NSW Blues playmakers overlooked
Roar Guru By ScottWoodward.me, 15 May 2011 ScottWoodward.me is a Roar Guru
- Tagged:
- NSW Blues, Rugby League, State Of Origin
2,865 readsRelated coverage
Five of the Blues most talented ball players Jarryd Hayne, Todd Carney, Jarrod Mullen, Jamal Idris and Robbie Farah have been left out of Origin I, as coach Ricky Stuart cements his game plan that will rely on a bomb disposal expert he once sacked.
• NSW State of Origin Team 2011 for Game 1:
1. Josh Dugan, 2. Brett Morris, 3. Mark Gasnier, 4. Michael Jennings, 5. Akuila Uate, 6. Jamie Soward, 7. Mitchell Pearce, 8. Jason King, 9. Michael Ennis, 10. Kade Snowden, 11. Beau Scot, 12. Greg Bird, 13. Paul Gallen (C), 14. Ben Creagh, 15. Trent Merrin, 16. Tim Mannah, 17. Dean Young. Coach Ricky Stuart.
• Likely Queensland Team: 1. Billy Slater, 2. Darius Boyd, 3. Greg Inglis, 4. Willie Tonga, 5. Jharal Yow Yeh, 6. Darren Lockyer (C), 7. Johnathan Thurston, 8. Matt Scott, 9. Cameron Smith, 10. Petero Civoniceva, 11. Sam Thaiday, 12. Nate Myles, 13. Ashley Harrison. Bench: 14. Cooper Cronk, 15. Ben Hannant, 16. Corey Parker, 17. Jacob Lillyman, 18, Dallas Johnson. Coach Mal Meninga
The Blues have selected flyer Michael Jennings over big Jamal Idris or Josh Morris. The Maroons are forced to replace the luckless Hodges on the right side with Willie Tonga, who bagged two tries playing on the left side for the Cowboys last Saturday night.
I applaud the Blues selectors for giving Josh Dugan his chance at fullback, but how can they expect to beat the Maroons when they cannot find a place in the remaining 16 spots for Jarryd Hayne, regarded by most professionals as being in the top five players in the world?
Hayne is so big and athletic that he could play almost any position. He already has experience at fullback, center, wing and pivot and would have no problems slotting in as a running back rower off the bench.
There is no question in my mind that the NSW blue print for success will be to use Jamie Soward’s pin point kicks to score trys from bombs. Soward is a master at putting up a high kick and making it land just before the try line and it is no coincidence that every member in the Blues backline are outstanding in the air.
Jamie Soward would have been licking his chops at the thought of bombing to the Bulldog giant Jamal Idris who is almost unstoppable in a contested jump, but surprisingly he is left out.
Soward will have a feast of riches for possible jumping backs to convert his kicks even without Idris including new fullback Dugan, the exciting wingmen Akuila Uate and Brett Morris and Mark Gasnier, who scored that memorable try off a Soward kick in last year’s Grand Final.
The Blues may well have the best tactical kicker, but the Maroons have the best players in the crucial spine positions of 1, 6,7 and 9. Those tactical positions touch the ball more than anyone else and no team in history has ever been able to boast a better spine than Billy Slater, Darryn Lockyer, Jonathan Thurston and Cam Smith.
• Slater Arguably the best fullback ever to play Rugby League.
• Lockyer A genuine living legend, still in great form.
• Thurston The best player in the world at present
• Smith Arguably the best hooker forward of all time.
Blues coach Ricky Stuart has said that he is trying to build a NSW team “for the future”, yet his two most talented players Todd Carney (24) and Jarryd Hayne (23) were overlooked in the selection room.
It seems to be the popular consensus that Todd Carney cannot be selected as he has been a “bad boy” and Jamie Soward is a clean skin. The fact is that good or bad; Carney played for his club the Roosters on Sunday and realistically is the closest human the Blues have to Thurston in sheer talent.
The folly of this argument is that Soward now appears as the trump card for the Blues, but the fact remains that he cannot do what a switched on Todd Carney can do.
Soward was originally not wanted by Ricky Stuart when he coached him at the Roosters and managed to find greener pastures at the Dragons when Nathan Brown signed him and now Wayne Bennett has made him into his clubs most wanted man.
The biggest challenge for a Soward and Pearce combination is that both prefer to play on the right side of the field abd the Maroons have a proven Lockyer and Thurston who know each other’s game well.
The Blues will use the bad mouthed Mick Ennis as hooker with Dean Young and have not listed Tiger Robbie Farah.
History tells us that the Maroons will score around 24 points and Farah is the standout attacking hooker in NSW. He can also play halfback and pivot and there is a strong argument as to why he could have been used off the bench.
