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Impressions from the Anzac Test

Hey JT, if you don't want to play for the Kangaroos, don't play for the Kangaroos. (AAP Image/Dave Hunt)
Roar Guru
3rd May, 2014
16

Shaun Johnson, meet Jarrod Mullen.

Both these men live in the second tier of halves in the NRL behind the elite: Cooper Cronk, Johnathan Thurston, Daly Cherry-Evans and Kieran Foran.

Mitchell Pearce is somewhere in between.

If I have to hear another learned commentator pimp out Mullen for the NSW five-eighth spot I’m going to request a new elite commentary team.

It would be headed up by the always astoundingly charismatic Tim Gilbert, with expert analysis from Darren Lockyer and Scott Prince. Now those three are a think tank waiting to happen.

During the Test on Friday night, we got to see the stark difference between the champion halfbacks and the rest. Johnson couldn’t engineer the right play on last tackle often enough and consequently New Zealand couldn’t score in the second half.

Sam Moa proved that he is an elite middle forward in our game. The Kiwis’ midfield thrust disappeared when he went off.

New Zealand doesn’t want for power forwards who can make bruising runs. What they lack is the high work-rate skill player. Corey Parker and Anthony Watmough come to mind: men who make few mistakes, cover a lot of ground in defence and show up with a tricky pass or adept footwork when required.

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Australia? Yep, aging. But if you believe that good enough means old enough then good enough also has to mean young enough. This also applies at State of Origin level – Tedesco would have been my NSW fullback before injury.

No fullback, apart from possibly Tedesco, asks more questions of an opposition defensive line than Billy Slater. He’s still the best and must be picked, Greg Inglis’ recent video game try notwithstanding.

So now we look ahead to the absurdity that is City versus Country. One thing that would spice up the game: the City players have to play in skinny jeans and hold a latte at all times during the contest. Country players should have to play in overalls and chew a straw of wheat.

Anything to make this game remotely interesting.

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