Oryn Keeley may have scored two tries to help Norths Devils overcome Newtown Jets and break an eight-year NRL State Championship drought – but all he could think about was his first half error.
Keeley, who is contracted to the Dolphins and played six games for them this year, was player of the match in the annual contest between the premiers of the statewide competitions for Queensland and New South Wales, but said his NRL coach this year Wayne Bennett would also be thinking more about his missed tackle than his 74th match-winner.
“I just had to put the ball down,” Keeley said, underplaying his effort to score his two second-half tries in the 20-18 win.
“There was everyone else around that made me look good.
Oryn Keeley 1st Try
“I wouldn't have been able to put it down without my teammates.
“I had to do something, I let a break through and they scored a try off it, so I just had to get back to the process and those things happen, but like I said, missed that tackle halfway up field and [Liam] Ison went through and they scored.
“I just had to stick to my game and it eventually came out good.
“(What I learnt from Bennett this year was) just work hard and when you get the opportunity, you have got to make it and don't make dumb errors.
“And I bet you any money, he would have watched that missed tackle and been (thinking) that I've got to make up for that.
“But he's taught me a lot, he's taught me resilience.
“He's given me a lot of opportunity. I know I was 18th man a lot of the time, but I've had the experience now, so now if I come back and play (Cup) next year I do that, but if I play first grade, I have just got to take the opportunity, don't I?”
Keeley’s coach at the Devils Dave Elliott praised the effort of his team to upset the Jets and said Keeley more than played his part in the result, not only with this two tries, but with a try assist, two lines breaks, a one-on-one steal and 38 tackles - but knew the former Newcastle Knight would have been thinking more about improvement than celebrating his performance.
“That's why he's going to do a lot of things in the game,” Elliott said.
“He's his harshest critic.
“We didn't have to tell him about the miss that led to that try, because he would have been filthy.
"(But as a team), we spoke about how we all played our part, there'd be some guys that would just have those extraordinary games.
“A fortnight ago (in the Hostplus Cup grand final), it was Tesi [Niu] this week, it was Oryn.
“Those guys have got that ability to do that, but it's the 1-to-17, 1-to-13 at that point in the game; we've all got to do our job to allow those guys to do that.”
Oryn Keeley 2nd Try
Like Bennett, Keeley also praised Elliott – who as an affiliate club coach spent time during the season with Bennett and incoming Dolphins head coach Kristian Woolf – for the role he has played in making him a better player.
“Oh, he's the best ... He's just so relaxed,” Keeley said.
“I've probably taken a big leaf out of his book.
“I'm an emotional man, I've got a lot of ADHD, so I got to just dial my energy down and stay neutral and stay with the process and things will come.”
The Devils were the first Hostplus Cup side since the Ben and Shane Walker coached Ipswich Jets in 2015 to take the national title, with NSW Cup sides dominating recent contests.
