Maroon declares Qld’s second-half fade in Perth ‘all my fault’. This is how they can claim decider

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Robert Toia has carried the weight of expectation with him into the State of Origin series decider, declaring the New South Wales’ game two fightback was “all my fault”.

It speaks to the perfectionist in the Queensland rookie, who was parachuted into the Maroons’ backline this year after just 10 NRL games and entrusted to thwart Latrell Mitchell.

There were fears the 20-year-old would struggle to contain the Blues superstar, who has become renowned for finding peak performances in the Origin furnace.

Robert Toia is the least experienced NRL player in this year’s State of Origin series.

Toia – who overcame two ruptured ACLs, a broken jaw and stress fractures in his back just to debut for the Sydney Roosters – has instead kept his rival to arguably the quietest series of his career.

Mitchell’s average running metres of 62 a game in 2025 is the fewest of his Origin career, despite his possessions not diminishing, however his three try assists are the most he has produced in a series.

Two of those came in Perth as New South Wales mounted a comeback, with the Blues’ left edge exploiting the fresh defensive combination of Toia and halfback Tom Dearden to come from 26-6 down at halftime to fall just two points short and even outscoring Queensland five tries to four.

Toia admitted there were times he needed to trust Dearden on his inside more, as he was seen shaping in towards five-eighth Jarome Luai rather than backing his teammate to make the cover tackle while remaining pinned on Mitchell.

For winger Brian To’o’s third try (below), the Redcliffe product was then seen backpedalling off Mitchell, providing time and space for the Rabbitohs sensation to find his winger.

But Toia vowed to make amends come Wednesday night, as he reflected on his meteoric rise through the ranks.

“I’m pretty confident going into game three, the tries they scored in game two were basically all my fault. My defensive movements were a bit poor, and some lateral movements,” Toia said.

“You always have to have that self-belief, so deep down I’ve always backed my abilities, but to be honest, I didn’t think any of this would be happening this quickly.

“Obviously I backed myself, but it was an honour to go up against Latrell. I feel like it was a privilege to mark-up against him, and he’s dominated the Origin arena for years, so I was just grateful and blessed to be in this position.”

While Toia has begun to adjust to the Origin arena, his centre partner Gehamat Shibasaki will complete his remarkable surge from obscurity, having gone from train and trialist at the start of the season to the Maroons’ man entrusted with containing Stephen Crichton.

Shibasaki came up against Crichton for the Broncos this year, keeping the Bulldogs skipper to his second-fewest run metres (66) for the season. However, experience in this arena looms as a key New South Wales strength – with the Blues centre pairing boasting 21 games to Queensland’s two.

“I’ve got a lot of clips there where I can be a lot better with him. Although some people don’t know him, he’s there for a reason and has been one of the in-form centres of the year.”

Stephen Crichton on Gehamat Shibasaki

His Broncos coach Michael Maguire – who led the Blues to last year’s series triumph before arriving at Red Hill – believed the 26-year-old was ready to respond to the defensive challenge.

But Shibasaki’s former Townsville Blackhawks coach Terry Campese insisted his own strengths with the ball should not be discounted.

Campese told this masthead it was the Townsville product’s “talk on the field that’s got him to where he is today”, while his ability to cover defend and use his 96-kilogram frame to bring down his opposite number down has already been used to thwart Crichton.

But the one-time Blues and former Canberra Raiders’ five-eighth saw how valuable he could be with the ball, making him a key X-factor in the Blackhawks’ Queensland Cup campaign last year.

Shibasaki’s form there – in which he scored nine tries while averaging four tackle busts, 143 running metres and 55 post-contact metres a game – earned him an appearance for Townsville’s NRL affiliate club, the Rabbitohs, before returning to Brisbane.

And while the Bronco will forge one of the game’s most inexperienced centre-pairings – having played a third of his own NRL clashes this year, despite debuting in 2018 – Campese was adamant the long road he had taken would ensure he was not overawed.

“He was definitely an attacking weapon we tried to get the ball to as much as possible because he’s a big, strong, athletic footy player, and he can be very dangerous on the edge,” Campese said.

“[In defence], he’s a big body who stops them in their tracks. It’s a massive game and a big job, but I think the way he’s been playing he should be confident of going out on the field and do what he’s been doing all year, and having faith in what Billy and the selectors have done.”