Open your eyes Laurie Daley. Don’t listen to your heart or individuals such as power brokers and immortals.
Yes, try to listen to everyone’s opinion, but fundamentally trust what you see and have viewed. If you do I believe you will pick a NSW State of Origin side that comes close to my team below.
How do you beat this great Queensland team? Do you beat them with pure speed or brute strength, grubbiness or league smarts?
I believe combinations are most important, so sorry to all the clean-skinned rugby league followers.
Like everything else moderation is the key. If I had to choose one slightly ahead of the other it would be speed, particularly as the Queensland team’s spine are slowly getting older and slightly slower. The least is strength.
Should loyalty be rewarded or is loyalty only useful if the results have been favourable? If I had to choose loyalty wouldn’t be considered.
Think back to when Laurie Daley played – what a gifted player he was. A terrific five-eighth whom I rated third behind Wally Lewis and Brett Kenny. Laurie was influential as a NSW captain and was not only a great attacker but also a great defender. Currently NSW do not have anyone like Laurie, so they have to make do with what they have.
Now, after viewing a couple of games over the weekend I strongly go against the popular push for certain players, purely because I don’t believe they can produce at important moments in time.
For instance, if a winger is too tired from doing hit-ups and isn’t in position to back up a break to score a try then that is no good to me. If a person loses possession trying to milk a penalty then I don’t want them. I want the forwards to be hard workers and the backs to be speedy.
So Laurie, please look at this team before you finalise your own side. Yes, some players are not in their exact positions, but hey it’s the best I can do as NSW don’t have a lot of depth unfortunately.
Here you go Laurie, and please remember back to 1990 when NSW had lost eight games in a row.
1. Brett Morris – no reason he can’t do what ET did. Fast and good under the high ball.
2. Will Hopoate – solid and playing well for Parramatta. Played well on left wing in Origin.
3. Michael Jennings – Tongan combination with Hopoate.
4. Josh Morris – hasn’t done much wrong against Greg Inglis.
5. Akuila Uate – lucky to get in but has a combo with Mullen and is the Fijian Hayne.
6. Jarryd Hayne – running game and getting hands on the ball is so important.
7. Jarrod Mullen – lucky again given performances of peers. Left footer though.
8. Bryce Gibbs – old head who won’t be intimidated.
9. Robbie Farah – has to be in the team and is my captain.
10. Aiden Tolman – underrated. Statistics are better than club partner James Graham.
11. Paul Gallen – best suited to this position and with no captaincy.
12. Wade Graham – Cronulla link but has got a bit of mongrel. Has five-eighth history.
13. Shaun Fensome – tackling and work rate has to be rewarded. Good fit.
14. Mitchell Aubusson – strong running backrower.
15. Luke Lewis – so proven.
16. James Tamou – size is important, especially later in the game.
17. Feleti Mateo – massive surprise but needed as can pop a pass unlike others.
Laurie, like I said, please read this before you finalise your team on Tuesday, as the only losers will be the league public.
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