10/05/2008 7:14 AM
Nathan Cayless thought it was too good to be true.
Ricky Stuart said those who witnessed it had seen some special.
It was the try rugby league fans will be talking about for as long as the game is played.
In the sixth minute of Australia's 28-12 win over New Zealand in the Centenary Test on Friday, half-back Johnathan Thurston speared a crossfield kick into the Kiwis in-goal.
The ball bounced and appeared to be going dead but Greg Inglis had other ideas.
He leapt from the in-goal like a basketballer performing an alley-oop, scooping the ball mid-air back to Mark Gasnier who touched down.
"When I first saw it I didn't believe it was a try," Kiwi captain Cayless said.
"Watching the replay…it was pretty freakish."
Asked to sum Inglis's try up, Stuart said: "Freak. Which is a word you've probably all used."
"(It's) not just the athletic ability of Greg but the instinctive knowledge."
"To be able to go in the air, regain it and throw it knowing he couldn't touch the ground before release is the reason why we love watching Greg Inglis play."
Stuart declared rugby league supporters lucky to be able to watch such genius at work.
"I think that's the reason why you get 35,000 there tonight. Rugby league people want to come and watch that kind of athleticism and that type of football."
"They want to come and watch the ability of a bloke like Cameron Smith coming out of dummy half …they want to see that quality of football."
"At this level they do get it and that's why Origin is very successful, that's why Test football is very successful."
"It's a real quality of athlete playing the game. I'm very fortunate to be coaching this footy team with the quality of athlete there."