NSW finally get more mongrel into their cattle dog
Roar Guru
By Steve Kaless, 9 Jun 2010 Steve Kaless is a Roar Guru
Queensland's Cameron Smith celebrates with Nate Myles. AAP Image/Dean Lewins
NSW looked to add more mongrel, while Queensland backflipped on their decision to stand down Israel Folau from the Maroons after the Bronco switched to AFL in a move which barely caused a ripple of interest in the Australian sporting news media.
“He’s doing what? Honestly, mate, I read the papers cover to cover every day pouring through the pages looking for some sort of news about rugby league and it really gets my goat that nobody bothered to report this sort of thing in the papers. I’m sure someone would have been interested,” was what Darren Lockyer didn’t tell me when I didn’t confront him about the Folau selection.
But wouldn’t it have made a nice change.
Meanwhile, Dragons centre Beau Scott has redefined what it means to be a Origin bolter by streaking past the likes of Josh Morris, Jamal Idris, Michael Jennings, Chris Lawrence and Beau Champion to secure the other centre postion alongside team mate Matt Cooper.
Scott’s defensive reputation has clearly got him the nod, and the shift towards grunt is underlined, put in bold, and then the font is increased to 72 with the selection of Paul Gallen, Nathan Hindmarsh and the human penalty count, Luke O’Donnell.
The Blues side does look better balanced with Hayne at fullback and a natural five-eighth in Barrett at six.
But really, it’s largely academic when facing the might of the Maroons.
I’m glad they picked Folau – anything to bring us back to some version of normality. The press would have gone into overdrive had he been dumped.
No doubt there would have been calls to drag Ross Livermore in front of International Criminal Court and some human rights abuse charges from Folau manager David Riolo.
It’s high time the circus moved on.
Let’s face it, whether it’s all about marketing or taking up a new challenge, the school kids don’t care. They just want to get out of science class.
It’s a battle hardened Blues side picked to try and stop a Maroons juggernaut on their home turf.
I’ll make just one prediction: Johnathan Thurston will be caught on camera swearing at least half a dozen times during the match.
NSW: Jarryd Hayne, Brett Morris, Beau Scott, Matt Cooper, Timana Tahu, Trent Barrett (vice-capt), Mitchell Pearce, Michael Weyman, Michael Ennis, Brett White, Ben Creagh, Trent Waterhouse, Paul Gallen. Interchange: Kurt Gidley (capt), Nathan Hindmarsh, Tom Learoyd-Lahrs, Luke O’Donnell.
Queensland: Billy Slater, Israel Folau, Greg Inglis, Willie Tonga, Darius Boyd, Darren Lockyer, Johnathan Thurston, Dave Shillington, Cameron Smith, Matt Scott, Sam Thaiday, Nate Myles, Ash Harrison. Interchange: Cooper Cronk, Neville Costigan, Dave Taylor, Ben Hannant
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Briolex said | June 9th 2010 @ 7:30am | Report comment
Folau should be in so that when we (Blues) beat them then it will be against the strongest team queensland can put up,
Nicholas R.W. Henning said | June 9th 2010 @ 9:46am | Report comment
Hear, Hear! If NSW win (IF they win) it must be against a full strength team, otherwise the banana army will complain that it only happened because there was no Folau. I just hope that Folau doesn’t score the game winning try!
ItsCalledFootball said | June 9th 2010 @ 11:42pm | Report comment
I can’t wait to see Phil Lau make a break with the line wide open and then kick the ball between the sticks instead of placing it over the try line.
Ronnie the Eel said | June 11th 2010 @ 10:46am | Report comment
This side definitely looks better than the Game 1 side. I agree in wondering whether Hindy can have as big an impact off the bench. Should have him in there instead of Waterhouse and have an impact player like Bird on the bench. Not sure about Tahu on the wing either. The only other poor decisions may relate to Cooper in the centres, and “Soft” Brett White at prop. Sure, he cna throw a punch, but when it comes to the game he is probably the softest NSW forward I have seen in the past few years. But as I said, this side still has a better chance than the first one at winning an Origin game. So, go the Blues!!!
