In the lead-up to Friday night’s Roosters-Bulldogs clash at ANZ Stadium, NSW State of Origin coach Laurie Daley was faced with three options to decide on his halves for the series opener on May 27.
Loyalty is Daley’s first priority with Bulldog halves Trent Hodkinson and Josh Reynolds, for their combination was pivotal in ending Queensland’s record eight-year domination last year.
The two main combinations in contention are Hodkinson and Reynolds, or the Roosters pairing of Mitchell Pearce and James Maloney, two former Origin pivots. Or Daley could go for a mixture of Hodkinson and Pearce.
In the aftermath to the Roosters’ 24-10 success on Friday night, Daley has little option but to opt for Pearce and Maloney as they out-played the Bulldogs pairing, who have been out of form all season.
What was disappointing in the light of how important that game was to Origin success, only 17,093 turned up to be dwarfed in the 80,000-plus stadium
By comparison, 24,531 packed out Willows Sports Complex in Townsville for the Cowboys-Broncos clash, won by the Cowboys 31-20 to join the Broncos at the top of the NRL ladder.
Sure there were other reasons to celebrate, like the Cowboys’ 200th win in 499 games since they first kicked off in the NRL 20 years ago. A mighty important milestone.
But there’s an obvious resurgence and an urgency north of the border to regain their Origin status they hold so dearly. The Maroons will field much the same side on May 27 that played in winning the third game of last season’s series.
Meanwhile NSW have lost skipper Paul Gallen to an ongoing hip injury, and Greg Bird to his deserved eight-week suspension for his sixth dangerous throw, leaving a big hole in experience up front.
Both sides will be named on Tuesday, with the NSW squad likely to be:
Fullback: Brett Stewart/Josh Dugan.
Wingers: Will Hopoate and Daniel Tupou.
Centres: Dugan/Josh Morris and Michael Jennings.
Halves: Pearce and Maloney.
Front row: Aaron Woods, Robbie Farah (c), James Tamou.
Second row: Ryan Hoffman and Beau Scott,
Lock: Trent Merrin.
Bench: Luke Lewis, Josh Jackson, David Klemmer, and Boyd Cordner.
It looks light on compared to Queensland’s Billy Slater, Darius Boyd, Justin Hodges, Greg Inglis, Will Chambers, Johnathan Thurston, Cooper Cronk, Matt Scott, Cameron Smith (c), Nate Myles, Sam Thaiday, Aidan Guerra, and Corey Parker.
The crowd numbers at ANZ on May 27 will decide if there’s going to be an Origin contest, or a return to Queensland dominance.
NickBlue
Roar Rookie
Queensland team does not panic Hodkinson n Reynolds. They panic Pearce if he is on.
Birdy
Guest
Hi Muzz ,It takes me a long time to jump on someone's band wagon but now I agree Dugan for fullback. Fast , strong and can bust tackles but I don't think I'm ready to relax against queensland 's old brigade just yet . Have you seen where Melbourne Brisbane and the cows are on the ladder? I can't talk though Until the weekend I thought Pat Richards deserved a spot on the wing.
Wombaguli Girl
Guest
Great comment and I totally agree!
Wombaguli Girl
Guest
Winning is not about luxuries, it's all about power of mind. Laurey only cottoned to that last year. NSW did what QLD have being doing for a long time.
Josh
Guest
If you pick pearce you need a kicking 5/8 and to me the best option is Soward. If you pick hodgkinson you need a running 5/8.so Austin would be the choice. My pick would be Pearce and Soward with Austin on the bench as he offers utility value and some impact off the bench
Muzz
Guest
Daley should be as loyal as possible for game 1 with Dugan at FB. I'm not overly worried about QLD this year.They're starting to get old and slow. I can't remember the last time Smith and Cronk won a big game.Thy let Australia down in the Four Nations and the last test match.They've both lost their spark.How many times did Smith kick the ball out on the full last night? Time for QLD and Australia to bring through the next generation.
Birdy
Guest
Hey Muzz , I'm only as well as any tiger supporter can be . Frustrating . Your one of the main characters of the Roar. Hopefully they recognise the problem and sort it out..... soon.! Back to this article though , if like to see loz stick with Hodkinson and Reynolds , even though their form is not the best something happens to players of that calibre in the big games , so being the incumbents I think they deserve first crack.
