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A 20-man squad, Laurie? Queensland can already smell the fear

The Blues vs the Maroons is a spectacle unlike any other. (AAP Image/Dave Hunt)
Expert
22nd May, 2016
3

Months of debate over who will make up the 17 New South Welshmen to take on the Queenslanders in the annual Origin of the Species match were supposed to be put to bed today. And then, at the official team naming, Laurie Daley decided against naming a team.

Instead we’ve got a 20-man squad, including Bryce Cartwright being named as a “development player”.

This was swiftly followed with the news that Cartwright is injured and therefore cannot has been ruled out.

So Cartwright is called in, sized up for a suit and named, then within an hour ruled out. Did they not think a trip to the doctor was the priority before one to the tailor?

More:
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As for naming his replacement, well, what the bloody hell do you need to replace a development player for?

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While three players aren’t an obscene amount of extras for a game, it does lead to a lot of questions.

The fist is whether Laurie Daley is playing a clever game to keep the Maroons guessing or if, just ten days away from Game 1, he himself doesn’t actually have all the answers yet.

Who’s going to be the starting back row? He’s got to pick from Greg Bird, Boyd Cordner, Tyson Frizell, Paul Gallen and Josh Jackson. It’s a nice headache to have, but there’s a damn good chance ‘debutante’ Frizell isn’t even going to suit up.

As for the backline, while it would seem 1-7 will be Matt Moylan, Blake Ferguson, Michael Jennings, Josh Dugan, Josh Mansour, James Maloney and Adam Reynolds, where does Dylan Walker fit in? Is he the bench utility, or is there a chance he’ll get a run in the halves?

Is Moylan a lock at the back when Dugan has been shown a number of times to be a world-class fullback but a middling centre? The Penrith custodian has long been touted to make a Darren Lockyer shift from 1 to 6, is that on the cards for Origin I, with Reynolds or Maloney merely a smoke screen?

And what about Josh Morris? He’s been safe as houses for the Blues for a number of years – is there a place for a proven performer in that backline?

There’s the possibility that Dugan has been ruled out and Daley has selected him to keep Kevin Walters on his toes, but if Daley is picking a replacement for the bloke who’s only role in the squad is to ‘gain experience’, why select any one else who’s 100 per cent not playing?

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At the end of the day, it’s not a squad that inspires confidence. How can the players be confident when they know that three of them are not going to play? How can the fans be confident when they don’t know who they’re going to be represented by.

And how confident can Laurie Daley be if he’s already second-guessing his own selections on the day he made them?

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