Des Hasler is right about one thing. It really is amateur hour when a club finds out on the morning of a match that one of its key players is required for representative duty and has to be withdrawn.
Regardless of whether the timing is simply unavoidable, the NRL is supposed to be a professional business and all the Josh Morris situation proves is that the scheduling of representative matches is ridiculous.
It’s not as if proof was needed, but it never hurts to expose flaws in a system. You never know, one day it might lead to someone getting it right.
Playing State of Origin matches midweek, at the expense of some clubs who still have to play on the weekend before the Origin game and are missing star players while other clubs sit that round out with the bye, is grossly unfair.
It is unfair on the clubs who have to do without players, unfair on the fans who follow their clubs whose chances of winning are compromised and unfair on the players who have to back up two, three or four days after Origin to play for their clubs.
It is unfair on the competition in general, which inevitably loses appeal during the Origin period.
We all knew this already, of course, but when a situation like the one involving Morris develops it is an embarrassment for the game because its shortcomings are highlighted.
It’s a problem that should have been fixed years ago.
After his team had lost 32-20 to Canberra on Sunday, Canterbury coach Hasler was justifiably angry about the situation in which centre Morris had to be pulled out of his team on the morning of the game because Josh Dugan turned out to be unfit to play for NSW after all.
Dugan had entered Blues camp last Monday with an elbow injury and Morris had been included in an extended, 19-man squad as cover for him. Morris left the camp midweek to rejoin the Bulldogs because Dugan looked like being fit to play.
But then Dugan aggravated the injury at training on Saturday and pulled out of the Blues team on Sunday morning.
Hasler had to have a rookie player, Reimis Smith, who had played a full game of NSW Cup on Saturday, rushed to Canberra by car in the few hours left before kick-off.
The whole thing reeked of unprofessionalism and it was all because the people running the game are still trying to fit Origin in between one round in which some teams are missing star players and the next round in which star players either have to back up quickly or are forced out by injury.
Asked at the post-match media conference if he had a better alternative, Hasler provided the obvious answer: “Probably can’t run two competitions at once – stand-alone weekend.”
That way, the NSW and Queensland teams could be named on the Sunday night, with no Monday night NRL game, and prepare for the Origin game on the Saturday or Sunday. Any late withdrawals and a fresh player could be drafted in without his club side being affected.
But it is done now and Morris will became a key figure for the Blues on Wednesday night because there will be confidence in the camp that he will be able to do a good job defensively on Greg Inglis. Morris has handled that challenged well in the past.
Even Inglis is only one player, though, in a Maroons side that has many star players who are better versed in Origin football than the vast majority of NSW players.
Halfback Cooper Cronk’s injury is a concern, but if he were unable to play Queensland are much better equipped to handle him being out than they have been in the past. Michael Morgan can slip in alongside his North Queensland, teammate, Johnathan Thurston, in the halves.
Queensland to win a tight one.
GTW
Guest
Crokers on-line Defence isn't very poor, it's more quite bad, ineffective even, but he does try extremely hard. Why the Raiders don't get off that bloody try line in Defence is beyond me.
GTW
Guest
They don't need to cheat as the TPA's available to some teams allow them to legally pay hundreds of thousands extra to players to attract them and keep them. Sydney has 9 teams for companies to support, Brisbane has the one. Brisbane play Friday nights most of the time, and hence their revenue is pretty much assured. They have a full media set up following them. I am utterly perplexed that anyone can say they get a raw deal - the deal they get during Origin is to play other teams on a much more level playing field. Think of our Prime Minister having to live in a $750,000 house in western Sydney. That would be a dream for a lot of people, but to him it's a massive rearward move. He'd be disadvantaged by the move out west, but only in terms of what he's used to (a $10m mansion in the Eastern Suburbs).
GTW
Guest
That's hilarious. I'm sure Morris will have a great Origin game, but he's often less involved in club games these days. The Raiders made so many mistakes and only played well for 25 minutes, so the Dogs should have killed them.
GTW
Guest
If Brisbane didn't have Australia's third largest city all to themselves, and all the subsequent TPA and media advantages, they wouldn't have 4 more star players, than most other teams, to lose in the first place. They are disadvantaged for 3 games a year but have the benefit of more stars for their other 21 games. In reality, the Origin period is the one time the teams are more evenly matched in terms of the amount paid to players taking the field. For the year, Brisbane must have close to $2m more talent than say the Knights, who have much less access to TPA's if their roster is anything to go by.
