Forget the coach, NSW need new selectors

NSW: Kurt Gidley (capt), Jarryd Hayne, Michael Jennings, Jamie Lyon, David Williams, Trent Barrett, Brett Kimmorley, Justin Poore, Michael Ennis, Josh Perry, Ben Creagh, Trent Waterhouse, Anthony Watmough. Interchange: Brett White, Craig Wing, Glenn Stewart, Tom Learoyd-Lahrs. AAP http://www.leaguehq.com.au/articles/2009/07/06/1246732282105.html

"That is right, NSW won 3 and there was a drawn series in there as well if I remember correctly." Chop, you've got a better memory than Gus ;-) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rugby_League_State_of_Origin#endnote_la-game "QLD stick with players NSW kills them." If only Bellamy had a clue, Westy. Greg's quote: "Here’s an example of a simple strategy, apparently suggested by Phil Gould well before the series. He reasoned that NSW cannot match Qld with skill, so instead they should try to bash them with size and physicality, much as NZ did to Australia in the WC final last year. So Gould suggested choosing players like Dean Young at 9, Luke Lewis at 7, and Trent Barrett at 6. In other words, just go for the biggest in-form players in every position. I am not saying this would have worked," It woulda worked, and will Wednesday week if they wake up in time.

QLD stick with players NSW kills them.

Greg you have to remeber Bellamy has a larger salary cap to work with so he's used to buying in talent Origin's and Grand Finals are all about temperment and picking players with the Right Stuff By this I mean the players that will get knockked down dust themselves off and knock the bastard back over with a little interest, They are constantly making the big hit ups and they keep going like a terrier down a rat hole. Bellamy dosen't knoe how to pick players on temperamnet As far as i'm concerned Melbourne have been lucky rather than sucessfull. In 07 Manly had there worst game all season on Grand Final Day. everyone was claiming Talent won the day. 08 manly's on form What happened to the talent then they got muscled out of contention and that would have happen with or without Cameron Smith, Because The Storm got lucky and are bimming with Talent everyone assummed Bellamy must be the Greatest couch on earth. The Storm is a Queensland side, They are fed by queensland all their stars are from Queensland. That makes Bellamy for all intents and purposes a Queensland coach. So why is he in charge of the NSW team? You pick a team on temperament and they will piss all over talent and NSW in Brimming wth Temperatment So it's a simple matter to pick the players with the Right Stuff But you have to give the Boys someone who the boys can believe in .That won't come from a coach who is esentially from Queenslander The Team i have selected will get us over the line at Suncorp but they need someone that they belevie in If we take em at Suncorp on Game 3 well take the series back the following year. If a dumb arse like me can pick a side of The Right stuff surely The NSW selectors can, Maybe they have been to over awed by Talent than concentrating on what it really takes. Any way we'll see how we go as I have forwarded a copy of my team to them may be it will get them thinking for once instead of reacting.

Ripper Bloke, I don't know what you're smoking but it's sensational stuff !!!! I think the whole system needs a cleanout, what is there obviously hasn't worked in the last 4 years. Joeb Is this last bit right, because I hadn’t been paying attention? That is right, NSW won 3 and there was a drawn series in there as well if I remember correctly.

I agree that the NSW selectors should be the first to go. However I also suspect that Bellamy should go too. I say this for three reasons: 1. He too has been heavily involved in selections. OK, he didn't get Barrett last year when he wanted him - it doesn't all go his way. But at the same time he did get Steve Turner and Brett White, and look how they turned out. He has been responsible for enough dud selections over the last two years to be able to say that he's at fault too. 2. The coach is the person most responsible for creating the off-field environment, and as Spiro and Phil Gould point out, clearly that hasn't been right under Bellamy. Contrast this with the environment Mal creates for Qld - that is really his major contribution (Neil Henry does most of the coaching, by all reports). 3. Bellamy is a brilliant NRL coach, but that is very different to Origin coaching. NRL is a long season with lots of games, allowing for development of subtleties and complicated systems. Bellamy is obviously good at that. Origin is just a week in camp for a match, of which there are only 3 in all. So things must be kept very simple. That is why Stuart and Gould were successful Origin coaches: because they identified simple strategies, and they kept to them. I doubt Bellamy is capable of that - in a sense he is too clever. NSW has looked like a team with too many ideas running through their heads. Here's an example of a simple strategy, apparently suggested by Phil Gould well before the series. He reasoned that NSW cannot match Qld with skill, so instead they should try to bash them with size and physicality, much as NZ did to Australia in the WC final last year. So Gould suggested choosing players like Dean Young at 9, Luke Lewis at 7, and Trent Barrett at 6. In other words, just go for the biggest in-form players in every position. I am not saying this would have worked, but at least it's a simple philosophy - in terms of both selections and tactics - that could hardly have fared any worse than what has happened.

