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Sport Nation
Why Parker believes in a Grant bounce-back for Origin II
Nicholas Quinlan • May 29th, 2025 10:47 am
Corey Parker has backed Queensland hooker Harry Grant to have a bounce-back performance against NSW in Origin II after a disappointing Game I performance.
The Maroons were lacklustre on Wednesday night, losing to the Blues 18-6 at Suncorp Stadium.
The Storm captain, who had been injured with a hamstring strain, had only returned to the field in Round 11 in Melbourne’s clash against Cronulla.
And his lack of match fitness would be evident throughout the game with Grant looking weary after each tackle that he made.
In total, he attempted 50 tackles for the match, only making 43 which was above his usual defensive requirements, and it showed.
He would also struggle with his run game as Grant could only muster 23 metres across five attempts.
This would see Grant subbed off in the 53rd minute for Tom Dearden and would only come back in the game at the 74th when the result was secured for the Blues.
Parker believes that Grant will come back in much better form for Game II as he builds up his match fitness with the Storm.
He was also impressed by Dearden's performance when taking over from Grant at the back end of the match.
“You won’t see a game like that from Harry Grant, two games in a row,” Parker said on SENQ Breakfast.
“You just won’t, he is world-class Harry Grant.
“He was well below his best last night. But you won’t see two games like that (from him).
“And I thought if I am being really honest; I thought Tom Dearden provided a fair bit of spark out when he came on in that role of (hooker) for Queensland.”
Game II takes place on the 18th of June at Perth in Optus Stadium. Queensland will be desperate to ensure that this series is all tied when going into Game III.