Blues halfback Mitch Pearce commented after playing for City Origin that the service that he received from Farah made a huge difference to how well he played. Clearly the City v Country clash has been a waste of time.
Ennis and Young are up against the best ever in Cam Smith and it is doubtful if Farah being overlooked will upset Maroon coach Mal Meninga.
Co-selector Bozo Fulton, a Manly legend, could only influence prop Jason King to gain selection. It appears that Anthony Watmough has paid the penalty for being a serial pest and disruptive in camp, while Glenn Stewart was overlooked for tough guy Beau Scott, who also is comfortable “baby sitting” Soward in defence. Stewart was not considered an ideal impact player off the bench.
The Maroons are travelling that well they can afford to leave the exciting Ben Barba out although he could have covered more positions than Cooper Cronk who had the support of influential team mates Smith and Slater.
Mal Meninga’s biggest concern is that his champion left center Greg Inglis is passed fit to play. With Israel Folau gone to AFL, Justin Hodges and Brent Tate injured, Queensland have been forced to again use Willie Tonga which will present a likely target for Jamal Idris and Josh Dugan to run at as he is suspect laterally.
The center cupboard is bare if Inglis is not cleared with selectors looking to Bronco babes Jack Reed and Gerard Beale.
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- Explore:
- NSW Blues, Rugby League, State Of Origin
May 15th 2011 @ 6:10pm
Jason Cave said | May 15th 2011 @ 6:10pm | Report comment
You can put down another 3-0 series win to Queensland, seeing that the NSW Blues have left out talented players such as Hayne, Mullen, Farah and Carney, just to name a few. And Game 1 is the most important game in the whole of a State of Origin series.
Why?
Since the State of Origin went to a 3-game series in 1982, 70% of the time a team-whether it’s NSW or Queensland-that has won Game 1 of a State of Origin series have gone on to win the title.
And this is what NSW appears to be doing with their selections, virtually handing game 1 to Queensland on a platter. Qld coach Mal Meninga must think all his Christmases had come at once.
May 15th 2011 @ 6:49pm
ScottWoodward.me said | May 15th 2011 @ 6:49pm | Report comment
Jason
I can see some logic with some of the outs but not Idris.
NSW have the best kicker in the NRL in Soward and could have had the best jumper in Idris.
CRRRRRazy
May 15th 2011 @ 6:53pm
peeeko said | May 15th 2011 @ 6:53pm | Report comment
i can only agree with farah, he possesses the ball playing skills similar to Smith that Ennis lacks. As for mullen and hayne, i cant agree that they are more talented than soward and dugan. a fully fit and in form carney is a must but to select him at this stage would be a massive gamble
May 15th 2011 @ 7:12pm
ScottWoodward.me said | May 15th 2011 @ 7:12pm | Report comment
peeeko
I thought Carney was outstanding today is a poorly beaten side. he is clearly the closest thing NSW have to Thurston.
May 15th 2011 @ 6:16pm
db swannie said | May 15th 2011 @ 6:16pm | Report comment
Firstly Scott ..you have named ball players who have missed out ,fair point..but you have Idris in that group…He is as much a ball player as i am Prime Minister.
Then you go onto say that he is going to be running at Tonga…Bit hard to do when he isn’t in the team.
I just dont get all the hype around him…he is a good centre ,but rep class..no…& i think the NSW selectors were wise to leave him out.
May 15th 2011 @ 7:14pm
ScottWoodward.me said | May 15th 2011 @ 7:14pm | Report comment
swannie
He may still get in.
Not sure if Jennings will pass fit.
I think Idris is a star and will be for 10 years. His ability in the air would have been a problem for Qld.
May 15th 2011 @ 7:21pm
ScottWoodward.me said | May 15th 2011 @ 7:21pm | Report comment
swannie
to be honest with you, I wrote the story at lunch time and had to quickly change it when Idris was left out as I had him in. You are correct he is not a ball player but maybe one day.
May 15th 2011 @ 7:10pm
sheek said | May 15th 2011 @ 7:10pm | Report comment
Scott,
Hayne might be a great player, but from what I see, he’s not a great team man. Great individual players aren’t much help in the long run unless they can interract with theit team mates, both on & off the field. So Hayne gets the boot.
Concensus among my workmates is that the Blues won’t get within cooee of the Maroons. It’ll be a case of the game being there for Qld to lose, rather than NSW being good enough to win on merit.
May 15th 2011 @ 7:16pm
ScottWoodward.me said | May 15th 2011 @ 7:16pm | Report comment
Sheek
I am already on Qld at 1.65 to win series and I can tell you that I am happy Idris and Hayne are not playing.
If Carney was good enough to play today then he should have been in.
