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"Pretty gutted": Maroons stars reflect on decider loss
SEN • July 9th, 2026 1:44 am
Kalyn Ponga and Harry Grant have reflected following Queensland's Game III loss to New South Wales.
On Wednesday, the Blues reclaimed the shield on enemy territory for the second straight Game III decider at Suncorp Stadium with a 30-12 victory.
It was a disappointing night from the Maroons, who gave up too many errors, which were punished by the Blues with Nathan Cleary going on to claim the Wally Lewis Medal with his two tries.
Speaking post-match with Moses Mbye on SEN’s Maroons Radio, Ponga was frank about how he felt following the defeat.
"Pretty numb, mate, to be honest,” he said.
"I don't really know how to sort of sum that up.
"It's disappointing obviously, like I'm pretty gutted, shattered really.”
Throughout the match, Queensland had to deal with unexpected injuries, with Briton Nikora and Sam Walker coming off and then back on for HIAs in the second half, resulting in unexpected shuffling of positions which threw out some of the Maroons’ plans according to the Knights fullback.
“Definitely wasn't planned,” Ponga added.
“We sort of planned to have Reece (Walsh) in different positions and people playing in different positions for sure, but I mean at the end of the day that's the decision.
“We all can do a job; we just didn't get it done.”
Grant also expressed disappointment with the result, believing the side had ‘missed the beat’ in a few aspects of the match.
“Yeah, it's disappointing,” he explained.
“You don't come here to finish on that result; you come here with a whole lot of want, a whole lot of grit to fight for everything (and) to get a result there tonight.
“But congratulations to New South Wales (on) the footy they played tonight. They were clinical for 80 minutes of their game and we probably missed the beat on a few things there tonight.”
The NRL action on SEN continues this weekend with the Dolphins hosting Cronulla at Kayo Stadium on Saturday.
Our coverage begins from 12pm with Crunch Time NRL with kick off at 3pm AEST.
