Rep selection snubs and uncanny horseplay

Is Luke Lewis the only Blues fan not blowing up over the omission of Luke Lewis from Origin 1?

Perhaps his indifference to rejection was conditioned by Gus and Ivan – the heavy handed rustlers who hustled the local junior from his Panther homebase after 12 years’ service.

In any event, an 18th Origin jumper jammed inside a cabinet housing rep gear accumulated since 2003 is hardly a crown jewel. So in the selection snubbing stakes, Luke’s scratching barely forms a ripple on the Ocean of Rebuff.

Certainly nothing in comparison to the tidal wave of emotion Mitch Aubusson must be riding. Despite playing in excess of 170 matches, the reliable Aubusson’s utility value has counted for nothing at the selection table.

He hasn’t even got a City v Country bench spot.

But who’d be a selector anyway? A thankless task where the upset outnumber the selected and distraught mums seek solace. That said, certain selection snubs emanate from hearts colder than a Warrington winter.

Look no further than Brian Bevan. The Australian Team of the Century winger owned the frozen goal-lines of Wilderspool for 17 years until 1962, compiling an astonishing 740 tries.

Even though the Roos visited four times, the try merchant’s balding scalp never once felt the warmth of an Aussie Test cap.

Oddly enough though, fans often grudge a snub longer than the player in question.

Roosters fans for instance with three or more decades under the tri-colour comb proclaim Kevin ‘Horrie’ Hastings the best never in green-and-gold and with reflex-fast pecks challenge anyone opposed to the former playmaker’s credentials as Origin’s best one-game-wonder.

Meanwhile, back at the coal face the competition is littered with journeyman drifting between clubs toiling for limited weekend gigs outside the rep committee’s gaze.

A good mate of mine reckons the term ‘journeyman’ is overstated. Back in the days of more transient Rabbitohs rosters, he specified his own criteria of at least four NRL clubs including Souths as currency for official status.

The likes of Julian O’Neill and Phil Blake – elite ‘journeyman’ in their own right – had no such trouble reaching the next level. Modern day versions like Glenn Hall – now at his fifth NRL club – edge towards 200 games oblivious to emblems portraying Kangaroos, Cockroaches, City, All Stars, PMs, Presidents or any other fancy-titled individual’s favourite XIII.

The good news for stalwarts like Hall is the likelihood of a rep call up increases with every NRL outing to the point where only two of 85 in the 250-plus game category have not attained rep honours.

Craig ‘Tugger’ Coleman was a top-notch halfback and the Usain Bolt of rapid fire linguistics but even the yappy Rabbit couldn’t convince selectors – his 268 top grade appearances still the most without a congratulatory phone call.

Todd Payten, the other to miss out must choke at the flipside knowing Phil Duke’s only Origin – the infamous Phil ‘Whatsapacketa’ Sigsworth in-goal gaff – came five years before his first-grade debut. He must feel sullen knowing that Cootamundra product Paul Field is the Blues’ only player to hang up the boots without ever playing first grade.

But further research uncovers more rep snubs from the bizarre to the downright weird.

Like Aiden Toleman, the made-for-Origin workaholic Bulldog who like fellow Kempsey product Greg Inglis debuted for the Melbourne Storm but is still to suit-up…in Maroon!

Or the trail of selection oddities linked to the Scone Thoroughbreds, one of the Newcastle Knights’ famous breeding grounds.

Of the 39 players to kick-off 2015 with over 200 appearances, only Scone juniors Dane Tilse and Todd Lowrie hadn’t played rep footy.

Standing at 200 centimetres – the tallest in the NRL – it’s a wonder Tilse never attracted the eye of the clipboard brigade, but it’s definitely no surprise he’s now in Hull hoping for a resurrection of the Exiles format.

Lowrie’s plight should debunk myths of nepotism at HQ, with father Robert – Operations Manager of the NSW Country Rugby League – obviously not bearing gifts on selection day.

The there’s Ruben Wiki, the most capped Kiwi and one of only two from 22 in the exclusive 300 club not to play Origin. The other, John Morris, and yep you guessed it – Scone Thoroughbred.

Go back further to 1999 prior to Darren Albert’s New South Wales debut and the source of this uncanny horseplay becomes abundantly clear. If anyone was going to tumble from their mount in a pre-match bonding exercise, it was always going to happen in the presence of a Thoroughbred.

And sure enough, Brad Clyde and Robbie Kearns cursed their misfortune from the sidelines as Queensland cantered home in a contest that also doubled as the Scone junior’s last.

So what does this all mean for Luke Lewis and Game 2?

He’ll be there! It’s as logical as young Knight and former Thoroughbred, the aptly named Adam Clydesdale, dreaming of a Broncos saddle to further his own rep aspirations.