's not the slowest bloke in the game. [1:32] He's probably one of the quickest, [1:33] and KP's coming in to make a tackle. [1:34] So, it is what it is. [1:36] I thought it might have been head-on-head [1:37] with the split, obviously, on KP's ear, [1:39] but the referee in the bunker saw it differently. [1:41] So, at the end of the day, [1:43] that's the rules of rules, [1:44] and, unfortunately, there's a bit of force to his head. [1:46] So, I'm not too sure about what me looking at. [1:48] I thought it was head-on-head, [1:49] but we have to make a split decision, [1:51] and we got on with it, [1:52] and we fought our best, [1:54] and fortunately, it wasn't enough tonight. [1:55] He was unreal for us. [2:03] I think he had a handful, a couple of try assists, [2:06] you know, putting a flag away, [2:07] a nice little kick for Bobby. [2:08] So, yeah, Semi was good in our first half, [2:11] and, unfortunately, probably just didn't help him [2:13] and probably, you know, just try to protect our lead [2:15] instead of, you know, playing a bit of footy. [2:16] When you have 12 men, [2:17] it kind of takes a bit of gas at you, you know, [2:19] and New South Wales shift the ball a fair bit, [2:21] and, unfortunately, a couple of times, [2:23] Katoni was one-on-one with Capes, [2:25] and he's not usually a centre, you know. [2:27] So, yeah, at the end of the day, that's footy, [2:29] and we've shuffled our team, [2:30] and I thought our boys were brave tonight. [2:32] Went down to the wire a minute, 30 left, [2:34] and Tedesco ended up doing something freaky. [2:36] So, could have been a knock-on, [2:38] and we could have, you know, [2:38] grinded our game out and got the win. [2:39] So, unfortunately, that wasn't our game tonight, [2:42] but, like we've spoken about, [2:44] we're beating tonight, but we haven't lost yet. [2:55] You've asked me how I saw it. [2:56] I haven't got a problem with it. [2:57] It's fine. [2:58] I'm not going to make any noise about it. [2:59] It is what it is. [3:01] It's a game of footy. [3:01] You know, they've got to make decisions out there. [3:04] Yeah, they're the breaks. [3:06] So, like I said, [3:07] I was pretty proud of the footy team tonight. [3:13] Yeah. [3:13] Yeah, I thought it was great. [3:16] The longer the week went on, [3:17] the more I felt really confident that he'd play like that. [3:21] He's a clever little player. [3:24] You know, he's tough. [3:26] You know, he dives into all the team things, [3:30] but then he brings his game. [3:32] He unlocks players, [3:33] and, you know, we saw that tonight. [3:35] So, yeah, looking forward to him getting some more opportunities [3:38] and playing some more footy at this level. [3:41] Well, it's possible. [3:48] It's happened in the last two years, hasn't it, [3:50] from both sides. [3:51] But at the end of the day, [3:53] this is a new year. [3:55] You know, we've got to take some positives out of what we did tonight, [3:59] and there was a lot. [4:00] So, we'll go back and review that. [4:05] The biggest thing is picking ourselves up off the canvas, [4:07] and, you know, the feeling that we have at the moment, [4:10] it's natural to feel heartbroken and disappointed. [4:14] You know, but we won't be throwing the baby out with the bathwater. [4:16] So, I'm not at this stage, no. [4:23] Bill, it's the first time for each chamber. [4:31] Well, we had someone sent off, [4:33] so that's far from as planned. [4:36] We had to shift the back row out into the centres, [4:38] and we had to rotate our middle quite heavily. [4:40] So, when things like that happen in the game, [4:44] it's far from planned, yeah. [4:47] Yeah, the heart and spirit that they fought with. [4:55] 23 minutes in a state of origin game with 12 men. [4:59] They fought hard, and you could see that, you know, [5:03] they were just holding on in stages. [5:06] And, like Cam said, like one moment at the end of the