Here in good ol’ New South Wales – the greatest state in the whole wide world – it’s inherent that we complicate the selection of our Origin team so rigorously that it almost reaches the point of self-sabotage.
While the dirty Maroons nucleus simply agree to meet again in the same place at the same time each year, the southern state prefers to tangle itself with conflicting views on incumbency, form and combinations, resulting in approximately 120 candidates varying from in the mix and on the outer right up until the team is announced.
It’s only mid-April, but open a newspaper and you’ll see it’s already begun. In something completely different, there’s turmoil around the halves.
Do we go with the last blokes? Do we pick new blokes? Do we even pick blokes? It just never ends.
With the six and seven at sixes and sevens, I say we dump the topic in the ‘too hard’ basket for now. Let’s lighten the mood by going up-front to the land inhabited by those referred to in incoherent French-Spanish as Le Grande Boppers.
That’s right, I’m talking about our blue-collar boys in the prop positions. To defend the title, the Blues need blokes with the engines to go the distance and the dexterity to navigate the confusion of interlocking with the six-headed Queensland front row.
So who will our interchangeable selection stratagem produce for us in 2015?
Firstly, here’s the straight dope. To those dreading conjecture around this position, hoping for a quickfire conversation with a swift resolution of a few straightforward picks that are given time to blossom, unfortunately you’ve come to the wrong state.
Picking front-rowers is an area in Blues selection history that is renowned for its shifting sands.
Over the last nine years, there have been many casualties in the fight against Queensland’s legendary bedrock combos involving household names like Petero Civoniceva, Steve Price, Matt Scott and Nate Myles.
In that time, New South Wales have churned through 15 different starting props to Queensland’s seven, and including benchies, an overall 23 to their 13.
Sure, this is a comparison to a period of horrific dominance for Queensland that bequeathed them luxurious stability of the highest order, but it doesn’t change the fact it is quite the revolving door for the Blues. Shame on you, Bozo and friends.
Nevertheless, will Laurie Daley be going for last year’s tried and tested in 2015? Will he be lumping for options currently on-song? And will he be squeezing in anything camouflaged and smoky?
After an opening to the year of power squared, 2014 incumbent Aaron Woods surely has one spot in the bag. The Geoff Robinson doppelganger is fast developing in to a leader, his numbers are choice, plus he has the type of drain-clogging hair that can block-up one side of the ruck. It’s a massive advantage.
As for other survivors from last year’s orgasmic drought-breaker?
Obviously, as captain and keynote hardman, Paul Gallen is a padlock pick. Once again, he will revel in his role floating between the middle and the edges as a pinch-hitter who loves pinching and hitting. In the post-punch era, you just don’t pass up on that stuff.
Then there’s James Tamou, who despite a slow turnaround in form in recent weeks seems most under threat from a chasing pack lead by Aiden Tolman, Keith Galloway and Kade Snowden, the latter a man who has conveniently decided in an off-contract year to go hard or go homeless.
Plus what about loose firebrands like David Klemmer and Andrew Fifita? Will their time on the sidelines for felonies be critical ground lost in the race for a spot? And will Klemmer’s experience as a Kangaroo last year count for anything, or would the panel be ‘off their f**ken faces’ to go there?
Just as an exercise in torment, I would also like to casually make mention of unheralded names like Tariq Sims, Ryan James and Paul Vaughan, simply because they are names that my fingers decided to type.
In addition, I would also like to acknowledge that another incumbent in Trent Merrin chipped in with some minutes in the middle last year too. Throw them in your hat and knock yourselves out.
So what’s it going to be Roarers? Who are your Blues props for the first game in 2015?
To kick things off, I’ll put in a vendor bid. Assuming Daley goes with the four prong prop rotation with one spot going to Gallen, I personally would opt for a fearsome trio of Woods, Snowden and Fifita.
But what would I know? After all, I think French-Spanish is actually a thing.
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