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Calling all New South Welshman far and wide. Many have wondered what NSW need to do to finally end this miserable five-year long Origin drought. Exactly what we need to do on the field to defeat this highly organised and highly-gelled Queensland team is anyone’s guess.
Don’t forget, that lot is possibly the greatest ever assembled Maroons team in Origin history.
The seventeen Blues players chosen to wear the jersey onto Suncorp Stadium on May 25 will again be underdogs, but not without a chance.
Ricky Stuart is the man responsible for sending those seventeen out there with a clear plan, infused with willpower, passion, desire and above all, a confidence in themselves to defy the odds and send the 40,000 odd Queensland supporters in attendance home with their mouths hanging open in shock after the final whistle blows.
I can tell you what NSW doesn’t need however: a constant wave of infighting over player selection.
As a Blue-to-the-bone New South Welshman, like everyone else, I have my own idea over who takes the field for NSW on May 25th.
However, should my imagined line-up differ from the team Stuart chooses, it wil make no difference to the intense support I will give the team chosen. Face it, Ricky will not pick a team that everybody will agree with. It’s time to put club-influenced bias and personal feelings aside.
The NSW team need to head to Suncorp knowing that not only their coach, but also their state whole-heartedly believes in them. It’s called loyalty, and it’s something NSW has been lacking the last few years.
Have you ever wondered why NSW seem to have played their best football in game three the last two years? Because the series has been over by then and the players have been able to go out there and play without a fear of being replaced.
The overly frequent selection changes brought on by knee-jerk overreactions to an individual player’s form (something that changes week to week) has led to NSW teams taking the field and spending 80 minutes walking on egg-shells.
In games one and two last year, the NSW players looked genuinely afraid to back themselves. And why wouldn’t they be? They knew that if they tried something that didn’t work, or god forbid made an error, everyone in NSW would cry out for them to be replaced.
Said replacement would suffer the same treatment should he make a mistake in the next game – exactly what has happened. Hence, the edge the Maroons have over Blues the last few years has been as much psychological as it has been physical.
Case in point was game two last year; Cameron Smith kicked the ball out on the full in twice in the space of five minutes. That’s TWO coach-killing errors in the space of five minutes.
Did Queensland remove him from their team because of this? Of course not, they know he has the goods when it comes to Origin.
Yet I can assure you that if it had been a NSW player who kicked the ball out on the full twice in five minutes, all and sundry would have demanded an immediate dismissal from the NSW team.
And therein lies a big part of the problem.
Billy Slater will take the field knowing that if he makes a mistake, even a fatal mistake that costs the Maroons the game, his coach and State will have the faith in him to make amends for it in game two, and rightly so.
That’s why Slater plays so fearlessly in Origin. The NSW players need to be able to walk onto Suncorp with the same belief. It’s the only way they will back themselves.
Many things matter in Origin, but self-belief ranks highest. Paul Vautin knew this when he coached his Queensland team of “second-rate nobodies” to Origin’s biggest ever series upset in 1995. Just ask him. He’ll tell you.
It is time for NSW passion for certain, but it is also time for some NSW common sense. Case in point; some have called for Jarryd Hayne to be dropped from the NSW team this year. This is the same Jarryd Hayne who scored six tries in eleven Origin games for NSW by the tender age of 22.
Club form is important, but so is loyalty to those that prove they rise to the occasion on the biggest stage. Jarryd Hayne is one of those players.
Whether it is at fullback or on the wing (where Hayne scored his six Origin tries), Jarryd Hayne’s selection for NSW is an absolute must. He is one of the most dangerous attacking players NSW possesess and no amount of personal dislike or tall-poppy syndrome from a highly-demanding public should hinder his rightful selection.
NSW would do themselves a favour to adopt the old English football adage “form is temporary, class is permanent”.
Hayne is not the only one. From the 30th minute to the 70th minute in game three last year, Greg Bird, Paul Gallen, Kurt Gidley and Tom Learoyd-Lahrs all proved that as good as this incumbent Queensland team is, their lines can be broken and they can be scored upon in succession.
If fit and healthy, these four men should be certainties for selection.
Not that there shouldn’t be a place for young bolters like Josh Dugan, Aquila Uate and Aiden Tolman. But their inclusion must be met with a healthy balance of NSW players who have proven they can handle the most intense form of rugby league on the planet.
All that aside, one fact remains. Discounting injury or suspension, the seventeen players Stuart chooses for game 1 must be the same seventeen who take the field in games two and three.
Every player picked for game 1 needs to take the field knowing that if they make a mistake, they will have the chance to redeem themselves and do their state proud. This the same afforded to Justin Hodges after his initial brain-snap riddled Origin performances.
The NSW players need to know that not only Ricky Stuart, but their state believes in them. Believes in them to rise to the occasion like they have in the past (Hayne, Bird, Gallen) or rise to the occasion for the first of many times to come (Uate, Tolman, Dugan).
The time has come for us Blues supporters to back our boys like never before. They will need it. Common sense needs to prevail selection wise and passionate support needs to take hold. NSW would also be wise to play up the underdog tag this year.
Facing a sixth consecutive series loss, their backs are up against the wall more than ever.
The Blues should consider applying the old-school underdog black paint streaks beneath their eyes for game one on May 25th. It would add to the atmosphere and send a visual message to the thousands of Queenslanders jeering them on the night.
Blues spirit does exist. It lived in the hearts of the likes of Benny Elias and Paul Harrigan. And there is no reason it cannot live on in the hearts of the likes of Robbie Farah and Tim Mannah. But if NSW itself doesnt back its established Origin stars and incoming bolters with a decent level of consistency, faith and loyalty, the players wont back themselves on the field either.
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