Months of debate over who will make up the 17 New South Welshmen to take on the Queenslanders in the annual Origin of the Species match were supposed to be put to bed today. And then, at the official team naming, Laurie Daley decided against naming a team.
Instead we’ve got a 20-man squad, including Bryce Cartwright being named as a “development player”.
This was swiftly followed with the news that Cartwright is injured and therefore cannot has been ruled out.
So Cartwright is called in, sized up for a suit and named, then within an hour ruled out. Did they not think a trip to the doctor was the priority before one to the tailor?
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As for naming his replacement, well, what the bloody hell do you need to replace a development player for?
While three players aren’t an obscene amount of extras for a game, it does lead to a lot of questions.
The fist is whether Laurie Daley is playing a clever game to keep the Maroons guessing or if, just ten days away from Game 1, he himself doesn’t actually have all the answers yet.
Who’s going to be the starting back row? He’s got to pick from Greg Bird, Boyd Cordner, Tyson Frizell, Paul Gallen and Josh Jackson. It’s a nice headache to have, but there’s a damn good chance ‘debutante’ Frizell isn’t even going to suit up.
As for the backline, while it would seem 1-7 will be Matt Moylan, Blake Ferguson, Michael Jennings, Josh Dugan, Josh Mansour, James Maloney and Adam Reynolds, where does Dylan Walker fit in? Is he the bench utility, or is there a chance he’ll get a run in the halves?
Is Moylan a lock at the back when Dugan has been shown a number of times to be a world-class fullback but a middling centre? The Penrith custodian has long been touted to make a Darren Lockyer shift from 1 to 6, is that on the cards for Origin I, with Reynolds or Maloney merely a smoke screen?
And what about Josh Morris? He’s been safe as houses for the Blues for a number of years – is there a place for a proven performer in that backline?
There’s the possibility that Dugan has been ruled out and Daley has selected him to keep Kevin Walters on his toes, but if Daley is picking a replacement for the bloke who’s only role in the squad is to ‘gain experience’, why select any one else who’s 100 per cent not playing?
At the end of the day, it’s not a squad that inspires confidence. How can the players be confident when they know that three of them are not going to play? How can the fans be confident when they don’t know who they’re going to be represented by.
And how confident can Laurie Daley be if he’s already second-guessing his own selections on the day he made them?
peeeko
Guest
he has his 17 picked. he is just using the squad to get a few more involved in case of injuries, its actually pretty smart and been done before. poor attempt at trying to make a story
Charles NSW
Guest
Coach Daley has chosen his team and like all selections it will be open to questions I like Moylan at fullback as it creates more attacking options Dugan has been brilliant as fullback gaining meters but that is not what we need. What we need is a fullback that can create the gaps for players to run through Especailly Dugan who can really create havoc he is very hard to stop Also our attack with Maloney and Reynolds will add more spark from the halves I would have Morris in the centres and Jennings as a utility and not use Walker I did like Lachlan Coote as 5/8 but Maloney will go well there Whatever happens we will see how good Daley selections are In my opinion it is an improvement especailly in the halves where we have lacked for so long
Brett
Guest
QLD does the same thing but slightly different. The QLD pathway is: 1) Be selected in the QLD Emerging Squad. 2) Be selected in the under 20's team. 3) Be selected in the QLD Squad as 18th, 19th and 20th man as a development player. 4) Be selected into the QLD 17 man team. The difference between QLD and Laurie's approach, is that by not naming who will play in each position, he creates uncertainty. Even if he knows the 17 that will take the field, himself the media focus will be on selections all week.