Ricky Stuart’s arrogance could ultimately prove to be the catalyst of his own downfall. The Blues coach doggedly insists that Jarryd Hayne is a specialist five-eighth, claiming the Parra player has the credentials to become the Blues attacking lynchpin in this year’s Origin series.
To my mind, the notion is preposterous, an April Fool’s joke running a few weeks late. Surely, Sticky is pulling our collective legs or he’s setting up some madcap smokescreen hoping to mask the serious contenders for NSW’s No. 6 jumper. I hope the latter is the case.
Hayne has been tried at pivot before and failed dismally. He has hardly played for his struggling club team this season and contributed next to nothing in last Sunday’s Sydney-Country game at Mudgee. He ended up out on the wing for City which looked to punch a canyon-like hole in coach Stuart’s crazy plan.
Phil Gould suspects Hayne is carrying a knee injury and if that’s the case, how can be carry NSW hopes into battle at Etihad Stadium on May 23?
A fit and firing Hayne could be a powerful weapon for the Blues but his injury-plagued output this year over the first two months has been negligible. There is too much on the line in this series to tackle those marauding Maroons with hoped-for miracles, coaching whims or fancies.
Look, I realise we are in the midst of Stuart Season. He will say practically anything for a headline in a bid to whip up local fervour for the upcoming contests. But if he is fair dinkum and presses on with his Hayne brain idea, he is flirting with danger. Origin suicide – perhaps.
I say he should make a public declaration that he will sink or swim on his selection gambles. If they work, he’s in. If they don’t he’s out.
Origin football is rarely won by coaching master-strokes. It’s the toughest league series in any given season and it is won by simple tactics, straight-forward team selections and generous lashings of good old fashioned grit and grunt.
The Queenslanders have the formula down pat and their ever-increasing dominance tells the story.
Let’s take a quick look at Stuart’s possibilities for the six jumper – apart from Hayne.
The incumbent is Dragon Jamie Soward whose form this year hasn’t been exceptional but it has been sound. The coach spoke of ‘loyalty’ when he took on the NSW job but if Hayne is seriously in the picture, it seems that loyalty only refers to a couple of core players such as Paul Gallen and Kurt Gidley.
Sharks star Todd Carney has done plenty of good things to be a five-eighth front-runner but he is not nearly as dangerous as we saw in his Dally M year. Hopefully, he will be pulling the strings and dictating play for the full 80 minutes in the games ahead.
Newcastle’s Jarrod Mullen is another said to be in the frame but even though he has abundant skills and one game of Origin experience, week-to-week consistency is holding him back. He could do a solid job for the Blues if called upon but can he be counted on to win a game with a solitary flash of brilliance? Maybe not.
Warriors’ playmaker James Maloney is another Origin chance.
But however gifted he is in attack, he can be a shaky isle in defence when the big pressure is applied. Carney rarely misses his man and I firmly believe he should get the nod.
If Hayne somehow hits a purple patch and strings together back-to-back-to-back blinders, by all means pick him for the series opener but as a fullback or utility ace, not at five-eighth.
Please, keep it simple Sticky. Or step aside and let ‘naturals’ take their course.
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