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With the representative weekend now behind us, State of Origin hopefuls have only a handful of opportunities left at club level to convince coaches Laurie Daley and Mal Meninga that they deserve to pull on their state’s colours in the toughest arena of all.
Just as they have for the best part of a decade, Meninga’s Maroons yet again pick themselves, with the Queensland core playing group firing on all cylinders – for their clubs, that is.
The Australian Kangaroos, however – who consist of the very same brains trust of Johnathan Thurston, Cooper Cronk, Cameron Smith and Greg Inglis – were torn apart and out-enthused by an energetic display from the New Zealand Kiwis.
For the first time years, Queensland’s legends were unable to pull the game out of the fire and, while performing admirably, simply did not look threatening enough in attack. At times, they were made to look foolish and lethargic, with Inglis’ unnecessary blunder in his own in-goal resulting in a momentum-swinging Kiwi try and raising questions over GI’s ‘greatness’.
Of course, we could be kind to Queensland and put the loss down to an off-night, a handful of debutants, a fantastic Kiwi performance and even the absence of more Maroon greats, Billy Slater and Justin Hodges. In all likelihood, this could well be the case, and the minds of the Sunshine State will be put at ease with some sparkling performances this weekend.
Despite losing the series last year, there shouldn’t be too many changes from the side that crushed NSW in the final fixture of the series, with Will Chambers set to retain his sport in the backline after debuting for Australia, and Dane Gagai likely to fill in for the injured Darius Boyd – although rumours are circulating that he could return in the coming weeks.
Gun forward Josh McGuire could also steal a bench spot and an Origin debut due to some outstanding form for the Broncos.
Predicted Queensland side
1. Billy Slater
2. Dane Gagai
3. Greg Inglis
4. Justin Hodges
5. Will Chambers
6. Johnathan Thurston
7. Cooper Cronk
8. Matt Scott
9. Cameron Smith
10. Nate Myles
11. Aidan Guerra
12. Sam Thaiday
13. Corey Parker
14. Daly Cherry-Evans
15. Matt Gillett
16. Jacob Lillyman
17. Josh McGuire
That’s just about the extent of Queensland’s concerns. The picture gets a tad murkier when we head south of the Tweed.
Laurie Daley not only had the Test match to garner further information on potential Blues, but also the sold-out affair between City and Country.
Daley’s chief concern to emerge from the Kangaroos’ loss to the Kiwis is that Greg Bird is set to miss up to eight weeks due to a grade two dangerous throw charge.
Meanwhile, Josh Dugan sustained an ugly knee injury, and while Australian coach Tim Sheens played down the seriousness of it, the Dragons star is set to at least miss this game’s match, if not more. Apart from that, the remaining Blues to play in the Test had little impact, and like their Queensland counterparts, were unable to take the game by the scruff of the neck.
The City vs Country game, however, created more questions than it answered, particularly for the heavily debated composition of the NSW halves pairing. James Maloney put in a man of the match performance for Country, proving that he can lead a team around the park without the services of his Roosters halves partner Mitchell Pearce, while the complete opposite occurred for City five-eighth Josh Reynolds.
After heading into the match as the favourite to retain his Blues jumper alongside clubmate Trent Hodkinson, the Bulldogs playmaker managed to get himself placed on report twice, undoing a solid performance in which he was controlling the game nicely. While Hodkinson and Reynolds are hopelessly out of form at the moment, they have incumbency on their side. Pearce and Maloney on the other hand are in comparatively good form, but while tried and tested in the Origin arena they are not the halves who broke the Queensland stranglehold.
For the first time in eight years, NSW finally has the opportunity to maintain some harmony in Origin camp, and reward the players that have done the job for them. As a result, Hodkinson and Reynolds should still be picked – at least for Origin I.
If they don’t fire first-up however, there are ready-made replacements waiting. And not just the Roosters’ halves – should Adam Reynolds be successful in his return from injury and turn in a few eye-catching performances, that may well be enough to get both him and his club halves partner Luke Keary in.
Other players to put their hand up for selection included impressive young forwards Tariq Sims and Josh Jackson. The two Country backrowers have been on the cusp of NSW selection for over a near now, with Jackson making an appearance for the Kangaroos in last year’s Four Nations tournament. With Bird now effectively ruled out of Origin I, the door has slammed open for the Bulldogs star to make his mark in State of Origin. The same applies to his clubmate, David Klemmer, who alongside Andrew Fifita was enormous for City.
In terms of the fullback position, Josh Dugan must be selected as the successor to Jarryd Hayne, despite the fantastic performances of Penrith’s Matt Moylan over the course of the season. There’s no doubt that his dancing footwork and silky ball-playing skills would be an asset to the Blues, but there is too much doubt over whether these qualities can be translated into the toughness and grit of the Origin arena, not to mention his at times flimsy defence.
Predicted NSW side
1. Josh Dugan
2. Daniel Tupou
3. Michael Jennings
4. Josh Morris
5. Alex Johnston
6. Josh Reynolds
7. Trent Hodkinson
8. Paul Gallen
9. Robbie Farah
10. Aaron Woods
11. Ryan Hoffman
12. Beau Scott
13. Trent Merrin
14. Andrew Fifita
15. James Tamou
16. Luke Lewis
17. Josh Jackson
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