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Which state has the best Origin depth?

Roar Rookie
28th May, 2013
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Darius Boyd celebrates his try with Cam Smith during the State of Origin 3 at Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane, Wednesday, July 4, 2012. (AAP Image/Action Photographics, Robb Cox)
Roar Rookie
28th May, 2013
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1548 Reads

Recently, a Queenslander mate of mine was commenting about the Maroons’ State of Origin dominance, particularly the depth the Maroons have in several key positions.

He was not breaking any new ground.

As impressive as his list of potential candidates for full-back were (Slater, Inglis, Boyd, Barba, Bowen, Norman etc.), it was off-set by the state’s recent injury and suspension concerns in other positions.

So the challenge went out: name your second team for each state from the eligible players not named to play in Origin 1. Fitness and suspension count: so no Brett Stewart or Ben Hannant.

Our teams differed slightly but here are mine:

Queensland seconds
1. Ben Barba
2. Edrick Lee
3. Will Chambers
4. Dane Nielsen
5. Justin O’Neill
6. Corey Norman
7. Daly Cherry-Evans
8. Dave Taylor
9. Matt Ballin
10. Josh McGuire
11. Josh Papalii
12. Jacob Lillyman
13. Dallas Johnson
14. Jayson Bukuya
15. Michael Crocker
16. Andrew McCollough
17. Gavin Cooper

New South Wales seconds
1. Josh Dugan
2. Akuila Uate
3. Jack Wighton
4. Jorge Taufua
5. Michael Gordon
6. Todd Carney
7. Adam Reynolds
8. Aaron Woods
9. Michael Ennis
10. Willie Mason
11. Glenn Stewart
12. Tariq Sims
13. Shaun Fensom
14. Tim Grant
15. Tim Mannah
16. Feleti Mateo
17. Josh McCrone

I admit that personal preferences played heavily in my selections, such as the omission of Jamal Idris from the Blues Seconds (he’s had an impressive couple of games recently but he still drives me nuts) and the inclusion of Raider Edrick Lee in the Queensland side.

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But I figured that the NSW selectors have been biased in their selections since Origin was invented so why can’t I?

Regardless, one thing is certain: Queensland’s depth does not extend across the field. In fact, I think it’s fair to say that the next team of Blues would smash the second Queensland team.

Every Queenslander will (rightly) point out that having a better second seventeen doesn’t count for anything when you’ve lost seven straight series but it is still an interesting exercise is seeing who else is out there.

Who would you choose?

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