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What do I think about the NSW Origin team? I am glad you asked.
As a devoted New South Welshman who will, if Queensland wins another series, cut my own head off, I clearly have a lot invested in this side, and I think it bodes well.
I am pretty happy with it, and I particularly like the move to pick Jarryd Hayne at fullback.
The selectors have gone with the bold policy of choosing the best fullback to play fullback, rather than the conservative approach taken by some selection panels in the past of throwing the best 50 players’ names in a barrel, pulling them out at random and throwing them at a sticky whiteboard with a football field drawn on it to see which position they should play.
Nevertheless, there are some issues the Blues will need to address if they are to win this year, in particular in regards to the many, many reasons they have lost the past eight series.
These reasons have been enumerated so many times by extremely clever people who don’t happen to be playing for the Blues at the time that it seems ridiculous that nobody in the NSW camp ever picks up a paper, slaps their forehead and cries, “Of course!”
These reasons are as follows:
1. The Toxic Culture
This problem was laid out here on The Roar by Ryan Eckford. And it’s a very important one: no team ever gained success with a toxic culture, apart from the ones that have.
If dropping an experienced halfback who has never performed very well in State of Origin purely because he’s out of form and got arrested doesn’t count as a toxic culture, what does? You don’t see Queensland players being held accountable for their behaviour or judged on their performance, and that is why they always win.
And of course, related to this is…
2. Chopping and Changing
It is ridiculous the way that, while the Maroons have kept faith with the same players over the years, NSW keeps on changing its teams.
The NSW selectors have over the past eight years been acting as if their team has been losing the series every year. Yet if they look to the Queensland model, their selectors have been acting as if their team has been winning the series every year, and it has worked beautifully.
It is time to stop chopping and changing and start keeping faith with the players who have utterly failed to get the job done in the past. No sporting team ever succeeded by changing a losing team.
3. Pride in the Jersey
Queensland players have pride in the jersey. NSW players don’t have pride in the jersey.
Hey NSW players, pull your frigging fingers out! These are really nice jerseys: the colour is appealing and the stitching is top-class. It’s time for you to appreciate the work that goes into your outfits.
4. Coaching
NSW should definitely try some coaching.
5. Mongrel
Don’t you think NSW should get some mongrel? It’s like Phil Gould says, what wins Origin games is mongrel. He also says that the rules of rugby league don’t actually apply in Origin games and that Ricky Stuart stole his rattle, but those are subjects for another day.
The fact is, the most important thing in State of Origin is toughness, aggression, the willingness to get down and dirty. Queensland do this so well, and NSW are always behind the eight ball with their delicate alabaster-skinned pretty boys.
Isn’t it time that the Blues tried to match the Maroons in the mongrel factor? I mean, just once couldn’t they pick a tough nut, like Paul Gallen? The likes of Gallen and Greg Bird have been ignored for far too long, but the fact is, it’s players like that that win you Origin.
Of course Bird is out of the team for this first game, which brings me to…
6. Injuries and Suspension
Maybe if the NSW players could stop getting injured and suspended that would help.
And finally, perhaps the biggest factor in NSW’s continued losses…
7. Having Better Players Than The Other Team
After eight humiliating years, isn’t it about time NSW started having better players than Queensland? The continued insistence of players in the blue jersey on being not as good as the ones in maroon jerseys is getting embarrassing.
Will this be the year that the southern state finally decides to match the northerners in such crucial areas as having the three best halfbacks in the world on the same team; being captained by the best hooker in history; and having a backline unparalleled for scoring firepower by any that rugby league has ever seen, driven by the aforesaid halfbacks and a fullback who is probably the best fullback ever unless he loses that title to the one who is playing in the centres at the same time?
Frankly, the point-blank refusal of the NSW hierarchy to make their players better than the opposition’s players looks a bit like bureaucratic laziness.
Every expert agrees that for the past eight years, Queensland has been handed a huge advantage before each series even starts by having a better team, and surely a canny management would want to put an end to this.
Look at Cameron Smith, Cooper Cronk and Billy Slater: three magnificent champions who have played together for years, meaning their extravagant talents are complemented by an instinctive understanding of each other’s play and peerless ability to combine in attacking raids.
Queensland has seen the benefits of having Smith, Cronk and Slater born in their state – when will NSW get its act together and have Smith, Cronk and Slater born in theirs?
And what about Johnathan Thurston? It seems ridiculous that after years of being cut to ribbons by his quicksilver genius, not one NSW coach has considered the possibility of having Johnathan Thurston on his team.
And what about Greg Inglis? It’s all very well for him to choose to play for Queensland even though he’s not a Queenslander, but if the NSWRL was serious about winning this thing, they would take steps to ensure Inglis, instead, chose to play for NSW despite not being a Queenslander.
Yet every year, NSW focuses all its efforts on having a team that is less talented than the other one. Surely even Russell Fairfax could tell you that being less talented than your opponent is terrible strategy.
Anyway, that is all that the Blues need to win this series. I’m pretty confident that they’ll manage it. I think the return of Beau Scott should be the circuit-breaker.
But if by chance Queensland win a ninth straight series, I guarantee you one thing – it’ll be the ref’s fault.