NQ's Green backs Qld's O'Neill to rebound
Jun 6, 2017 - 5:31 PM The stage is set for under-fire centre Justin O'Neill to "right some wrongs" in North Queensland's Saturday night NRL clash with Parramatta after his State of Origin disappointment, Cowboys coach Paul Green says.Queensland centre O'Neill is at the Origin crossroads after a disastrous display in the Maroons' record 28-4 game one loss to NSW at Suncorp Stadium last week.
O'Neill is under enormous pressure to extend his four-game Origin career after being outclassed by opposite number Jarryd Hayne and leaking two tries.
To add injury to insult, O'Neill suffered concussion in game one and missed the Cowboys' last round win over the Gold Coast.
But Green backed O'Neill to rebound against the Eels in Darwin this weekend before Queensland announce their team for June 21's game two on Monday.
"The next game is your chance to right some wrongs if you like, so for Juzzy (O'Neill) that is this weekend," Green said.
"Hopefully that is motivation for him to go out and play well."
There have been calls for Newcastle's Dane Gagai to replace O'Neill at centre in a reshuffled Queensland backline following the biggest Origin loss to NSW at Suncorp Stadium.
But Green reckoned O'Neill didn't have a bad game for Queensland.
"There were just a couple of periods there where Hayne got the better of him," he said.
"But he also gave Hayne a headache there at one stage too.
"Apart from an error and a line break where Hayne scored I thought his game was pretty solid.
"It's up to him to bounce back, put that in the past and get his head around playing this weekend."
Asked if he thought O'Neill should be picked for game two, Green said: "It's not for me to decide (but) loyalty has been a strength of the Queensland side.
"But the selectors have to pick a side they are confident can get the job done."
Source: AAP
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