- Video
-
Club Roar
Captured a great grassroots sporting moment? We want to see it!Content Collections
The Roar Community
- Join
- Login
Over the 2009 and 2010 series there has been any number of highly controversial and debatable NSW Origin selections.
In both campaigns NSW selectors have utilised an equal record number of players over the three games as they scramble desperately for a combination capable of matching one of the greatest Queensland teams of all time.
Mixed in that lot they have picked (and dropped) players young and old; experienced and immature; dependable and flamboyant, attack minded and defence oriented. These different and sometimes contradictory approaches have given plenty of ammunition for critics who favour one style of player or another, as has the demonstrated tendency for those responsible to switch justifications for their selections mid-series (and in some cases, mid-sentence).
However, for mine, the collective shortcomings of the cumulative NSW approach to Origin over the past few years are best illustrated by one current selection: that of Michael Ennis at the expense of Robbie Farah.
Farah, you’ll remember, got his chance first, only to let it slip with a poor performance playing injured in Game 2 of the 2009 series.
Since then Ennis has been the Blues’ man at number nine, with a throng of commentators, journalists and coaches falling over themselves to talk up his selection with emotive words like ‘tough’ and ‘niggle’, and made up words like ‘origin-ness’.
Missed in all the fuss and the sensationalised rivalry is this: on almost any quantifiable metric you could name, Farah is clearly the better player.
In 2010, Farah has averaged more tries and try assists per game, more line breaks and line break assists per game.
He averages more runs per game, more metres per run, and makes more offloads and more tackle breaks.
He has a significantly higher defensive workload and despite this is responsible for fewer missed and ineffective tackles.
He kicks more often, and further. He is penalised far less.
Ennis? Well, by a margin in the order of 0.5 per game, he makes fewer errors. That’s it.
The Ennis camp would presumably and conveniently argue that it is the less quantifiable features of their man’s game which tip the scales in his favour.
Former NSW coach Ricky Stuart has identified Ennis’ posited ability to get his forwards rolling over the advantage line as key to his suitability to Origin. Yet in two games thus far the NSW props have been woeful in terms of metres gained, with the luck of a running and ballplaying game from dummy half necessitating a one-out approach which the experienced Queensland pack has handled without any sign of strain.
Contrast the inroads made around the ruck by Robbie Farah and Craig Wing in last year’s series.
It must also rankle with Farah that it is his opponent’s alleged toughness that seems to get him over the line at Origin time. Ennis is well known for irritating opposition players with his niggle in the tackle and with his talk at scrum time. He is less well known for actually being prepared to hold up his fists. Farah frequently plays injured for the Tigers and (perhaps unwisely) put his Origin career on the line in Game 2 last year when he was clearly hampered by a painful rib cartilage injury. And he can throw a punch, too, if that matters – just ask Anthony Watts.
The only serious argument against Farah is that in his limited rep-level matches thus far, he has not been able to consistently reproduce his composed club level game. Conversely, this is also a strong argument for Farah – the only way to get out best nine producing his best at Origin time is to give him a chance to gain vital experience at this level.
The specifics of the Farah-Ennis issue aside, what the selection points to is an ingrained philosophy in the NSW Origin hierarchy that toughness and niggle should be prioritised over skill and talent at the selection table.
Just listen to the empty platitudes you hear every Friday night about how a certain player is simply ‘made for Origin’.
What does that mean? Well, apart from usually indicating that the player is not the most talented or in form option in his position, this seems to boil down to some hollow version of toughness which equates more or less directly with a players propensity for niggle and/or a perceived willingness to put his body on the line.
Never mind that niggle doesn’t win matches (it usually loses them) or that if any player wasn’t prepared to put their body on the line they wouldn’t be playing first grade in the NRL. NSW will have the players with ‘Origin-ness’, please.
In the recent past, this has meant Kurt Gidley over Jarryd Hayne at the back, Brett Kimmorley over younger options at half. For one more game at least, it means Barrett over Terry Campese, Jamie Soward or John Sutton at five-eighth, and the dour Beau Scott over speedsters like Josh Morris and Chris Lawrence in the centres. And, absent a complete change in mindset from selectors, it means Mick Ennis over Robbie Farah at hooker for the foreseeable future.
Meanwhile, Queensland consistently picks its most talented players in key positions, and consistently flogs the Blues. That, not cheap niggle, is what Origin is all about.
Reckon you can pick the winning team? Build your own dream team with Draftstars daily fantasy and compete on any match. For great odds on the NRL head on over to PlayUp. Imagine what you could be buying instead. Set a deposit limit.