GTW
Guest
The Dogs did have their 200-gamer Patten acting as the supposedly independent Video Ref and Ashley Klein made some howlers that made me wonder if he's seeking a position on the Doggies Board at the moment. If you look at how the NRL handles most issues, surely you can't be surprised how they handled this one. They wouldn't have become involved had Duges been ruled out much earlier; but I suppose they can be excused because Dugan looks like he's terminally injured in every second tackle.
Chuck
Guest
Can't believe NSW missed the publicity coup of the century - shift Walker to the centres and get Jarryd Hayne on the bench. Everyone's a winner
KillaKanga
Roar Rookie
We are constantly hearing from the clowns who run the NRL that the game has to adapt and change....obviously that excludes State of Origin scheduling
db
Guest
The Ferguson missed tackle count is even worse if you add the misreads where he completely takes himself out of the defensive line.
The Barry
Roar Guru
That's exactly right TMM... We've already got an imbalanced draw where not everyone plays everyone twice. The Tigers for example only have to play the Broncos and Cowboys once each. Some teams have to play them four times. Add to that the Tigers play the Broncos with six of their best players out and it's a joke. Teams miss the minor premiership or top four or top eight by for and against and you've got some teams arbitrarily getting a leg up. Anyone who thinks that situation is fair or desirable is a clown.
Dean - Surry Hills
Guest
Salary cap compliant teams like the Dragons and Tigers are not effected with a team packed with origin candidates like their Northern rivals.
Dean - Surry Hills
Guest
Here are this years stats Joe. All players mentioned are defensively ahead of Morris. Josh Morris 123 & 16 (tackles made and missed tackles) Jarrod Croker 167 & 16 James Roberts 169 & 12 Joey Leilua 111 & 13 And here are NSW's real liabilities - hand selected by Laurie James Maloney 179 & 48 Blake Ferguson 144 & 39
LMM
Guest
I've noticed a few times in the comments here people saying teams should learn to cope with losing a few players to Origin. But there is one glaring problem. The Tigers and Dragons got wins this week which they were highly unlikely to achieve otherwise, and in turn whoever plays the Broncos and Cowboys next week have every right to feel ripped off. Especially if the Tigers and/or Dragons slip into the finals at their expense. Every win, every point scored or conceded is worth so much more these days with the comp as tight as it is. Teams that get a golden run through the Origin period can build momentum which they may not deserve.
steve b
Roar Guru
Thanks guys saved me some research so you got that Joel.
Simon
Guest
I would love to see rugby league expand but if we are being honest we don't even have enough quality players running around at the moment to add an extra team to the competition let alone 2 or 4. Even though teams have a top 25, they usually use around 40 or 50 players each year, which would mean we would have to find 150-200 more players to fill the rosters of the new franchises, and that's just not going to happen without cheapening the overall product of our game. We are already seeing the Knights struggle this year with an inferior roster and each year we see the quality of the competition nose dive during origin season (although no competition in the world would be immune to a drop in quality after losing 34 of their top echelon of players). More teams would just amount to either continuous 50 point thrashings or low quality rugby league, and I don't know anyone who wants to see that.
Joel
Roar Rookie
So you can definitively say that the dogs lost the game because Morris wasn't there, can you?
spruce moose
Guest
NFL, MLB and NBA to name a few. The all star break is well done.
Joe
Roar Rookie
Joey Leilua, definitely. Forgot about him. Jarrod Croker no, his goal line defence is very poor. He will turn out like Nathan Merrit if picked. Roberts just hasn't played consistently enough this year and fades in and out of games (e.g. last game against the Tigers) but neither has Morris so maybe worth a shot.
The Sheriff
Guest
Correct again, Mr Prichard. On every account.
bexdog
Guest
Nba - league shuts down for a week for all star weekend Soccer/football world cups and euros are at the end of the season. I could go on but I'd rather you give me an example of another sport that does what the nrl does at origin time.
Tenny David Muri
Roar Rookie
Des is definitely correct because losing Morris cost him the game