Mitchell axed, seven changes for NSW Blues Origin 2 team

Nat, come on, you have completely twisted and turned, what I’m trying to point out here, I’m not “shut down an argument when you cannot prove a point” all I’m doing is broadening the facts, like most intelligent indigenous people feel and are saying and that is not only Kerryn Pholi but what Shine Energy CEO Ashley Dodd is saying as they have a completely different view and ideology and don’t feel and don’t act like Waker, Goods and Mundine etc do, the only ones that do are as “Kerryn Pholi” said ““Professional Aborigine(s)”! Your other comment about me being ‘R…ist’ is laughable, I’ve always been involved with many indigenous friends and my wife is indigenous also, not Australian indigenous but Timorese, who btw and by newly discovered, anthropological research, were part of the first Australians! Don’t try to twist and turn this into something that it really is not and say “Just the fact you see these indigenous players as “privileged” speaks volumes of you” come on, there are other indigenous people ‘out there’ that are doing far more constructive and appropriate things to the indigenous cause than being defiant and make complete gooses of themselves like, Walker, Goods and Mundine, that is all I’m bringing to the fore here!

Jake T please. Should de captaining Manly, & should captain the Aus. side- plays well- beyond his age and will always be picked- tough through & through- Mr 110% man. Tackles are superb to watch, probably not so superb to receive!!

Tommy was the player of the series last year by a mile, despite playing out of position. Freddy’s suggestion that he wasn’t a certain to play was all mind games. As a result Tommy more than proved himself ready last weekend- he obliterated the Dragons, despite only being back a week from 2 hamstring injuries this season. He will get his hands on the ball more at centre than on the wing, and ball in hand, he is a dangerous man. Tommy will prove the doubters wrong, as he always does. MotM performance or close to. Turbo will not disappoint.....and only 22.....superstar ????, & humble ????

Is the scandal the one that NSW said was a fix up and threatened to take legal action over? Or is it another scandal? Either way that seems more perplexing, if that’s the reason then why all the half-hearted innuendo around it. It’s a binary decision so move straight on with clear communication to the player and the press. NSW can still win this thing (unfortunately) but it will be despite Fittler’s hamfisted management of this situation.

Yep, agree that the games were better than good but the disparity between his best and worst is huge. I’m with you there Mushi, it’s a huge turnaround.... from what’s going around, he was the player at the centre of the scandal and that’s what has driven the change in Fittlers opinion of him.

The 1st mistake you made was to reference to the article because I can read. The 2nd is to use the final line of an opinion piece that you have taken completely out of context and has no relevance to this topic. But I come to expect this from you. Just the fact you see these indigenous players as "privileged" speaks volumes of you. Do you think any player, let alone a rep player, was chosen to play because of their skin colour or heritage? The easy option is to fall by the wayside. To drink, smoke and make no effort. These players have sacrificed more than their brothers, move away from family and home to take advantage of their skills as a footballer. If they succeed they are paid well but inline with every other player in the NRL. I hate to use the R...ist word in an argument because it's a simplistic way to shut down an argument when you cannot prove a point. However, your attitude to tell these players to pipe down and be grateful because there are others who don't have what they have is exactly that. You have archaic thinking and a poor attitude.

Yes that might be true but, they didn’t make it an issue and/or come out like C. Walker did, to put the game into disrepute!!! Now, this is not shared with all intelligent indigenous people especially “Kerryn Pholi, who has had enough of being a “professional Aborigine”!!! Read her story here: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-09-27/pholiaboriginality/4281772?fbclid=IwAR1fLjTiSmfi6tZxEpwMN1reoAOCHNZBeJaStfTgYFaPzqJa_vtNS3lbz00 Ms Kerryn Pholi says “To genuinely challenge racism we need to stop rationalising our individual self-interest, reject preferential treatment, compete in the open market for jobs, grants and audiences, and accept the financial and career consequences of refusing to be bought” and that is the BOTTOM LINE here and not have these privileged people like C. Walker, Dane Gagai Goods and all the All Stars etc etc who are way over feed and over privileged to what their brothers and all the indigenous people are and/or will ever acheave!!!

But defensively, centre is the most demanding position where defensive reads and decisions are crucial and communication between your edge back rower and winger is paramount. Defensively, Kyle Turner and Ethan Lowe have done the job for Bennett but they a blockage in the backline that impedes success down their attacking edge ("a trombone in the string section" as Warren Ryan used to call it). So, in every way, centre IS a specialist position and needs to be treated with the respect it deserves. A year or two ago I said Turbo's future position was at centre but, at present he is a FB or a winger in Origin behind Tedesco IMO.