May 15th 2011 @ 7:40pm
BennO said | May 15th 2011 @ 7:40pm | Report comment
Don’t have time to comment in detail but it seems to me he’s picked a team full of team players. Farah, Hayne, Carney they are all brilliant individually but don’t play like a cog in a team I don’t think. The others seem to play that way. Team oriented play like this won the dragons the premiership.
May 15th 2011 @ 7:43pm
ScottWoodward.me said | May 15th 2011 @ 7:43pm | Report comment
BennO
The Blues have to score close to 30 points to win. Guys like Scott and Young will not assist that process.
May 16th 2011 @ 6:33am
BennO said | May 16th 2011 @ 6:33am | Report comment
No I’m not disagreeing with you but I see the strategy or sense in Stuart’s selections. He’s clearly going for a type of team and a player to fit in with that. I don’t think it’s a defensive or as dire as everyone is suggesting. Hayne should be in the team regardless I think, but I see what he is trying to do. I think it just might work. People talking like it’s a foregone conclusion, origin is never a foregone conclusion.
A solid team that plays smart could definitely beat the QLD. The Blues have beaten themselves a few times in the last few years, with dumb but crucial errors at various times.
May 15th 2011 @ 8:42pm
Sam said | May 15th 2011 @ 8:42pm | Report comment
Jamal Idris has to be the most overrated player in the comp at the moment for mine. He is too lazy, doesn’t put in the extra effort. He has enormous potential and could one day be a great player if he puts in the effort. He was playing better footy last year than he is now. A wise decision to leave him out I think.
May 15th 2011 @ 9:11pm
ScottWoodward.me said | May 15th 2011 @ 9:11pm | Report comment
Sam
He has been playing with injury.
NSW cannot beat QLand with an even bounce so they need guys like Idris with that X factor.
I think Meninga will be happy with the NSW team.
I understand where u are coming from, but NSW have been down this path and it doesn’t work.
May 15th 2011 @ 8:55pm
yewonk said | May 15th 2011 @ 8:55pm | Report comment
the point is they chose jennings over him jamal has tries, meters and tackles over jennings. ricky is afool not a thinker. good team as a queensland supporter
May 15th 2011 @ 9:49pm
ScottWoodward.me said | May 15th 2011 @ 9:49pm | Report comment
yewonk
Ricky was the best tactical kicker I have ever seen play Rugby League but as a coach he is very limited. His last 2 years at the Roosters and the Sharks he had a 25% win record.
he continues to get rails runs in his coaching life.
May 16th 2011 @ 7:43am
mjpt said | May 16th 2011 @ 7:43am | Report comment
Solid point-armchair ride for a while. His performance after the world cup 2008 was disgraceful. It was not us seeing another side to Stuart-it was only him becoming more like himself. Think hard and he has had an armchair ride as a player as well-Daley at 6, Mal at 3, Clyde at 13, Belcher at 1, Walters at 9. Thats 5 hall of fame credentialed players. He and Alf swapped the 7 roles depending on the coaches whim.
May 15th 2011 @ 9:20pm
Pacman said | May 15th 2011 @ 9:20pm | Report comment
Looks to me like they started with the Dragons team list and worked from there. Yet another year the selectors have let us down.
May 15th 2011 @ 9:51pm
ScottWoodward.me said | May 15th 2011 @ 9:51pm | Report comment
Pacman
Beau Scott is tough yes but very limited and Young is outlandish.
May 15th 2011 @ 10:03pm
Pacman said | May 15th 2011 @ 10:03pm | Report comment
I get that the Dragons are a successful team but to me that seem to make each player less responsible for their success. It makes more sense to pick players who are outstanding however the team around them is performing.
May 15th 2011 @ 10:16pm
The Dragon said | May 15th 2011 @ 10:16pm | Report comment
Pacman – you have no idea – do you ? Saints are easily the best “team” Put them in with combinations and they will play as a “team” – not individuals like Carney and Hayne who both do 1 good thing and then 3 bad ones
May 15th 2011 @ 10:48pm
Pacman said | May 15th 2011 @ 10:48pm | Report comment
Apparently not. Let’s play the whole Dragons side.
May 15th 2011 @ 10:53pm
The Dragon said | May 15th 2011 @ 10:53pm | Report comment
Well – we would have also had Cooper (if available) – Weyman is a much better prop than King – Creagh should start so …. I reckon you may have something there Pac man – you would be a Bulldogs supporter I reckon – judging from your overall comments. Cheers
May 16th 2011 @ 5:10pm
Pacman said | May 16th 2011 @ 5:10pm | Report comment
Incorrect. I support the panthers, and for the record I’m unhappy with Jennings’ selection and can half understand Lewis’ exclusion (for game I at least). So unlike yourself I can claim to not be swayed by team loyalty and bias. Cheers.
