Blues selectors need to show faith in young stars

 
Gabriel Knowles Roar Pro

By , 16 Jun 2009 Gabriel Knowles is a Roar Pro

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Johnathon Thurston of Queensland scores a try during the Queensland v New South Wales State of Origin Rugby League game at the Ethiad Stadium in Melbourne, Wednesday, June 3rd, 2009. AAP Image/Martin Philbey

Johnathon Thurston of Queensland scores a try during the Queensland v New South Wales State of Origin Rugby League game at the Ethiad Stadium in Melbourne, Wednesday, June 3rd, 2009. AAP Image/Martin Philbey

As if we were in any doubt about what controls rugby league, the NSWRL prove it once again. Perhaps they figured that they didn’t cop too much about it last time, so why not announce their State Of Origin team at half-time during Monday night football again?

Sure, there are the commercial realities of the game. But it wouldn’t do any harm to just wait until the game’s over.

At least in that case, if there were any injuries in the Monday night match, we wouldn’t have players coming in and out of the squad.

Mind you, with the squad they’ve picked this time around, the NSW selectors are a decent chance to have that problem anyway. With Jamie Lyon, Michael Jennings and Craig Wing all under injury clouds, the selectors have taken a risk by picking them all.

Jennings is probably the biggest risk considering he hasn’t played since the first Origin and it will be interesting to see who gets the call up out of Joel Monaghan and Josh Morris.

On current form, you’d think Morris might have the inside running.

However, current form and predictability haven’t been the hallmarks of the Blues selectors in recent times.

True to form, just when it looked like they’d show faith in a halves combination for the first time in years, they go and pick Trent Barrett at five-eighth. Now Terry Campese didn’t have the best of games on debut and Barrett isn’t the worst pivot going around by a long shot, but there isn’t a whole between them apart from experience.

Which begs the question, if experience is all of a sudden a factor again, why isn’t the in-form Brett Kimmorley in the side for Peter Wallace?

Wallace’s form hasn’t been so crash hot recently and he was on par with Campese in Melbourne. They both may have played and kicked poorly, but they both also played behind a pack that was only able to get on top towards the end of each half.

That didn’t allow the fresh combination enough time to gel and show what they could do at that level.

Campese will play Origin again one day, but if the selectors thought he was good enough for game one, then they should have stuck with him for at least the series. And at the very least, game two.

Perhaps if they show some consistency, then their team will, too.

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