Paul J said | June 9th 2010 @ 7:49am | Report comment
Qld’s strongest team would have Petro, Hodges, Price and Croker in the mix.
sledgeross said | June 9th 2010 @ 8:20am | Report comment
I tired of this… Sack Bellamy and the selectors.
Scott can tackle, he does it well, but if a bloke with so little talent as him can play in front of so many better players, then Im afraid, for the first time in Origin history, I wont care if we win or not. In fact, I almost hope we do lose, so the coach and selectors can all be fired and we can try and have people who actually have a plan in charge……
Rob of Wollongong said | June 9th 2010 @ 1:50pm | Report comment
Obviously you haven’t been watching the dragons this year. Scott is more than just a defensive player. In fact his hard straight running is a major strength of his and will cause QLD a lot of headaches particularly if he runs angles against lockyer.
Brad said | June 10th 2010 @ 6:49pm | Report comment
Sledgeross,
I gotta disagree with you on Beau Scott. In my opinion its the other centre that shouldn’t be there. Cooper.
Scott gives 100% and is in form. Cooper on the other hand is moddy coddlted (if thats how you spell it).
Look at how many times he has pulled out of city/origin games only to play for his club on those weekends. Scott on the otherhand will go hammer and tong to play. Cooper does not train with the NSW sided on the Monday if he has palyed a club game on the Sunday. Good for one but not the other. Scott deserves there to be in front of Cooper for sure. I think he would pair well with Jennings. One is toough and is a real goer the other is like lighting off the mark.
If Gidley can learn how to pass the ball and set up play then he would be definately 5 eight as long as he is allowed to do his own thing. Unfortunately as we all can see it is the coach who is calling the shots not the players.
To all honesty I have coached and played many years ago and I believe that I could, with your assitance as manager Sledgeross have more success in coaching the NSW side. And I mean that sincerely. Look at Alan Jones who coached the wallabies. You dont have to be the best footballer in the world to be the best coach or selector. They need a change big time
Fivehole said | June 9th 2010 @ 8:24am | Report comment
The NSW centre pairing wont have Qld quaking in their boots defensively, that’s for sure.
Also, Hindmarsh’s talent (his motor) is wasted by not playing him for close to 80 minutes. Bench is not the spot for him. But finally the skipper is there, where he should have been all along
danwighton said | June 9th 2010 @ 12:50pm | Report comment
Hindmarsh should never have been dropped, and should have been the skipper for the last five years….then they wouldnt have needed to continue the GIdley experiment.
Nicholas R.W. Henning said | June 9th 2010 @ 1:07pm | Report comment
Hear, hear! Danwighton! Hindmarsh is a solid worker, and I think the selectors hoped Kurt Gidley would show greater aptitude than he has. Gidley was only ever a bench player (NOT an Orgin captain and fullback), and Craig Wing was always better in that role!
danwighton said | June 9th 2010 @ 1:16pm | Report comment
Wing showed last year that he was still great in that utility role – I think the NSW selectors dropped a lot of the guys who had been successful in the early 2000s, thinking that they were past it, when they werent.
Parramatta’s record without Hindmarsh speaks for itself – and seriously, what NRL coach would rather have Waterhouse or Laffranci in their side than Hindmarsh?
Boydy said | June 9th 2010 @ 1:17pm | Report comment
As I said before, this has been the opinion of every Blues fan I know, why was he ever left out in the first place? I live in Qld and all the Maroons supporters I know (and that’s plenty) are laughing at the NSW selectors. To a man they all agree they are very happy about the fact that we keep leaving the best second rower in the game on the sideline. 80 minute footballer who’ll give you 50 tackles a game and 20 hit ups yet we keep leaving him out. It’s a bloody disgrace!
