Brad Fittler has chosen a stunning 11 debutants in his first series as State of Origin coach. The question is, will this new method produce the goods for the success-starved NSW, or will it fall apart quicker than Darius Boyd’s hamstrings?
Of the positives for NSW, speed is power, as we’ve often heard rugby league great Phil Gould emphasise. With such a quick back five, NSW should be able to employ the method tried and tested by yours truly on Rugby League 2 and simply run around the opposition.
With speed to burn, the Maroons’ slow wingers Valentine Holmes and Dane Gagai simply to won’t be able to keep up.
On top of that, with Damien Cook scheming from dummy half like a baby-blue-eyed Mussolini, James Maloney and Nathan Cleary will be free to orchestrate early ball into the likes of Latrell Mitchell and James Roberts.
Throw Tyrone Peachey off the bench and into the mix and you have a team full of genuine strike weapons not afraid to chance their arm and willing to take the fight to the elder Queensland team.
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The downside is that the team has the possibility to crack like a windscreen on a cold Bathurst morning. Mitchell and Roberts showed in Round 11 how easily each other can be exposed, with both putting on an attacking masterclass at the expense of the other.
James Tedesco at fullback has been horribly out of form, and one is inclined to think the experienced and cool as a cucumber Blake Ferguson deserved a spot on the wing, with Tom Trbojevic slotting back to fullback.
Josh Jackson is another diamond formed under the pressure of Origin who was harshly discarded under the guise of cutting out deadwood, despite Boyd Cordner (and Freddy’s noted good mate) remaining as captain.
Come the 60th minute of Origin 1, and the Blues might be wishing Jackson was still in the team to plug up the middle, and Fergo was there to bring the ball out of danger.
Only time will tell how well Freddy picked his team. This time next year will we be shouting his successes after a long-desired NSW victory, or will we be shielding our eyes after the team backfired like 1998 Ford Festiva?
Someone
Guest
In all fairness, no one is quite sure which way this all out attacking team is going to go. I would rather he writes an article which makes sense rather than writes BS one way or the other.
Remo Shankar
Roar Pro
Well, I'll put my hand up here. I thought the sarcasm was being directed towards the cucumber.
Aem
Guest
I enjoyed your headline so much I wrote one of my own: NSW will either win or lose State of Origin (or it could be a draw).
Benny
Guest
Errors can be taken out of context though. A lot of those errors are him pushing up the middle in support play and getting offloads pushed to him when they're not on.
Michael Keeffe
Roar Guru
I think the big thing with Tedesco is he's made 21 errors this year in 12 games. Quoting his attacking stats is good but Origin is such a high pressure game that errors can be even more crucial. He'll want to tidy that up for Game 1 or he'll cost his team.
Joe
Roar Rookie
I think he's saying its going to be a thrashing one way or the other.
Davico
Guest
Is it just me or has everyone missed the sarcasm in the Ferguson comment?
slurpy
Roar Rookie
I'll give you a sweet rugby league 2 hack - play benji or jamie soward at full back - 40/20s all day.
upper-d
Guest
Kind of agree Mac. Normally in an opinion piece you need to have just that, an opinion. Will the team work, or not. Subscribing to two extremes isn't really having an opinion, it's just covering your butt. Disagree with Tedesco being 'horribly out of form' also. Not playing to full potential perhaps, but horribly out of form is quite the stretch.
Mango Jack
Roar Guru
Pretty unfair comment, Mac. It's a reasonable point he's making that Fittler has moved away from the "defence first" approach of the past decade to select a team chock full of attacking players, who are a big suspect in defence. It's a high risk approach which, if it works, will probably deliver a massive win to the Blues. If it doesn't, it will be carnage. Either way, it's going to be fun to watch.
Mac
Guest
They might be good or they might be bad, yea ok, thanks captain obvious. Really stuck your neck out with this piece.
Remo Shankar
Roar Pro
I never thought I'd live to see the day that I was reading a thread that contained both Blake Ferguson and the wave-particle conundrum in it
Jacko
Guest
Go the Blues
Wayne Turner
Guest
No worries. I'm a Dragons and NSW fan too.
Emcie
Roar Guru
It's much harder to find when you think it's a different player, thats for sure...
P Air
Guest
Blake Ferguson???? LMFAO. As a New South Welshman I told my mates here in Qld that I would start supporting the maroons if NSW picked Ferguson again. "Cool as a Cucumber" and can't score a try. A quick look at his Origin try scoring highlights reveals nothing but a blank screen. Why persist, as NSW have done numerous times, with plodders who might be ok defensively but if you're not scoring points then you're not winning too many games. While he has a big donut next to his try scoring tally the Qld wingers are running all over us. Great decision to leave him out.
Remo Shankar
Roar Pro
Couldn't agree more. As Freddie, said, in relation to the failures of the last 12 years - what exactly are we holding onto?
Remo Shankar
Roar Pro
I'm glad you picked up on the Ferguson 'cool as a cucumber' reference. I would have thought a fairer analogy would've been Frank Spencer from Some Mother's Do Have 'Em. I know he has some good moments, but sometimes he looks like Don Knotts on steroids.
Duncan Smith
Roar Guru
I've tried to take advantage of the wave-particle conundrum and Heisenberg's uncertainty principle for my football betting, but alas have failed so far. One success, but unable to replicate the results since then.
Mango Jack
Roar Guru
I heard David Klemmer say exactly that in a post-match interview recently.