Blues prop admits ‘we just didn’t handle it’

AARON Woods says the Blues must learn to rebound under adversity if they’re to claim an Origin series victory in the decider.

The Blues surrendered a 16-6 half-time lead in Origin II to go down 18-16 and now face the daunting task of winning a decider in Brisbane, something they haven’t done since 2005.

Woods says the Blues knew exactly what they needed to do in the second half but went away from the things that worked for them in the first stanza.

“We just didn’t come out. We spoke about the things we wanted to do and we didn’t do it, that’s probably the most frustrating thing,” he said.

“We played really well in the first half and just couldn’t put them away.

“We probably played a bit too lateral. Their big boys were out on their feet at times and we just didn’t put them away.”

Woods believes the Blues must do better under adversity if they’re to claim just their second series win since 2006.

“I thought we rolled them early on. A couple of things went against us and we just didn’t handle it,” he said.

“But we gave ourselves two shots at the cherry – that’s one down. Hopefully with the second one we can get a win.”

Following the open game fans were treated to in game one, many expected game two to be refereed in a similar way.

However, Matt Cecchin and Gerard Sutton were far keener to penalise infractions this time around.

It was something the Blues expected, though.

“Once (Maroons skipper) Cameron (Smith) came out and said what he had to say, we sort of knew it was going to come,” Woods said.

“It is what it is. They played to the conditions really well and we didn’t.”