Brad said | June 10th 2010 @ 4:00pm | Report comment
Unfortunately I feel sorry for Gidley and to that fact Kimmorley. The unfortunate thing about todays game is there is not too much ab lib football anymore especially from the fullback position. The only ab football I can see is from out of dummy half. Gidley gets a free reign with Newcastle and with great success. He now has to adopt in a side which undertakes the mechanical style of football that most clubs adopt. How mant times do you see in club games a 3 man overlap on the left hand side but they spin it right because that is what is in there plan. This is what we have to do on the 3rd tackle or 4th or whatever. Its too robotic and good players are not given that free reign. I know one very famous player in Australian rugby league history that said he would not fit into todays game because it is all scheduled. You have to do this on tackel one this on tackle 2 etc. Forget about the gaps and the overlaps just play according to game plan. The players should be the ones playing the game not the coaches. Ab lib football is exciting and gives the players the opportunity to really show their skills.
On another note is Craig Bellamy and the staff coaching like Jason Taylor.
On another note I feel sorrry for Kimmorley. He was NSW best forward in game 1. Pretty hard to back up as a half back when he put as much mongrel in the forwards as he did in game 1.
mona said | June 9th 2010 @ 8:48am | Report comment
NSW looks a bit better, but still not good enough I’m afraid.
Although I’m glad that Nathan Hindmarsh gets a run, if there’s one New South Welshmen that deserves an Origin spot (and there aren’t many tbh) it’s him.
Hutchoman said | June 9th 2010 @ 8:55am | Report comment
It still looks like a patchwork team for NSW. Admittedly it may the best we’ve got/available, but there just doesn’t seem to be any logic in the selections. I guess the Morris/Scott combination has some thought behind it (and certainly a better choice than Idris), but beyond that there’s a lot of head scratching to be done in the new selections.
The trio of Barrett, Hindmarsh and O’Donnell were “yesterday’s men” only two weeks ago, yet these are now the saviours?
Weyman and White strike me as honest workhorses that will take your team a long way in the regular season, but can they really muscle up if the fire and brimstone starts flying? With the exception of Gallen, there just doesn’t seem to be anyone there to really give it to Queensland in the pack.
And finally our “captain”. Seriously, when in the history of history has a captain not been selected in the starting side? We need to get fair dinkum about this and work how who is absolutely the best player in their position, i.e. who are the first picked and won’t have their selection challenged purely through the availability/injury of other players. Using that approach, there are only two choices from the list above, Hayne and Ennis (in my opinion).
Boydy said | June 9th 2010 @ 10:56am | Report comment
Buuldogs supporter no doubt hutchoman. You seriously think Ennis doesn’t have his position challenged by Robbie Farrah? Come on, he’s only there because someone on the selection panel likes an ‘urger’, someone who takes cheap verbal shots at the opposition. Farah is ten times the footballer Ennis is. As for Barrett, Hindmarsh and O’Donnell being “yesterday men” it’s because the num-nut selectors said they were. These guys should have been there from day one three season ago. Read the blogs, ask your mates down the pub and the fans who attend games, everyone’s been saying it but the four so-called experts who select the team and the “genius” who coaches them just can’t see it! This team will put up a much better showing and may just even manage to rest the series back, something they would probably do for sure if they had the creativity of Farah in the team!
Hutchoman said | June 9th 2010 @ 11:08am | Report comment
Boydy,
I’ll give you one red hot tip … I’m certainly NOT a Bulldogs fan !!!
I just don’t rate Robbie Farah. I know a lot of people will disagree with me there, but that’s just where I stand. I see Farah as a fair weather footballer that suits the Tigers run and gun style, but doesn’t do it for me in the trench warfare of Origin. Sounds like we’re just going to have agree to disagree on that one.
