The stats for the NSW front rowers are in the article below:
The cold, hard stats Ricky Stuart can't afford to ignore: lack of grunt up front cost NSW dearly
Brad Walter
May 27, 2011
Ricky stuart may need to reconsider his squad for Origin II.
Queensland prop Matt Scott made more metres during his 49 minutes on the field in Origin I than the Blues' four front-rowers combined. That is just one of the sobering statistics that must surely make NSW coach Ricky Stuart reconsider his plan to stick with the same 17-man squad for Origin II.
Stuart's policy is admirable after years of NSW selectors making wholesale changes to beaten teams, and there is no doubt the Blues should be better in the next game for the time they have already spent together.
But, while it was the best NSW performance in half a decade, there is no escaping the fact that the Blues were still beaten and are now just one defeat away from a record sixth consecutive series loss against a Queensland team likely to be bolstered in Sydney by the return of Greg Inglis and Justin Hodges.
Being brave and courageous in defence of their own line for much of the match simply isn't good enough against the class of the Maroons and NSW have to find a way to play the game down the other end.
As the statistics show, the go-forward of Jason King, Kade Snowden, Tim Mannah and Trent Merrin was ineffective compared to Scott and the other Queensland props, Petero Civoniceva, Ben Hannant and Jacob Lillyman.
King made just 24 metres in four runs, while Snowden - the Blues' other starting prop - managed 46 metres in his six runs. Mannah and Merrin, who played 25 minutes each off the interchange bench, had more runs and made more metres than King but none compared to Scott, whose 154 metres from 15 runs was greater than the four NSW props combined.
Civoniceva also made 143 metres from 16 runs - just one metre less than the Blues quartet - and Hannant ran 120 metres with the ball in 13 runs during his 33 minutes.
While it can be argued that the fact the Blues had only 42 per cent of possession meant King, Snowden, Mannah and Merrin didn't get the same opportunities with the ball as their Queensland counterparts, the casual observer could see that they did not have the same impact.
Time after time, the Maroons were easily able to make their way downfield on the back of charging runs from their front-rowers, whereas the Blues struggled to get off their own line. On one occasion early in the match, King was knocked backwards by the Queensland defence, and Snowden received similar treatment from Nate Myles in the following tackle.
Mannah was the pick of the NSW front-rowers but the Blues' bench lacked any real strike and Stuart must surely consider finding a place for Jamal Idris or Jarryd Hayne.
Idris would at least add some size, as well as spark, to the NSW side - as would a front-rower such as Tom Learoyd-Lahrs or Keith Galloway.
Whether NSW need to carry two hookers is another issue worth considering and while Dean Young can also play in the back row, Greg Bird and Beau Scott each played 80 minutes, while lock and captain Paul Gallen saw 70 minutes of action. Michael Ennis provided more spark when he came on in the 25th minute but he started his stint with a knock-on at dummy-half near his own line and produced a poor fourth-tackle kick after NSW had hit the lead in the 69th minute that led to Billy Slater scoring on the next set to snatch victory for Queensland.