Muzz
Guest
Hi Birdy Yeh i don't get it. Jay had a debate with another Muzz not so long ago thinking it was me.I read the first couple of posts and switched the computer off. Hope your keeping well mate.
Birdy
Guest
To the original Muzz, I found another Birdy on the union and cricket, it appears he posts from England. Seems a simple problem to have fixed . A bit disappointing .
steveng
Roar Rookie
SOO is a waist of time and effort. So many clubs get affected by this non event of SOO. So what if NSW or Qld are the winners, who cares. Our Kangaroos (after their last effort) are at and in their lowest form (SOO hasn't helped that) and they look like getting beat for the next 3-5 years by NZ and I wouldn't put it past Great Britain beating us also. SOO has had its days and its about time that international RL took its place, it would be more appropriate to hold an international contest at the end of our NRL season, seeing that most NZ and Great Brittan and other international players are playing in the NRL. The international arena is the most interesting and the most appropriate venue to enhance RL all over the world, NSW and Qld do not need RL to be promoted with a gladiator like series of the magnitude of SOO. SOO is all about $$$ and nothing else.
Brett the Manly Fan
Guest
I would be happy with that team however I would prefer that merrin (as much as I don't like him) be on the bench and Luke Lewis start as well as have Fafita in the place of Josh Jackson
GTW
Guest
There are many players in the NSW side that are not exactly in peak form. Queensland are certainties in Game 1. Hoppa and Tupou aren't anywhere near the class of the Morris bros, and I'd want neither in my club team.
Alex L
Roar Rookie
Well to be fair, he's actually better than Maloney or Pearce, however that doesn't make him any less poor. Hodkinson is far and away the best defender in the discussion (even more than the stats indicate considering he's stuck next to T-Rex). I more think he's forgotten due to his recent surgery.
Muzz
Guest
Wrong Muzz, Chappy It's ridiculous that there can be more than one person posting under the same user name. I mean what's the point of building credibility???? This is why i don't bother posting as much as i use too.
Chappy
Guest
I know what I see and if you watch the 6 minute blooper reel. You will see Pearce can't handle Origin pressure. That's a fact which everyone will see again if Pearce is selected.
The Barry
Roar Guru
The only thing you could confirm from last nights game is that no one did enough to change Daley's mind. If I'm going to be brutally honest Hodkinson's game wasn't first grade standard let alone good enough for the blues. I don't think he should be starting for the dogs. He threw a nice pass in the Rona try and his defence was good but some of his attacking passes were atrocious. His kicking game has gone backwards and his running game is non-existent. Anyway I think it's almost impossible to pick the Bulldogs pair. The constant public speculation from Daley about their position in the team has messed with both their heads. Maybe a lack of coaching experience from Daley coming through. Maybe he's a good strategist but not as good a man manager.
bigbaz
Roar Guru
Bringing back Pearce, love it, bring back Gidley as well and really make Qlds day.
theHunter
Guest
Stick with last year's halves combination (i.e. the Bulldogs halves). Johnson wasn't in form going into the Test Match but was influential in their win. I trust Hodkinson and Reynolds will be up for the task. At least they will be trying to defend a series win whereas the Chooks halves never were able to win a series at all and then all of a sudden they have to be chosen to defend something they had no hand in??? Loyalty is what is needed at the Blues...although they weren't as outstanding during the series win, they still turned up and got it. Maybe a few more games and they'll become more in control. NSW lack in loyalty - last year the job was entrusted to the new halves to win it - they win it - following year no trust and guess what they still change the halves...etc... We lose, we change - we win, WE STILL CHANGE...while in the NORTH the same losing side wants revenge with less to no change to their team...
Charles NSW
Guest
Scott comments are the same as mine based on form and commonsense! Time and time again we keep going backwards selecting players who are either out of form or not up to SOO Pearce is still young and just starting to mature but he does not have it as a SOO player He plays on what he has practised over and over again but you need a 1/2 that can think out of the box
JJ
Guest
Exactly - he was great considering he had 6 or so weeks out. And his defense is noticeably better than years gone by. His kicking game craps all over the others too and he is pretty good at finding a hole - not like Pearce who runs at what he things is a hole but then just gets swamped by the opposition forwards. Soward and Austin - that could work!