Sounds like Souths back 5 but they are still hanging on to 2nd position despite 3 straight losses! LOL

Well it certainly hasn't helped Politis to re-sign the kid and it may have put the wheels in motion for a move to Redfern. I had a similar feeling until I read that Latrell had been sucked into the vortex of family problems off-field which were the reason for the distraction it seems. If true Fittler should have shown a little more compassion and sensitivity to the kid who is undoubtedly the best future prospect for the Blues going forward. I just hope that Latrell Mitchell has never been to QLD for a holiday once, otherwise the maroons will grab him and he could be our next "Greg Inglis" in that respect!

P.S. perhaps using P.S. would have been less confusing, and yes, Finucane is the right sort of player for Origin. Specifically because he has been developed by the Storm under Bellamy to be a machine and play his role without going MIA.

No. Not our best by a LONG way. Cook, Tedesco and Klemmer were the clear standouts followed a long way behind by Josh Morris, Cameron Murray and Jake T. (who was well off his best on the night). The rest were a LONG way behind these 6 while mentally, Mitchell, Walker and Cleary never made it out of the dressing room for the kick-off! Pity Jack Wighton didn't call in sick instead of showing up to scuttle NSW's chances.

Jack Wighton is to Ricky Stuart what Darius Boyd was to Wayne Bennett... an orphan in need of adoption. Wighton's intercept pass (a product of a player cracking under pressure) was certainly the one incident above all others that cost NSW the game. Yet in the interview after the game Fittler was already talking iy down. Fittler: "Jack will have nightmares about that for a while. Nevermind, he will learn from that and be better next time". I knew there and then that Wighton would get another opportunity while Cody Walker would not. Josh Morris was a real surprise though. Player's like the Morris twins have proven time and again that they are made for Origin and rwp football. The try that Morris scored was mostly due to the efforts of James Tedesco standing up the QLD defence then skipping wide to attract the B defender and then drawing and passing to put Morris through the gap that opened in the QLD defence. Still, Morris had to finish that opportunity and so many half opportunities disappear in an instant in Origin. Look at Wighton's intercepted pass. Had he dummied and passed after the line as he fell NSW would have scored down the vacated defensive corridor down QLD's right wing with Gagai commiting himself to cut off the pass. Instead, Wighton panicked, passed too early and handed Gagai the ball on a platter. Even if Gagai had not been in that position the ball was going behind Addo-Carr anyway who was in motion at speed and trying to adjust late to take the pass. I have never rated Jack Wighton and said for years that he was no FB. I said he should have been playing 5/8 or centre but NOT at this level. Im many ways he reminds me of Matt Moylan who is the same sort of player. As many highs as lows, no consistency and their confidence crumbles as soon as the blowtorch is applied. Exactly NOT the sort of player you need in Origin!

Queensland never would have dropped a player that played as well as Josh Morris did.

Problem is if you’re considering picking high risk reward players then you’ve at least tacitly accepted the risk of a negative outcome. Dropping them doesn’t undo the negative outcome it just rules out any future positive outcomes that you previously thought were balanced in your favour. So unless there is pertinent new information from the last three weeks that causes a fundamental rethink of the risk/reward of Mitchell (I’d be surprised if anyone who hasn’t recently woken from a coma and has no access to prior matches was surprised to find out Mitchell is a guy with volatile returns) then Fittler has made a selection error as he either: - took an unnecessary risk in the first four games he selected Mitchell, or - is over reacting to recent information and taking an irrational view on the risk reward now Now there is stuff about fit with the team etc but all of Fittler’s rhetoric has been focused on Mitchell specifically. Given he’s added several risky players he’d probably be better off embracing the roosters “portfolio effect” of going longer risk

Look I’m an outlier easts fan in that I think he’s overhyped (I'd say two "great" games and more good than just 2 - I'm not including last week). But gee it feels like the pendulum has over shot on the return! But if consistency was a concern how did he justify picking him the other 4 times? It’s not like Latrell’s inconsistency is a sudden occurrence. So isn’t this an admission by Fittler then that he selected the wrong team the past four times?

Well looks like that big issue which was obviously there has become public knowledge

Fittler has brought in Gasnier as a defensive coach for the centres , that's embarrassing , what a joke !!!!

Inglis never looked disinterested or played below his ability as far as I can remember. Latrell had a great game against Wests Tigers and that's about it for this year. Freddy's message is fairly clear - one player does not make the team. I'm happy with the decision - Turbo, Maloney and Graham are huge ins and are big game players.

But surely grown men are either motivated to play Origin or they're not. Fittler's job isn't to motivate someone to want to play Origin, it's more about building cohesion and trust amongst a group of strangers.