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I took a good look at the code’s next generation of stars last Saturday night and I am delighted to report the future looks particularly bright if you are a NSW Blues fan.
The baby Blues thrashed Queensland 30-8, making it three years in a row we have trounced the Maroons’ best, in a game which features future Origin stars.
The result got me thinking: does Queensland have a well thought-out succession plan for their record-breaking Origin team? They are going to need a lot of top class players, and pretty much all in a rush, in the years ahead.
How long can the likes of Johnathan Thurston, Cooper Cronk, Billy Slater, Justin Hodges, Corey Parker and friends fly the victory flag as their ages creep over the 30 mark? The Maroons could easily lose seven or eight players in a single year!
Two years ago, Boyd Cordner was captain of the Blues’ Under 20s. Last weekend, he was playing second row for Australia. From that same team, the likes of Dylan Walker, David Klemmer and Michael Lichaa are now making their marks in the NRL.
There might be one or two, but I don’t see the same quality or the number of players flowing through to the current Queensland teams.
OK, we all realise that there are some fantastic young Queenslanders on the rise. Daly Cherry-Evans is probably the headliner and he’ll be a natural replacement for Cooper Cronk at halfback. But who can you suggest will replace Johnathan Thurston at five-eighth when his time comes?
And is there a ready-made replacement for Cameron Smith as hooker or as captain when he can no longer fire up for Origin?
Naturally, there are a couple of old Blues’ stagers but it looks as though NSW will have a considerably younger team than Queensland this year. I am happy to see that and I am delighted there is some genuine class bubbling up from the minor grades.
Changing tack a little, I am still puzzled the league and Channel Nine didn’t try to gazump or at least match the A-League grand final last Sunday. The Wanderers-Roar decider began just after 4pm. League’s annual City-Country fixture kicked off an hour earlier in Dubbo.
Why the league game began at 3pm mystifies me but even so, Channel Nine should have telecast it live to at least get its product out there before the round ball guys took centre-stage.
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