Cheers …
Nicholas R.W. Henning said | June 9th 2010 @ 11:09am | Report comment
Hear, hear! Farah rules! He’s more creative than Ennis and Farah is a game breaker in his own right!
danwighton said | June 9th 2010 @ 1:22pm | Report comment
Farah showed in Origin one last year that he is far more creative than Ennis – seriously, what did Ennis do in origin one?
As for the ‘yesterday’s men’ I know with Hindmarsh at least that Bellamy doesnt hold him in that high esteem – and went head to head with the selectors over whether or not to pick him.
I guess when they lost the game, Bellamy relented.
Brad said | June 11th 2010 @ 8:32pm | Report comment
Maybe NSW could select Jake Friend as hooker. He might be able to slip some valium into Sam Thaiday’s mouth when packing down in a scrum to try and slow him up? At least 4 pills I would think.
Hindmarsh is a terrific footballer but at this stage of his career he is no match for Thaiday. Thaiday is undoubtedly the best Australian forward running around today.
Nicholas R.W. Henning said | June 9th 2010 @ 8:56am | Report comment
The selectors have seen the light! Kurt Gidley is on the bench! Hot Chocolate was right, “I believe in miracles!”
Whilst the QLD team is super good NSW will be extra determined, as many of players like Gallen, Hindmarsh, and O’Donnell will be eager to prove their credentials.
Anything can happen in a rugby league game, and NSW will be hoping that Game II is their night and that the ball bounces their way. Nicholas R.W. Henning – Australian Author
Brett McKay said | June 9th 2010 @ 9:13am | Report comment
Steve, I will say that NSW side looks better than G1. Whether it’s good enough is still debateable, but at least it looks stronger..
Nicholas R.W. Henning said | June 9th 2010 @ 9:33am | Report comment
Brett, I have some side question for you. I have noticed over the years that in Canberra there are surges in sporting interest. For example when the Brumbies were doing really well there seemed to be huge crowds and a lot of interest. It was like the Brumbies took the Raiders mantle of the team of the city. Plus when the Canberra Cannons were an ace NBL team the crowds were also impressive. My question is could more be done to entice sports fans in Canberra? The Australian Baseball League is putting a team down there this summer, and Canberra has some good baseball talent, but I’m just concerned about getting off to the best possible start. Does Canberra sporting culture have facets or dynamics that Sydney people may not fully understand?
Brett McKay said | June 9th 2010 @ 10:20am | Report comment
wow Nicholas, where to start…
I guess in short, and like a lot of Australia I suppose, Canberra loves a winner. You’re quite right about your perceptions of crowds for the Brumbies and Raiders, and this year’s 15K average is down on previous years, but o the flip side, they’ve gone above 9000 members again, for the first time about 2006. The Raiders crowds would be a touch under 15K on ave, but they too now have more members (>5K) than ever.
Tha Captials get good support generally speaking, and the AFL games played in town are always well-attended, despite often having live coverage against the gate.
“Loves a winner” is really the only obvious explanation. Good contests help, no doubt (watch for a big crowd to the PMs XI with England back this summer), but not as much as the likelihood of seeing the locals win…
(sorry for the tangent, Steve..)
Nicholas R.W. Henning said | June 9th 2010 @ 10:37am | Report comment
Thank you Brett. To link this back to the above discussion, people like winners in Australia, and if NSW don’t start winning Origin, fans might lose some interest. We’ve seen this happen in ODI cricket with Australia beating everyone. I hate to say it but if QLD keep winning it could reduce some of the popularity of the Origin Series.
berra boy said | June 9th 2010 @ 10:57am | Report comment
Without being defensive I think the “loving a winner” explanation is just a touch too simple. There is definitely a strong element of that, but the key features in my mind are the following:
* Population. There are only about 350,000 people in town. That’s not a lot in terms of ability to consistently provide crowds. Canberrans like myself hide behind this a bit but on a per capita basis we don’t do too bad. Clearly Melbourne is best but Sydney rarely sells out big games.
