What a fickle world we live in. All I’ve heard since Wednesday night was that the selectors did this, the players did that, the Queensland team is too good, Origin isn’t as good anymore.
Grow up everyone and think back to only a few years ago, in 2005, when NSW had just won their third series in a row and their 10th out of the past fifteen series and there were many out there saying the concept of State of Origin had lost its edge and Queensland couldn’t compete like they used to, blah blah blah.
I don’t necessarily agree with the team the selectors have put on the field, but to bag the players, who were picked for being beaten, is just low.
Matt Cooper, Beau Scott, Brett Morris and Joel Monaghan had to face one of the best backlines in Origin history and it’s no surprise they were, at times, made to look foolish.
But I have no doubt they tried their hearts out the entire time.
I have no doubt they hurt the next day, both physically and emotionally.
Many people are calling for the head of the halves in Trent Barrett and Mitchell Pearce, which is ludicrous. Whilst again I might not have thought Barrett was the way to go, he tried his guts out on Wednesday night, like he has every time he has stepped on the field.
Pearce was outstanding in defence, taking down the much much larger Sam Thaiday on a number of occasions.
Sure, he was only seen in attack in the final 20 minutes but have a look at how many times the Blues got into the Maroons 20m red zone before that and you’ll see why.
I’m sure I could go through the entire team and you’d see that most, if not all, the players showed passion and pride for the NSW jersey, but a combination of a poorly selected team, along with an opposition that would’ve beaten most if not all the great NSW sides of the past, as well made it tough.
The choice is simple for game three.
Stick with the same bunch of boys and give them the chance to earn back the respect they deserve or wipe the slate clean from the very top and begin fresh.
That means removing the ridiculous system of a Selecting Committee and allowing the coach to select his own team.
If you are going to attack the coach for the game, then let him have control of the players he wants. Responsibility and blame then fall squarely on his head and there is no finger pointing at fifteen people as to why we lost.
The game is not over, State of Origin is not over, and every game, dead rubber or not, is filled with pride, passion, blood, sweat and tears: all the things we love about the greatest game of all!
Wizard
Guest
MY TEAM FOR ORIGIN III 1. Hayne 2. Brett Morris 3. Timmana Tahu 4. Josh Morris 5. 6. Trent Barrett 7. Mitchell Pearce 8. Brett White 9. Michael Ennis 10. Willie Mason 11. Nathan Hindmarsh 12. Ben Creagh 13. Paul Gallen 14. Kurt Gidley 15. Tom Learoyd-Lahrs 16. Trent Waterhouse 17. Luke Lewis
Dean - Surry Hills
Guest
TP - A good tactician would kick on the 3rd or 4th tackle - the time when Billy The Kid is back there on his lonesome and has no option but to run it himself. Sowards kicking game - whether he is back 10, 15 , or 20 metres will still ensure that his oponnents have to turn around and run back at least 60 metres to be elligible to receive the ball in the next set. Slater as been relatively unimpressive against the Dragons in his return of the football unless he links up with at least one other back. I'll guarantee that Soward would pull off at least one 40/20 kick in a match if he were given permission to kick early - Billy can't defend the whole paddock by himself. Soward is the answer in both attack and defence - his blinding acceleration, ability to put players in gaps, conversions from sidelines, chip and chase game, and the cleanup of loose ball are what NSW currently lack. He was the only player on the paddock for St George who had the ability to make that now infamous tackle on Mr. Greg Inglis - no one else could get near him - and then Inglis illegally attacked his throat with an open hand instead of a palm - no wonder the poor little bugger attempted to trip him ! Sowards defensive game in my opinion is solid - check out The Dragons for and against on the ladder - if there was a weakness surely it would have been exploited in the last 2 years.
James
Guest
According to many members of the tall-poppy-cutting-society...apparently Jarryd Hayne is to blame. Sure, he made more metres on the field than any other NSW player and never made a single error in Game II...but he didnt go out and score five magic tries, so HE is to blame. Hayne and Pearce were the only two NSW players who showed any real attacking spark during the few occasions NSW were attacking QLD's line. As for Origin itself, of course its not dead! Although its incredibly frustrating for NSW supporters like myself at present, the longer this QLD team dominate, the more special it will be when The Blues FINALLY beat them in a series! As the old shampoo commercial went...it wont happen over night, but it will happen.
tipsy
Guest
Billo I agree. NSW keep losing because they are clearly an inferior team. Its is a witch hunt to keep blaming the Bellamy, most of which is from Gould. Show a bit more respect to amazing team QLD is.
Ronnie the Eel
Guest
Agree mostly with all comments on this article. Even though the scoreboard didn't reflect it - I think the NSW team were better than the first game and mostly were on the money. The only issue was weak defence from the outside backs which let QLD score many of their points and thus gave them a roll on as well. Barrett wont be playing at all next year, so need to blood a new 5/8th. Maybe Campese should be given another go, as Sutton is a creative player but I saw him give up in defence many times against the Broncos. I think the only other changes to the team are to maybe give Farah one more shot and ge rid of Gidley altogether as he makes errors even when coming off the bench! Hindy to captain the side and greg bird to come on to the bench. I also agree that Mal wants us to accept how brilliant QLD are - it is true that they have four of the best players in the world in four key positions - but I've lost count how many times in the last 5 or 6 years that NSW have lost games - not QLD winning altogether off their own merit. (Read stupid under-8 like passes on or near their own line near full-time by Hodson, Kimmorley and Hayne, et.al. to hand qld a win....)
