After witnessing the masterclass,Newcastle coach Adam O’Brien felt Best deserved to add to his single Origin appearance when the series begins in Sydney on June 5.
“It was a bloody good game from him,I know that,” O’Brien said. “I think he’s had a really good season,Bradman. Tonight he’s hands down our best player out there.
“I felt every time he got the ball it just looked like something was happening. I know they’ve got a[NSW] team to pick in a couple of weeks. I reckon he’s done himself a lot of favours there in most people’s opinions.“
The man of the moment admitted another Blues jersey was in the back of his mind.
“Obviously it’s a dream come true to put that jersey on,” Best told Fox Sports. “It’s obviously another goal of mine. I’ll just keep playing good,consistent footy and see what happens.“
This was another case of the Tigers remaining in the fight until the end,although a lack of class and discipline again proved costly.
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Both teams were cruelled by injury:Knights half Tyson Gamble suffered a break in his foot,while Tigers Starford To’a (hamstring) and John Bateman (pectoral) failed to complete the game and face stints on the sidelines. The sin-binning of star Tigers fullback Jahream Bula didn’t help.
The latest loss is the Tigers’ sixth straight,increasing the likelihood of a third consecutive wooden spoon.
“Well,firstly,a lot of adversity today for us and I was really proud of our boys in terms of effort,” Marshall said. “The one thing that’s non negotiable is our team’s effort and we’re not lacking that in any of our games. But what we are lacking is just moments in games where we seem to put pressure on ourselves and instead of applying pressure to the other team,we make it hard for ourselves.
The game was there for us today to win it. And we didn’t.”