Blues fullback James Tedesco admits he didn't realise how important his tackle on Queenland's Kalyn Ponga was until after NSW claimed their series-clinching State of Origin victory.
With the Blues hanging onto what proved to be a decisive 18-14 lead with 12 minutes to play on Sunday night, Ponga broke down field and looked certain to score a memorable try on debut to draw the Maroons level with a kick to come.
Knowing he jinks largely to his left in open space, Tedesco squeezed the red-hot Ponga for room and chased him down metres from the line with the assistance of Josh Addo-Carr to keep NSW in the lead.
"I didn't realise it was that much of a big deal but everyone keeps talking about it," Tedesco told AAP.
"I didn't really think much about it at the time.
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"I knew he's got good footwork but he tried to take me on on the outside and I was happy enough to make it.
"It wasn't just that tackle. That whole last 10 minutes they went shift for shift and really tried to get on the outside of us and our boys just worked really hard from the inside."
Tedesco's tackle on Ponga was one of several try savers as the Blues admitted they had visions of watching Queensland come from behind.
Nathan Cleary's effort to bring down Valentine Holmes in cover defence has been spoken about endlessly since, while Tom Trbojevic's efforts on the wing even surprised his brother Jake.
The 21-year-old regular Manly fullback admitted his defensive fault in the lead up to Queensland's first try, but twice rushed up and shut down moves - including once crunching hit on Valentine Holmes - while centre partner James Roberts was sin-binned.
"He had a few games (on the wing) in his first year, but playing at fullback he doesn't have to do too many tackles," Jake said.
"I guess all the work in the pre-season where everyone has to do all the defending at Manly must've helped him."
