NSW forward Stefano Utoikamanu speaks out after clinging to State of Origin spot for decider
Stefano Utoikamanu has defended his performance in State of Origin II after the Melbourne Storm prop retained his place in the NSW squad.
Utoikamanu divided opinion as he held his position in the Blues squad, with calls for in-form South Sydney enforcer Keaon Koloamatangi to be included with the shield on the line in Sydney on July 9.
The 25-year-old felt he didn't deserve to lose his spot, entering the fray at Optus Stadium in Perth earlier this month with NSW on the back foot.
Utoikamanu came off the bench in the second clash, clocking 27 minutes for the match as the Blues went down in a thriller 26-24.
NSW trailed 26-6 at half-time, with Utoikamanu telling AAP it was difficult to make an impact.
Utoikamanu impeded Queensland's goal-line defence in the second half, which led to an obstruction penalty that denied Nathan Cleary a try for the Blues.
He also ran for only 41 metres, but was not alone in struggling to roll up the field as wet conditions made it tough for either set of middle forwards to build momentum.
'I felt like I didn't really do too much wrong, I felt like it was pretty hard to kind of go on in the game when everything was kind of going against us,' Utoikamanu said.
'It was pretty hard when I came on, but that's not an excuse.'
Utoikamanu has been a consistent performer since joining the Storm this season and came off the bench in Sunday's 30-6 win over Cronulla.
Playing 31 minutes, he finished with seven runs, 20 tackles and one tackle bust, with his coach Craig Bellamy backing his inclusion in Game III of Origin.
Utoikamanu said he would stick to his strengths to help the Blues retain the interstate crown.
'I feel like coming off the bench is a good role for me going into Origin, and I've learnt from that (first) game and I'm pretty excited,'' he said.
'I'm going to stick to my strengths — I know I'm a strong ball carrier, and in defence just make my tackles — making sure I win my tackles is probably the main thing, and that's what I'm looking to do.'
Utoikamanu said belief within the NSW outfit was strong given the way they overcame an 8-0 first-half penalty blitz and finished the Perth match by scoring four second-half tries.
'First half we kind of got blown back a bit, but I feel like we had a pretty good second half and came back and anything could have happened,' he said.
'We're pretty happy with the second half. We know that our discipline needs to be better, and if our discipline's good we have a good chance of winning that game.'
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