TopPunter
Roar Rookie
Nice comments. Happy to see a bit of banter happening from my little rant. To be honest it's origin and if anyone puts a good 80 minutes together they will be strong. NSW has a number of options to go with and sometimes i think that hurts more so than QLD who usually only have 1 or 2 choices for each position. This means they can stick with a solid core over a long period and only once every 10 years do they have a mass clean out and start again. Don't think Soward is the answer. As good as his kicking game is you can't afford to stand 20 metres back from the ruck to kick it 60. Slater will eat that up and no one can get down there and put pressure on him as they have to wait for Soward to put them onside. Campese would be a better long term option and he;s a better defender. Having said that for the past 5 year the NSW team has been picked to defend against QLD and not picking on their own merits. Clearly Jennings, Idris and the Morris brothers are the form Centres and Wingers going round. Keep Beau Scott on the bench as a utility who can filll in the centres if theres an injury but easily play in the back row if needed. I still think the issue is in the forwards and maybe they need Farah to replace Ennis to give them that speed at the play the ball to keep the QLD line back. Time will tell
Dean - Surry Hills
Guest
The ruck area was focused upon by Mal Meninga. He is an intelligent coach that understands that the majority of matches are won in the middle of the park. If you win this part of the match then most backlines will end up looking like superstars. NSW needed only to push their props wider on occassion and have them aim up against smaller personell - just as QLD constantly do. What Cameron Smith brings is unlimited options - he has a great footballing brain - as did King Wally - and defenders are in two minds on whether to commit to tackles or not. Qld is not currently facing this task (thus more numbers in each tackle) and only will when someone can control the ruck area for NSW. Remember that attack is the best form of defence - and when your go forward men are constantly under the pump in defence, then they can offer little in attack. How many repeat sets were QLD forced to give to NSW in the last SOO? You can blame a piss-poor kicking game for that. Bring in Jamie Soward in that department - turn their big men around after 3 or 4 tackles - and see how well they bring it out of their own end after running back 60 or more metres on consecutive occassions. A team with tactics who play to their strengths, and executes a game plan can make these so-called superstars look like anything but.
mark lulham
Guest
agree about smith, obviously. dean - are they genuine superstars though - the players i listed are dynamic in state of origin and semi final situations consistently - not against shoddy sides like cowboys raiders etc. weyman is a terrific club player and i doubt i would swap him for anyone (like martin bella many years ago - making surging metres anywhere on the field in the 80th minute for manly and norths but smashed in origin) weyman got snotted in one on one tackles and his confidence and those around him suffered. you obviuosly dont count melb in your top 8 hehe:) good comments dean take care
Dean - Surry Hills
Guest
There is one factor that most people tend to overlook - The Cameron Smith factor. He is the player that sets all of the wheels in motion - not only for QLD but for the Melbourne Storm. The first game of the series this year - without Smith could have gone either way, and if not for the Gidley strip, the Blues would possibly have won. Ask Des Hasler what Melbourne were like when Manly thrashed them in the GF two years ago without Smith. Then ask Des what they were like the year before when Smith steered his mates around the park and Manly copped a hammering. Nullify Smith and the rest of the team looks anything like the superstars we make them out to be. You are all kidding yourselves if you think there are no stars in the Blues team. I only wish that Issac Luke could be converted from Kiwi status and given an honourary Blues jumper - just look how he nullified Cameron Smith in the last test match - and how close the Kiwi's came to winning the match. Start with the ruck area and the rest will follow. Before bagging any of the props and their metres gained statistics, pay close attention to how many QLD players are tackling the likes of Weyman each time he is in receipt of the football. A GOOD coach would make the opposition pay dearly when individuals are targeted with gang tackles of 3 or more players on a regular basis - gaps open up - and a simple run-around play can punish teams that hold hands on a regular basis. Tactics, and fine tuning them whilst the game is in progress (by a born leader - such as the likes of Smith) is all that NSW currently require to be deemed competitive. The Blues have plenty of so-called superstars at their disposal - check out the ladder in the NRL and you'll see seven NSW based teams with a large percentage of NSW players in the top eight.
mark lulham
Guest
jeez billo. thats what i said in far less words. brillant time management dude.
Billo
Guest
"Who is to blame for the NSW loss in Origin?" Queensland, I think!
TopPunter
Roar Rookie
Totally again Lulham. Sometimes you must be willing to put in an effort and take a loss with the thought of building to the future. Only time will tell if NSW will take a step back in order to take a leap forward or simply tread water for another year
mark lulham
Guest
It is just not easy to shut down a team of superstars. in my mind qld have slater, folau, inglis, locky, jt, thaiday, smith and nsw have hayne when the likes of harrison, shillington etc play above what we expect that makes it difficult too. think back 6 seasons ago after nsw won 3 and drew one of 4 series. they were saying (and i laughed heartily at the time) origin was dead what can qld do? at the time nsw had the likes of fittler, johns, mini (golden boot winner and the games best player for close to 3 seasons) buderus, gasneir, hindmarsh fitzgibon mason ben kennedy matt gidley tahu playing at their peak. what could qld do? wait and hope for players to emerge. nsw must wait. bellamy could coach with a better team. build a nucleus around genuine emeging stars and some very good experience and stick to them - pearce and sutton in halves. creativity at hooker with farah. no busted arse punching bags like weyman. a captain that plays and stays (see pearce or farah) one very sad fact - qld did not pick prince, stagg, parker, ben lowe, gillett, price, civo, blair, bolton, webb, ballin, tuquiri (jeez i could go on)
TopPunter
Roar Rookie
Yeah i think Bellamy definitely isn't the answer. There is no doubt he wouldn't come up with plays that will attack his players weaknesses as it will show everyone how to beat the Storm. THink they need to go with something similar to Mal Meninga. Maybe a Sterling or Mortimer or Pearce could step up
dissolutioned fan
Guest
I just wonder why a coach that at club level has coached a large chunk of the QLD side, can't seem to instruct, the best that NSW has to offer on how to shut them down. No matter how good a player is he is not unstopable.