DON’T AXE ME

Under-pressure Wallace’s plea for shot at Origin revenge

QUEENSLAND prop Jarrod Wallace hopes he is spared the axe for the Origin decider following the moment of illdiscipline that ignited NSW’s second-half demolition.

Recalled after his axing for Origin I, Wallace rarely had a platform to impress off the bench after Queensland staggered out of the blocks, running for just 47m in the 38-6 rout at Optus Stadium.

While Wallace and Tim Glasby tried to provide some defensive attitude off the bench, contributing a combined 45 tackles in the wet, it was the Titans prop’s late hit on James Maloney in the 50th minute that typified Queensland’s ill-discipline.

Wallace escaped sanctions from the NRL match-review committee, although teammate Josh McGuire faces a one-week ban for his lastminute late shot on Maloney.

Wallace was replaced within minutes of crunching Maloney, suggesting Kevin Walters had hooked him, but it is understood the Maroons coach always had the intention of replacing him at that stage. Either way, the gravity of the defeat puts fringe players like Wallace in the firing line.

Broncos rival Joe Ofahengaue, who cut his knee badly in Game One, will come back into the selection frame for Origin III but Wallace is itching for another crack in the Sydney decider on July 10.

“Absolutely, I love wearing this jersey and I want to make sure I can wear this jumper as much as I can,” Wallace said.

“Every time I got that chance to run the ball I did. I tried to run as hard as I could and tackle as hard That’s all I can do.

“Just as I was about to come on, me and ‘Glaz’ (Glasby) looked at each other and it started pouring and I thought, ‘of course, just as we get on (it rains)’, but that’s footy.

“You have to play to the conditions and I thought the field was slippery. You have to deal with that.

“I feel like I can definitely be better but I was trying to get in and do as much as I could for the team.

“I felt like I had as many carries as I could and I made I could. some tackles. I was definitely feeling the pinch out there.

“I will be better for the run going into Game Three. Hopefully I am there, we will go back and watch where we need to be better.”

Wallace dismissed suggestions his tackle on Maloney, which gave NSW a fifth consecutive penalty for a 22-6 lead, was an act of foul play.

“I just went as hard as I could to try to get the kick pressure on,” he said. “I felt like I hit him around the hips and I felt like I was hard done by.”

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