Back to Blue, don't try be Queensland

That is true Paul Gallen does need some help with all the work he does so Aiden Tolman would fit great. I also agree with the Josh Reynolds chose GO NSW!!!!!!!!!!!!

bro he didnt cover or slater because he was injured himself. slater got injured after stewart pulled out. ge you facts right please

He hasn't played for Australia in yonks...try pretending he doesn't play for Manly and you might see this. Last time Slater was injured, Boyd covered fullback not Stewart. You'd have to be a family member to think he is even in the top 5 fullbacks in the game....let alone World Class.

on form not reputation some of these need changing,Myles v Bird, NSW, Thurston v Malony- NSW, Scott v Grant- OK, Thaiday v Whatmough, NSW, oh i see you picked some less desirables to peg NSW back some to make Q look closer, thanx NSW look better than first thought. Reynolds tolman mason and Hoffman wont be selected and you can bet the players that are are better than you picked, GO THE BLUES !!!!

Spot on Maximillian

Below is my Origin selection on both teams and my own match ups and ranking (as seen from my Black Cavier blinkers) of the players on the given positions (jersey numbers). 'OK' implies the two player have minimal difference in class while a state means thatthe player of that team has a higher class over his opposite number 1B Slater vs B Stewart OK 2D Boyd vs B Morris OK 3G Inglis vs M Jennings QLD 4J Hodges vs J Morris OK 5B Tate vs J Hayne NSW 6J Thurston vs J Maloney QLD 7C Cronk vs T Carney QLD 8M Scott vs T Grant QLD 9C Smith vs R Farrah QLD 10B Hanant vs J Tamou NSW 11N Myles vs G Bird OK 12S Thaiday vs A Watmough QLD 13A Harrison vs P Gallen NSW 14M Gillet vs L Lewis NSW 15D Shillington vs A Tolman QLD 16C Parker vs W Mason OK 17B Te'o vs R Hoffman OK 18D Gaigai vs A Reynolds From the above it is very obvious that NSW are second class in halves combination so Pierce had to go.. Maloney has big game (gf) experience so I think he'l do ok. The 18th man are based on future planning; NSW needs a hb and QLD need to prepare for hammyhodgo's possible replacement.

The last few years QLD have bullied NSW players with there aggression, so the blues need someone like Josh Reynolds [five-eight] in the team,he plays as hard as a prop. They also need a workhorse to take the load of Paul Gallen and Aiden Tolmen is the men they need. My team: 1. Brett Stewart 2. Jarryd Hayne 3. Micheal Jennings 4. Josh Morris 5. Brett Morris 6. Josh Reynolds 7. Mitchell Pearce 8. Aiden Tolmen 9. Robbie Farah 10. James Tamou 11. Greg Bird 12. Anthony Watmough 13. Paul Gallen Interchange bench: 14. Kurt Gidely 15. Luke Lewis 16. Aaron Woods 17. Ryan Hoffman

uates better than all of those guys anyway

its only a waste if he can only play one position. not sure if thats the case (whether he can cover hooker or something else).

Could not agree more. Uate simply doesn't not have the defensive capabilities to play Origin. His attack is great though but Origin requires both excellent attack & defence.

The team you have Maxmillian is spot on and well thought out! It has it all. Putting Giddley at 1/2 will allow for experience in such a crucial role. Reynolds on the bench will give him the taste without having too much pressure put on him. This is the side I would have as I think it is strong enough to beat Qld.

"A few years ago some of the Origin greats from NSW were saying ‘We need to be more like Queensland’. A few years down the track, has it worked? The 7-0 scoreboard says no". Since we started becoming like QLD we went from losing in a 3-0 whitewash, to looking like winning then choking in front of a packed Suncorp Stadium, to coming within 1 point of victory after still having to contend with that BS Hodges try, and that even more BS Inglis try. I would say the change has worked very well but that there is still work to do. You say we should "select like NSW". Does that mean you want to use 30 players in a series, completely change your halves pairing after 1 game, have Kurt Gidley as captain off the bench, then decide it's a bad idea so give a "blues Legend" of only 11 games like Trent Barrett the captaincy in Game 3? We selected and played like NSW for 5 years which got us down 5-0, including a 3-0 whitewash at the end. Then in 2011 we started selecting and playing like QLD. In 2011 we used only 26 players and last year we used 20 players. We are now closer than ever to ending the streak. We came within 1 point and 2 video ref debacles of victory last year. This year we have two home games. If we can't win this year then we'll never win. I'd say becoming more like QLD has worked very well for us.

1. Brett Stewart Try scoring freak, support king, defensive machine 2. Jarryd Hayne Must i explain Dally M 3. Michael Jennings LIGHTNING 4. Josh Morris A great player 5. 'Killa Uate RUNS THROUGH WALLS 6. Todd Carney X Factor Dally M 7 Jamie Soward THE BOY CAN KICK 8. MASON Experience and HUGE 9. Robbie Farah Hard Worker 11. Watemough HE CAN RUN THE BALL 12. Greg Bird ANIMAL 13. Paul Gallen Leads from the front 14. Kurt Gidley Utility (good at all back positions) 15. TREX WAR MACHINE (he will recover his form under daley) 16. Tim Grant Filled with anger and hate towards the gimps from up north 17. Luke Lewis Great player 18. Feleti Mateo OFFLOADER (It wins games)

I do like your team (Gidley at HB) but we need more muscle so rule out merrin and replace him with MASON. This is a big ask but we should have TREX and Feleti in the team (IF TREX IMPROVES HIS GAME TO HIS OLD SELF)

Pick Reynolds at halfback or don't pick him at all. I don't get this fascination with having a bench utility. Between Luke Lewis, Greg Bird and Jarryd Hayne, any sort of positional reshuffle can be performed, and Farah is an 80 minute player - he doesn't need a rest.

Why do we need a specialist utility though? With Jarryd Hayne in the team, any backline injury is covered as he can play wing, centre and fullback. And if we need to move Hayne somewhere the Luke Lewis (a former winger) can replace him on the wing. Lewis and Bird can both cover any injury in the halves or at hooker, and Robbie Farah needs to play the whole game - he's too good to have off the field. As usual NSW has an abundance of back-rowers, and we even have a fair few front rowers who are firing at the moment. Having any utility on the bench (let alone Gidley) is a waste of a bench spot.

2011-2012 kangaroo squads, Why select him if you have Slater, inglis and Boyd in your squad ? They see him in front of GI and Boyd, pretend he isn't playing for manly, this may help.

How bout NSW stop doing. What ever they are doing.. Get some dominant halves. The only way they will win I the refs help, due to NSW not picking a side which is in form. They build they're own graves, seriously how does Pearce play origin. How come we have a try scoring freak winger but won't pick him. Please someone literally drop Daley and get a coach who won't pick Pearce and pick players on from so we can win

In what way do Australian selectors think he is....please elaborate. I'm not sure who you are listening to but i've never heard anyone say Stewarts name in the same sentence as Thurston, Smith, Slater, Inglis, Cronk, etc....