A side to rouffle a few maroon Feathers and spoil the whitewash Coach DES HASSLER Assitant Coach GEOFF TOOHVEY 1 JARRYD HAYNE * 2 JOEL REDDY 3 MATT COOPER 4 JAMIE LYONS ? 5 MICHAEL ROBERSTON * 6 KIRT GIDLEY * 7 MATT ORFORD (CAPT) * 8 JARRAD HICKEY 9 LIKE PRIDDIS 10 BRENT KITE ? 11 GLEN STEWART * 12 ANOTHONY WATMOUGH * 13 MICHEAL ENNIS * 14 ANDEW RYAN * 15 NATHAN HINDMARSH * 16 CHRIS ARMIT 17 JOSH PERRY * indicates definite start, ? over Kite and Lyons more effort required on their part have been too quite possibly put Ryan at 13 and Ennis at 4 Put Hayne's at Full back as he's going to make a terrific Full back and it allows Gidley to come in closer to Orford Between Orford, Gidley and Ennis you have some very explosive and unpredictable playmakers that wil keep any side guessing and frankly far more dynamic than the Smith, Lockyer, Thurston Combination Now to get the NSW selectors to see it

"Noddy claps out under pressure." Ripper, especially when he hasn't the forwards around him paving the way for him (after all he's only a small guy), but anyway let's see what they do in Game 3. http://www.theroar.com.au/2009/06/26/gould-refuses-to-rule-out-nsw-return/

Noddy claps out under pressure. Orfords the man he relishs the hard games and loves getting in the oppositions face It inspires his team mates to do the same. Orford is a leader something Gidley isn't. Gidley's a good player to have along side Orford and together they could create a lot of havoc The times that NSW were dominatant during game 2 was wotmough and stewart were on the field together which enabled one or both to get into slaters and thurston faces whom were starting to get flusted something Bellamy would have not been to happy with after all he coaches South Queensland (The Storm ) Get Des Hassler as coach and Geof Toohvey as defenseive coach between them they turned Manly's fortunes round in 3 years. Queensland is a side of thoughbreds and like all throughbreds they don't like being roughed up. No I don't condone Barrets efforts, i would have given 6 weeks there is a diffence between Hard and Dirty play. How the hell he got in the side is beyond me must be mates with someone important? If you want a bit of punch and experince up front Then Hindmarsh is playing some terriffic footy at the moment. Unfortunately I think the NSW selectors are trying to fight fire with fire trying to find a heap of hidden talent when they should be looking for TNT to fight the fire by this I mean player that will give it there all and then some. Player with big hearts, Ya Orfords, Gidley Hindmarsh, Wotmough, Haynes, Stewart players who will get in the oppostions face and the players need a Coach who really wants them to get in the oppositions face. If we don't start selecting the in ya face players I can see 6 or 7 years of successive series loses happening and a losing mind set coming in. Get rid of Bellamy before it's too late

This is from Phil's Sun-Herald column today, page 2: http://www.smh.com.au/news/lhqnews/phil-gould/2009/06/27/1245961447654.html?page=2 "The losses have had little to do with Coach Craig Bellamy. NSW have failed on the field because they have failed off the field. NSW have just lost four consecutive State of Origin series. That's right, four. It's a record just in case you haven't heard. It's a total cop-out to say this current Queensland side is full of Australian players, therefore it is OK for NSW to lose. Please. They weren't a champion side four years ago when this winning streak began. 'Queensland were coming off "four years without a series win" and searching for answers'." Is this last bit right, because I hadn't been paying attention? So Gus is saying we won four series straight against our northern foes? Hmmmmm......... The plot thickens. This actually heightens suspicions as to why NSWRL Chief Geoff Carr doesn't seem at all fazed by 4 straight series losses; we did it to Qld, they're returning serve. Starting to smell a wee bit like World Championship Wrestling, and those guys are as fair dinkum as they come. "That would make 4 or 5 years NSW potentially could have got out of Orford or Kimmorley from 2007, both of whom I would consider better players than Mullen, Wallace or Pearce." Actually Frank Crook mentioned Orford and Kimmorley overnight as the most likely to have an impact in the half / five-eighth positions, but the forwards are a real worry as well.

The funny thing is back in 2007 they selected Mullen at halfback over Kimmorley or Orford, reason being they wanted to blood new talent. If they had selected either of those two, they would still be playing, and will be next year and quite possibly 2011 as well. That would make 4 or 5 years NSW potentially could have got out of Orford or Kimmorley from 2007, both of whom I would consider better players than Mullen, Wallace or Pearce.