game, [5:10] it could be a different story, but it's not. [5:13] This is the journey we've been put on. [5:16] These are the cards we've been dealt, [5:17] and we'll be playing that hand. [5:19] So, yes, I'm really proud. [5:22] I'm sure all Queenslanders are proud of their footy team right now. [5:26] We went down on the scoreboard, [5:27] but, you know, I think Queensland will be proud of their side. [5:35] I just said it. [5:37] I just said it. [5:38] This is the journey we've been put on. [5:41] It's going to hurt. [5:43] You know, all of Queenslanders will hurt, [5:45] but this is the journey we've been put on, [5:47] and we'll pick ourselves up off the canvas. [5:52] Go to Melbourne. [5:53] To be fair, I've been born in Rockhampton, [6:05] but I live in Melbourne now, yeah. [6:07] I'm cramping up. [6:09] Oh, we had the opportunity, like we did in Perth last year. [6:12] We've been pumped a fair few times in Perth, [6:14] and never had a great record. [6:16] So we spoke about this last time after Game 1. [6:19] I think we're a lot more developed in our game [6:21] than we were last year in Game 1. [6:23] So, yeah, we can take some steps forward in that, [6:25] but at the end of the day, [6:26] we've got to make sure we're up front, [6:28] the toys out of the court, [6:29] and we've got to knuckle down [6:30] and bite on the mouth guard next week, [6:32] oh, sorry, next game in Melbourne, [6:33] because they're going to get better, [6:34] and we need to get better. [6:35] You know, always that first game [6:36] is always blowing the cobwebs out. [6:37] So, you know, they're going to improve their game, [6:39] and we need to do that if we want to be, [6:40] you know, making it one-all [6:41] and going to the side and Brizzy. [6:44] Do you look at it? [6:54] Oh, I don't know if we want to win the game comfortably. [6:56] Yeah, I guess we had the game in the balance. [6:58] We were definitely in front. [7:00] It took a minute 30 for them to score, [7:03] you know, a freaky try from Teddy with 12 men. [7:06] So, it just shows the heart that we've got in our team [7:08] and our defence mindset at the moment. [7:10] Look, we can get better in a tackle, sure, [7:11] but when those things happen in games, [7:15] you've just got to, you know, find a way, [7:16] and we found a way until about the last minute, you know. [7:19] Like, we just probably switched off that last minute, [7:21] and it hurt. [7:21] So, yeah, we're all hurting at the moment, [7:24] but, yeah, we don't even improve [7:25] if we want to get any better [7:26] and making sure it's a side and Brizzy. [7:28] We've got a lot of belief in this team, [7:40] a lot of belief in, you know, [7:41] and Billy and our coaching staff in this group. [7:43] So, there's nothing to worry about that. [7:45] We got beaten by a better team tonight, [7:47] but they just played a little bit better [7:48] in that last 20 minutes. [7:48] Like, we were probably the best team for the last, [7:50] what, sorry, for the first 60. [7:52] So, it's just one of those things. [7:54] We just got to, you know, somehow find a way, [7:56] and unfortunately, we couldn't do that tonight. [7:58] So, we can find a way in Melbourne, [7:59] but we just got to make sure we build our game [8:01] and get our game on, [8:02] and if we can do that, [8:03] it'll give us every chance to win. [8:04] Billy, if you're ready if Caelan's from the East? [8:11] If, a lot of ifs. [8:13] If this, if that happened, [8:14] if, you know, there's a lot of ifs at the moment, [8:16] aren't there? [8:17] So, we'll just put one foot in front of the other. [8:20] We'll pick ourselves up tonight. [8:22] You know, we had five guys, or four guys, [8:24] you know, debut for Queensland tonight. [8:26] They didn't get the feeling [8:27] that they wanted in the dressing room. [8:30] You know, so, [8:32] you know, hopefully we can give them that [8:33] in the future. [8:38] Thanks, guys.