Barrett selection last roll of the dice for NSW

 

Roar Guru

By Alan Nicolea, 16 Jun 2009 Alan Nicolea is a Roar Guru

Tagged:

 Anthony Laffranchi, Anthony Watmough, Darren Lockyer, David Williams, Glenn Stewart, James McManus, Johnathon Thurston, Luke Bailey, NRL, NSW Blues, Queensland Maroons, Rugby League, State Of Origin, Terry Campese, Trent Barrett

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Raiders half Terry Campese made his Origin debut for NSW two weeks ago on the back of the selectors’ policy to build for the future.

Now he finds himself as the scapegoat of a selection panel that has opted against the youth policy and instead entrusted 31 year-old Trent Barrett to help guide the Blues to a much needed win against a Queensland side eager to cement their place in Origin history.

On the back of a three match winning streak which culminated in a personal victory against Campese in Cronulla’s victory over Canberra last week, Barrett suddenly finds himself as the messiah for a Blues side just 80 minutes away from possibly giving the Maroons a record breaking four straight series victories.

Barrett’s selection is the biggest talking point in a revamped NSW team that makes do without the first game services of Luke Bailey, Anthony Laffranchi, James McManus and Luke Lewis.

The new players filling their places include Manly stars David Williams, Anthony Watmough, Glenn Stewart and former Sharks captain, Paul Gallen.

Although the squad overall once again looks fairly balanced, Barrett’s selection demonstrates that the Blues selectors are desperate and out of new ideas to find a halves combination that can disrupt the dominance of Maroons halves Darren Lockyer and Johnathon Thurston.

After below par performances in Origin 1 from both Wallace and Campese, NSW selectors have panicked themselves into giving Barrett a run, casting the axe on a Raiders star that was sacked because he failed to replicate the match turning feats of his great uncle in his maiden Origin appearance.

Although Campese’s sacking is harsh from one point of view, one can also understand why the Blues selectors have taken Barrett’s form at face value.

Facing an historic four consecutive series losses, the margin for error for NSW selectors has become small heading into the Blues do or die clash next Wednesday night.

One can only hope that Barrett shows all his experience and more as NSW attempt to force the 2009 Origin series to a decider at Suncorp Stadium.