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During the second half of a very tense tussle between the Canberra Raiders and Brisbane Broncos, the Green MKachine had to produce one of their more courageous defensive displays in recent memory to carve out a 22-14 win.
With an 18-nil score line in Canberra’s favour, the Broncos continued the early season trend of comebacks in the NRL by scoring three unanswered tries in the second half to close the gap to four points.
Despite having to make 80 more tackles than their opposition, the Raiders eventually got the two competition points thanks largely to the brilliant effort of Raiders captain Terry Campese.
Although Raiders debutant Shane Fensom stole the show in defence for Canberra with 49 tackles, rarely do we see an attacking dynamo such as Campese end up making 41 tackles, one of which stopped Sam Thaiday from scoring a critical try in the second half.
Campese’s showing was a testament to his capabilities as an NRL first grader let alone a representative player. With the ball in hand Campese can rub shoulders with the very best playmakers in the game and then some.
Whilst most ball players are often somewhat of a liability in defence, Campese, along with Alan Tongue, can act as a cornerstone for a Raiders defence that often struggles to keep the opposition at bay.
His effort on Monday night showcased all the traits necessary to not only warrant a re-call to the NSW Origin side, but to captain them against the Maroons when the series begins on May 26.
With players as young as Mitchell Pearce now being considered as a candidate for the Blues Origin captaincy, one believes Terry Campese has displayed more consistent form and leadership than his Roosters counterpart, and thus should be considered as a prime candidate to lead his State.
Dropped harshly by Blues selectors following NSW’s loss in game one last season, it appears Campese must lead the Raiders to the top of the table to have any chance of regaining his Blues jersey.
Its astonishing to think that the selectors went as far as dropping Campese, only to replace him with Sharks captain Trent Barrett, who is still leading a toothless Cronulla side with an inability to score points.
In the end, Campese can only do so much on the field and it will ultimately be up to the selectors again to pick a team capable of ending Queensland’s four year reign.
With last year’s captain Kurt Gidley not even expected to start for NSW this season, the selectors will have a difficult task picking a new leader to hopefully guide the Blues to their first Origin series victory in five seasons.
If the selectors could just cast their eyes beyond the Sydney border, they will discover a more than worthy NSW captain quietly plying his trade down at the nation’s capital.