"So what happens next year or the next game when we have to start again? Do we call Terry [Campese] again? I’m sure he’ll be in a great state of mind." For Origin 3 I haven't a clue though Campese was somewhat hard done by being dropped like a hot spud after Origin 1, but for next year I'd watch Anasta again closely because this guy's true potential still seems to not have been properly tapped. Too old? Yeah. Look at Kimmorly, absolutely slaying 'em, but it still comes down to forward domination. Without the muscle men up front punching holes and making yards your backs aren't going anywhere. "...it had plenty of toughness. Queensland had blokes who suffered from a virus, blokes with busted ribs, and dodgy knees. But they all muscled up and defended for their place in history." And Barrett contrary to media reports everywhere was 110% fit... it was all a smokescreen (damn those media guys can be deceptive), 'cept the old-fashioned "don't argue" to Inglis's head, a timely symbolic reminder of just how far the game has seriously strayed from its true traditional working-class roots. Tell me money isn't the root of all evil? "NSW seemed shell-shocked. Three of Queensland tries came while they were defending, as the Blues just seemed to lose all composure." Bunch of highly incompetent wankers is what NSW resembled last Wednesday night. "After that game, you’d have to have doubts about Robbie Farah, Paul Gallen and Peter Wallace. While Jaryd Hayne, Glenn Stewart and Kurt Gidley would already be on the team sheet, for mine." Well Cap'n Gidley was guilty of a very poor attempted tackle on Folau from behind which led to the Folau try under the sticks as Farah also fell away like a cream puff. "It would be great for the Blues to find another Andrew Johns." Make that a Peter Sterling, or a Steve 'Turvy' Mortimer, and speaking of a replacement coach (that Bellamy should stay is ludicrous), Turvey's the man, someone with fierce pride and determination for the sky blue jumper. Sheens (if he qualifies as a New South Welshman) is also worth consideration as is Gus, but we need personnel with passion and pride and ability for the state, not these current useless pretenders. "NSW tends to play in an over-awed manner trying to do too much in parts of the field, inside their 22, when they should just knuckle down and tough out their defence." Yes former NSW coach Terry Fearnley's approach all those years ago came to mind last Wednesday night, and from memory we won under him I think. The current coach Bellyaches and team don't seem to have a clue, they're a total embarrassment and yet Geoff Carr suggested on TV last Friday night there's nothing wrong with the NSWRFL admin that Gus is rightfully criticising... Holy Jesus. Or perhaps it's all a slick PR exercise to grow the game bigger in Qld as when NSW wins, interest wanes north of the border. The Sunshine State then takes on a dark, forbidding morbid complex, and we can't have that: bad for tourism.

Des Hasslers for Coach and Matt Orfford as Skipper and you'll have a winning side

steve - understand your hypothesis but based on a story I heard about the interaction between the selectors and coach in the lead up to 2 - I blame the coach... Grand weather in London!

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I f Bennett coaches a nsw team, he can say goodbye to ever being welcome in QLD again. nsw dared to criticise the qld props BUT they dont even have any good enough. However as a queenslander, I will happily add a few clues for the nsw team, as their selectors seem unable to 1.patten 2.hayne 3.jennings 4.cooper 5.morris ( either of them) 6.mullen 7.gidley 8.bailey ? 9.farah 10 11.creagh 12.watmough 13.o'donnell 14.laffranchi 15. 16.wing 17.

New selectors is an absolute must as is getting Bennett. The culture is not there in the Blues set up and hasn't been for a few years. When the selectors are weilding the axe after every game no player can afford an error or he is gone. I would stick with the Wolfman, he is a quality player that made a few errors ( costly ) but Justin Hodges suffered a similar horror debut yet he turned out OK. I don't think Wallace is an Origin player but the rest of them are up to it but haven't produced consistently at this level. The Blues need a pick n stick attitude. They need to surround themselves with passionate former players who can contribute so much. Blocker Roach, Chief Harrogan, Cement Gillespie etc.. Have NSW ever invited Peter Sterling or Brett Kenny into camp or be part of the set up ??. Qld do this so well and this tradition will be passed onto the next generation. Hopefully NSW can bounce back in Game 3. They did this in 2007 winning Game 3 at Suncorp. Yes it is a dead rubber but a win could do a huge amount of confidence for the younger guys.

Comes down to the administration NSWRL has too many cronies in power people who have been running the showfor almost 30 years (since Bob Hawke was PM). The difference with the QRL is that eventhough we had old fellas like the senator Ron McCauliffe John Macdonald and now John Ribot running the show they are apart from being ex-players great supporters of Rugby League who want nothing but the best for the game up here for example they gradually decentralized the state league by including all the regional cities in the competition which has done wonders for the game in the bush where the standard has improved and the juniors now have a more gradual and better managed pathway to the top.

Steve puts his finger on something that has puzzled me for some time. How is it that journeymen players play well for Queensland and better players, in theory, play poorly for NSW. The management of Queensland creates a specific State of Origin environment with people like Alfie Langer and others deeply involved, even to the extent of running plays at training if the clips are to be believed. NSW tends to play in an over-awed manner trying to do too much in parts of the field, inside their 22, when they should just knuckle down and tough out their defence. There does not seem to be a NSW Origin tradition or spirit right now. A change of selectors as Steve suggests would help, presumably. I also think that Wayne Bennett should be made an offer he can't refuse to coach the side. If this means giving him control over selection, then so be it. Two birds killed with one stone, and a second stone left for Queensland. l