May 15th 2011 @ 9:29pm
Mat said | May 15th 2011 @ 9:29pm | Report comment
I cannot believe that Hayne hasn’t been picked.. Yes you could say he hasn’t been in his best form.. but he certainly isn’t playing poorly.I mean if Lockyer, Smith, Thurston or Slater weren’t ever in the best of form, would Qld go for someone else?NO. In saying that, Josh Dugan hasn’t showed any spectacular form ? He’s a great player, who’s stood out in a few games over the last 2 years and showed what he’s capable of.. but it’s not even enough to even come close to comparing what Hayne has showed over the last couple of years.
Jarryd Hayne IS an Origin player, he made his debut when he was 19, and he has been one of the blues best ever since in every series. He was their best player last year. That is why all of these Qld stars are there every single year, even when they aren’t showing any great form at club level. Because they’re ORIGIN players. NSW selectors keep making the same mistakes every single year, I thought after one or two years they might’ve gotten their act together, but it shows 5 consecutive years later of losing.. they haven’t.
But in saying that NSW could put on a show and beat QLD, all the best to them I hope they come out winners. But if this series goes down again, because of poor selections, I feel for all of us NSW fans.
May 15th 2011 @ 9:52pm
ScottWoodward.me said | May 15th 2011 @ 9:52pm | Report comment
Mat
Mal will be very happy Hayne is not there.
He would have been my left center or on the bench.
May 15th 2011 @ 10:06pm
Dean - Surry Hills said | May 15th 2011 @ 10:06pm | Report comment
This is undoubtebly both the best form, and positionally correct team NSW has announced in many years.
I’m not entirely happy with all of the selections, though I believe they will all stick their hands up and play for each other.
NSW have lost all of their recent matches in the first half of each game, expressly due to players having to adapt to new positions, adjusting their style for new team mates, and odd-ball random strategy thrown in from the coaching staff.
The Blues have at last put up a very effective “brick wall”. Their attacking options aren’t too shabby either!
Be prepared for what most will consider an upset. NSW to finally win a series, and get the monkey off its back.
May 15th 2011 @ 10:21pm
ScottWoodward.me said | May 15th 2011 @ 10:21pm | Report comment
Dean
“NSW have lost all of their recent matches in the first half of each game, expressly due to players having to adapt to new positions”
Incorrect Dean. NSW have lost largely because of Thurston, but also with some excellent help from Lockyer and Slater. Also I would not say that King, Jennings, Pearce, Bird and Manah are in their best form.
The backrow 3 are guys you would not want to meet in an alley but they are not big guys who are likely to bust the game open.
May 15th 2011 @ 11:18pm
Dean - Surry Hills said | May 15th 2011 @ 11:18pm | Report comment
Thurston only shines when his forwards have the upper hand on their opponents – and as a fact he has done bugger all in every game against Hornby and his team of Dragons that I can recall. When is the last time that the Cowboys actually beat St George?
Cameron Smith makes Thurston look better than he really is, and Lockyer adds nicely to the same equation. All three of them look great when their forwards are winning the battle and they’re getting quick play the ball. It isn’t going to happen this time around !
I agree with you on Bird, King, and Jennings, – hence my statement that I wasn’t happy with all of the selections. All three will probably have blinders and I will have to eat my words.
From the Eels games I’ve seen it appears as though Manah has been playing exceptionally well in a losing team.
I will be taking the big money on offer and putting it where my mouth is by backing The Blues.
May 16th 2011 @ 11:23am
ScottWoodward.me said | May 16th 2011 @ 11:23am | Report comment
Dean
Go back and watch Origin I last year. NSW forwards were on top early and then Thurston cut lose on his own. he changed the game.
May 15th 2011 @ 10:45pm
JamesM said | May 15th 2011 @ 10:45pm | Report comment
Seems I spoke too soon with my ‘State Of The Blues Address’ write up….even I am turned off by Stuart’s team.
The only way to beat QLD is to score more points than them…Stuart has done the exact opposite, picked a SAFE defensive team…with no X-factor attacking ball-players……..Good lord, Game 1 at Suncorp is going to be lambs to the slaughter.
And after all he has done for NSW the last few years, if i were Jarryd Hayne, i’d tell Sticky to shove Origin up his rear. Show me a Josh Dugan 2011 Highlight Reel…i beg you…because with the exception of scoring an (over-hyped) try in the glorified trial known as The All Stars, he has done absolutly NOTHING to deserve this years NSW Fullback spot.
May 16th 2011 @ 3:50pm
Mat said | May 16th 2011 @ 3:50pm | Report comment
100% Agree.
If anything Hayne has showed better form in 2011. Plus you look at how well Hayne has been for NSW over the last few years, he is one of the only ones who has developed into an Origin player for NSW. But no the selectors have to get rid of him and try something different like they do every single year. 5 consecutive years of losing…. I thought they’d have their act together by now.