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The omens are good for Queensland to regain their grip on the State of Origin trophy this year judging by NSW star Josh Morris’ handling of the prized title.
Maroons captain Cameron Smith could not help but laugh after revealing Morris had little idea of how to carry the interstate silverware at the recent NRL season launch.
Smith (ankle) missed last weekend’s season-opening Auckland Nines but attended the launch in New Zealand as Australian skipper.
He is still kicking himself over Queensland’s eight-series reign ending last year, hinting that the Maroons lost the title rather than NSW winning it.
But it seems NSW are set to let the trophy slip after Morris’ NRL launch gaffe.
“Josh told me he walked out (on stage at the launch) with it upside down the whole way,” a laughing Smith told AAP.
“But there’s no doubt we are really disappointed with the result last year.
“More so with the way we played as a team.
“NSW were very good but we let ourselves down in some small areas where we had chances to win a couple of matches but let it slip.
“It was a nice reminder in game three (32-8 win) of what we are capable of doing.”
Origin great Petero Civoniceva couldn’t help but have a dig at Morris.
“Well, they are not used to it. They haven’t seen it for a very long time,” he told AAP.
“And unfortunately for them they are only going to have it for a year.”
But both Smith and Civoniceva could see good times ahead for the Maroons despite coach Mal Meninga confirming they were in a “rebuilding” phase.
Vacancies have been created by Brent Tate (retirement) and Ben Te’o (rugby) with a question mark over Darius Boyd (Achilles) for the series starting on May 27 at Sydney.
“We have a lot of talent there. We just have to make it all come together,” Smith said.
Civoniceva added: “It’s a changing of the guard but it is inevitable.
“You can only have so much success before you bring through the next generation of players but Mal is doing that.
“I am confident we have the emerging talent coming through.”
A good example was Maroons Emerging Squad member Valentine Holmes who helped an inexperienced Cronulla make the Nines final.
He cooly potted a last-gasp sideline conversion to send the final against a star-studded South Sydney into golden try extra-time.
“It is always good to regenerate the team,” Meninga told Fox Sports.
“(But) we lead the rugby league world in halfbacks and five-eighths – Johnathan Thurston, Cooper Cronk, Daly Cherry-Evans and now (Brisbane halfback Ben) Hunt.
“Any NSW team would love to have those players.
“It’s a dilemma but it’s a great one to have.”
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