* Competition. Canberra is in the middle of everywhere and has serious ‘immigrant’ population. That means all major codes have deep traditions and when you are competing for a crowd at the top level you are competing with fans who have allegiances at club level in all major cities. Pretty hard to get a Norwood fan fired up about Rugby Union!
* Quality. Canberrans aren’t fools. If there is one thing they hate it’s second rate product. This, in my mind, is more important than the win or lose element. Canberrans have a strong sense of quality across all codes. The end of the Eddie Jones error and most of the Nucifora – Laurie Fisher error provided exceptionally poor rugby (even when we were winning). We expect running rugby and simply don’t turn up to watch penalty shoot-outs. Similarly, in AFL, if the AFL provides us with poor games involving second rung sides with no commitment to the town then why should we turn up? In recent years crowds have looked pretty good as the Dogs / Swans dynamic has become a bit more entrenched. And finally league. Quote frankly the club suffered a decade of decline with Mal as a coach. He was simply terrible as a club coach. He lost a range of young exciting talent to clubs like the Bulldogs and Manly and no-one had the guts to tell him. It’s no coincidence that the membership levels have increased with the retention of youth and a no d-head policy being introduced at the club.
There you go
Nicholas R.W. Henning said | June 9th 2010 @ 11:07am | Report comment
Berra Boy, I should have known you would have jumped all over this! All fair points and it would seem that Canberrans don’t want other states scraps; they want their own quality product. AFL has been foolish in this regard. Considering the population the city does do well, but I’m worried that at the moment things seem a little quiet down there, and I want baseball to do great there this summer, plus I want the Raiders to surge ahead of the Brumbies!
Stinger said | June 9th 2010 @ 9:17am | Report comment
The longer Ben Creagh stays on the field, the less chance NSW have of winning
Nicholas R.W. Henning said | June 9th 2010 @ 9:42am | Report comment
Stinger, Creagh has a lot of people beating his drum. Even four years ago he received a lot of vocal support. I’ve seen some glimpses of brilliance from him, but he hasn’t dazzled this year. The incumbent approach to selection is problematic. I would like to see Anthony Laffranchi there instead.
josh said | June 9th 2010 @ 10:08am | Report comment
Exactly, NSW would have a lot more grunt with the likes of Heighington and Bird rather than that fairy Ben Creagh who prances around the field and Waterhouse. Waterhouse reminds me of Dane Carlaw – looks like Tarzan but plays like…well you know the rest.
Also Brett White and Michael Weyman, seriously?? Tim Mannah and Kade Snowden!!!!
How much have the NSW heirarchy butchered the captaincy!!! By naming GIdley as captain they couldn’t shift him when it became clear after Game I last year he was better suited as a utility from the bench. After 4 failures they make another half-arsed decision. You can’t captan from the bench. Despite the “VC” next to his name I tend to think Barrett will be the captain next wednesday.
Hutchoman said | June 9th 2010 @ 11:14am | Report comment
Josh,
Can’t agree with you more on the “Captain” Gidley front. See my post above. You are right to say the captaincy has been completely butchered and now we will have on-field captain (Barrett) who wasn’t deemed good enough to play two weeks ago ?!?!?
If nothing else, can the powers that be please work out who the real captain is and make him the backbone of the team for the next generation??? Any team, from the bush dustbowls to the heights of Origin, without a clear leader will stumble in the face of a well drilled and cohesive opposition, even if the individual players might be equals.
Will the real NSW captain please stand up?
Brad said | June 11th 2010 @ 8:59pm | Report comment
I agree Stinger, lucky Justin Hogdes is not playing because Creigh would be back peddling and watching the game in the grandstand. NSW would be playing with 12 men
chris said | June 9th 2010 @ 9:22am | Report comment
I like the QLD jerseys but the NSW ones are ugly.
Nicholas R.W. Henning said | June 9th 2010 @ 9:38am | Report comment
Come on! Maroon was last considered fashionable in the 1970s! You can’t go wrong with sky blue, beautiful for all occasions!