Queensland may be counting on the return of injured superstar Billy Slater for the second State of Origin clash but Maroons teammate Valentine Holmes says Michael Morgan provided perfect cover.
Morgan came off the bench to replace Slater, who withdrew with a hamstring injury just two days before Origin I and is no guarantee for game two in Sydney on June 24.
North Queensland five-eighth Morgan had only one training session to adapt to his new role, with Holmes singling him out for praise after the Maroons 22-12 loss to NSW in Melbourne.
"There was a lot of pressure on Michael Morgan and I felt he played really well considering he only found out two days ago he was playing in one of the most key positions on the field and replacing probably our best player," Holmes said.
"I know he was very nervous to play there and he did a good job."
While Morgan was solid at the back, Holmes was one of the Maroons best.
He pulled off a huge play that got his team back in the game.
Trailing 8-0 and with NSW on the attack 10 metres from the tryline, Holmes raced out of the defensive line to intercept a James Maloney pass.
If his read was wrong, James Roberts would almost certainly have scored for the Blues.
But the audacious move saw him race 90 metres untouched and, after converting his own try, the Maroons closed the lead to just two points.
"It was 50:50 because if I had missed it Jimmy would probably have gone straight in in the corner," Holmes said.
"We spoke about it through the week, that they will look at giving their strike centres and wingers early ball so it was always in the back of my mind they were looking at throwing it early to Jimmy so I could see it unfolding and thought I could read it and time it well."
While the Blues ran away with the game in the second half, Cronulla flyer Holmes clocked a team-high 222 metres.
Holmes said the effort level was high from all of the Maroons but errors cruelled their hopes of an opening win at the MCG.
"We've got a lot to work on when we get back into camp," he said.
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