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Skipping past the controversy surrounding Laurie Daley’s Origin selections, let’s gather all the stats and highlight the woeful performances Ray Barnacle and I have poured over in a nine-minute highlights package from Round 11.
It’s fair to say I got ahead of myself and the app has been put on the backburner. I’ve also returned the gym gear I purchased from Rebel Bondi Junction, though I kept my size XS scalloped running shorts with the built-in mesh underwear. The missus was impressed I could stash so much…
Anyway, on to the footy!
Last week’s list, Jack Wighton aside, all had a strong case to be listed again.
Nathan Brown’s Knights fared better this week, albeit against a pretty average Wests Tigers team. It is leading contender for the 2016 ‘Biggest bludger of a game’ gong. The South Sydney vs St George Illawarra clash at the SCG was ruled out as a contender on a technicality once Greg Inglis had a shot for field goal with his side trailing by two – ‘Complete Imbecile of the Year’ cannot be given to an individual competing in the ‘Biggest bludger’ game.
(We’ve roped Daryl Somers into hosting duties with his offsider yet to be decided between Jo-Beth Taylor or Jackie MacDonald. The house band for the night will be the ageless Pseudo Echo. Expect the dance floor and hamstrings to be tested when they roll out the ‘Funkytown Y2K Remix’.)
More Origin
» Beau Scott and Michael Ennis should be in the NSW Origin squad
» Thanks for the memories Hoffman, Ennis and Scott
» The big losers from NSW’s Origin team announcement
» NSW Blues team for State of Origin Game 1: Expert reaction
» No excuse for NSW come Game 1
Those walking the plank this week, without further dribble, are:
New Zealand Warriors 1-17 plus coaching staff
Jono Wright may be saved, as he averaged career-best metres in Saturday night’s debacle. His career average for the Warriors is -1.7 metres per match, which he easily accounted for with six metres from one run at Taranaki.
Something smells coming out of Penrose. Justin Morgan was allowed to leave the Storm for the Warriors to fix the leaky defence, but the Warriors pack would struggle to wrestle a tackling bag to the turf. Is Morgan undermining Andrew McFadden as he eyes the No.1 job?
If I were a Warriors fan I’d start up a crowd funding page to entice John Monie, Mark Graham or Tony Kemp back ASAP. Rumour has it both Manu Vatuvei and his sidekick, Konrad Hurrell, are being shopped around to NRL and Super League sides. So far only Dubbo CYMS and the Corrimal Cougars have shown any interest in the pair.
Kyle Feldt
With a plethora of young guns coming through the NYC ranks, Feldt put on a clinic in how to not to defuse a bomb on Thursday night.
While he’ll always be remembered for that try in the 2015 decider, only some bad luck for the Broncos interchange saved his bacon, along with his inspirational skipper. Watching him under a bomb reminded me of the scenes in The Hurt Locker, when Jeremy Renner was trying to defuse bombs.
With Javid Bowen, Kalyn Ponga, Jahrome Hughes and other youngsters on fire in the NYC and Queensland Cup for the Townsville Tomahawks, Feldt will be feeling the heat, along with centre Kane Linnett, who also looks a bit down on form and a few yards slower this season.
Rival coaches will be targeting the Cowboys’ three-quarter line, who appear one of the side’s only weaknesses. Who could forget Linnett’s performance in the City vs Country clash just recently?
Tyrone Peachey
From Origin bolter to rivalling GI for the ‘Complete Imbecile’ gong in the space of a week, Peachey probably cost his side two valuable competition points on Sunday. A run for Steve Georgallis’ NSW Cup side to learn the basic rules of rugby league would not be a bad thing, after the inexplicable grounding of the football miles away from the in-goal.
Maybe Peach was trying to save himself for the first team meeting at Coffs Harbour, but it may land him a run at Leichhardt Oval in a fortnight’s time instead of facing the Storm in Melbourne.
While he will most likely survive the hook from ‘Hook’, costly errors and brain explosions can test a coach’s patience – or they take the ostrich approach and just accept it, like McFadden has done over the ditch.
Daniel Tupou
What is it with Roosters wingers with hands like feet?
Some punters selected Tupou in their NSW Blues line-ups – maybe they like his surname for a headline in the wash-up, who knows – but he was out-gunned by a rookie Dog who looked ordinary four rounds back in Wellington.
Wyong Roos NSW Cup Coach Rip Taylor could well end season 2016 with a backline full of dud Rooster wingers. Not since Justin Carney, Brent Grose and Todd Byrne, have the Roosters had so many impotent wingers.
Bob Fulton
Jamie Buhrer, Dylan Walker, who will it be next, Feleti Mateo? Through all the NSW Blues’ failures over the past decade, the head selector has not only held onto his job, but was upgraded in the role. The old mates club is still alive and kicking in rugby league.
Dylan Walker is a terrific footballer when in form, sadly that form has been missing for 18 months. The old cliché’ form is temporary, class is permanent only applies to those who lose form temporarily. Dylan’s has been absent for 18 months, so that rules ‘temporary’ out of the equation.
Now, he might well go on and play a blinder and win the Blues Game 1, but odds are he won’t. Still, he has to make the starting line-up, with coach Laurie Daley handed a 20-man squad by his head, sole selector.
If NSW lose the series, expect ‘Bozo’ to be handed the coaching role, sole chief selector and possibly the captaincy in season 2017. This from the man who would have had some influence over Kurt Gidley captaining the side off the bench!
Ray and I will be re-charging the batteries on our annual trip to Urunga this weekend, so next week’s edition may not make the deadline. As usual, we are on stand-by to assist the Blues in training drills up at Coffs Harbour. If the local players go down, we are a chance being the 19th emergency pairing, simulating the roles of Cooper Cronk and Johnathan Thurston.
If Laurie Daley calls us, Ray and I will ditch our busy schedule and high-tail it from the public bar at the Ocean View Hotel. If the call doesn’t eventuate it’s a win-win, as we’ll be knocking back schooners and fishing for mullet so we can thank the locals by making our world famous ‘Swanacle Mullet Jerky’.
Last season we got the call up prior to Game 3, but Laurie wasn’t happy we rocked up wearing Sumo suits borrowed from the local Greenhouse Tavern. Personally, I think it’s a coincidence we have moved down the pecking order quicker than an Australian Idol winner on the ARIA charts.
If we survive Bozo’s cement truck, we may run a smaller edition next week, as we only have to pour over five minutes of highlights.
So Roarers, who is on your chopping block and why after 11 rounds?
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