Newcastle Knights centre Bradman Best proved all of the critics wrong last night, bagging a double in his State of Origin debut.
The NSW Blues avoided a series whitewash defeated Queensland 24-10 at Sydney’s Accor Stadium.
21-year-old Best crossed for his maiden Origin try in the 23rd minute and then scored again in the 64th – it could’ve been a sat trick but the bunker denied the opening try in the Blues first set due to ruling that Best was offside.
Blues Coach Brad Fittler said it was great for him and the fans to see Best score those tries.
“I think he’s always had that, everyone has seen it for a long time and he’s been at a club that hasn’t done well for a long time and now its up to him to take it to that next level and be good every week.
“To see him score some tries is just wonderful.
“I had a small opportunity to say hello after the game and congratulate him. He was very excited, he was just still looking around at the amount of people. I think sometimes you forget when you haven’t been in that arena, 75,000 people is a lot to take in. It was a big experience for him.”
Knights prop Jacob Saifiti came off the bench last night for NSW and played 26 minutes making 33 metres from three runs and 17 tackles.
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