Fittler’s selection changes might be the undoing of a dynasty

When Latrell Mitchell, Cody Walker and Josh Morris were dropped by NSW coach Brad Fittler it felt like we were back in 2016, when New South Wales were a mess under Laurie Daley’s tenure.

Mitchell and Walker, who are third and first on the NRL try-scorers list, were almost automatic selections for Game 1. Neither had a great outing, but half a season’s worth of good form would have bought them another chance if they were Queenslanders. Fittler is getting into dangerous – even Daley-esque – territory by being so quick to drop them.

In a raft of wholesale changes – some forced, some not – it is clear what Freddy’s short-term goal is: to win the next game. What is not so clear is what the long-term goal is. New South Wales coaches in the past have been burnt by the tactic of just trying to win the next game rather than creating a cohesive team. Fittler has the unique chance to build upon a young team to ensure New South Wales doesn’t see the selection crisis the ruined Laurie Daley’s tenure.

This begs the question: is Fittler trading in the foundations of a great team just to win a single game?

(Digital Image Grant Troville © NRL Photos).

Last year the Blues looked the freshest they had in a decade. The pace and power of Latrell Mitchell tortured Queensland’s edge defence and married well with the havoc caused through the ruck by James Tedesco and Damien Cook.

Throughout the 2018 series there was a sense of team unity and cohesion, something we hadn’t seen out of New South Wales for years.

When it came it the first game of Origin this year Fittler and the New South Wales selectors were admittedly in a bind. The incumbent halves pairing of Nathan Clearly and James Maloney weren’t playing at a level that warranted selection. Conversely, the majority of other options – Luke Keary, Adam Reynolds and Mitchell Pearce – were unavailable due to injury and 2018 starting centre James Roberts was out of form and stuck playing Queensland cup.

This forced Fittler and co to do what they did last year and blood debutants – Cody Walker, Jack Wighton, Nick Cotric and Payne Hass – and the result was a solid performance with room for improvement in an 18-14 loss to the Maroons at Suncorp.

(Jono Searle/Getty Images)

The closeness of the game and the fact Queensland only won via an intercept try would indicate that New South Wales had the right team in place and it was just improvement with their bench rotation, kick-chase and a more cohesive defensive performance that would lead to future success. That’s why Fittler’s changes seem so baffling.

The team he has picked is certainly capable of winning, but Fittler discarding players after one bad game speaks to a spooked coach rather clinical team manager. Tossing Walker and Mitchell out of the team set-up in rather unceremonious fashion is an admission either that the New South Wales selection process was wrong initially or that the Blues coaching staff, none of which is a first-grade NRL coach, aren’t able to get the best out of these very talented players.

And these selections are what differentiate the broader philosophies of New South Wales and Queensland. The Maroons operate almost as an NRL team, where there is a focus on building a team for the series and players have a certain level of security even when they have an off performance. This is where having a smaller player pool to choose from has its advantages – selectors and coaches have to work with whose available and develop a game plan suited to those players.

New South Wales have always had the larger player pool, and when the selections aren’t obvious or there a number of players fighting for a position, there seems to be a willingness to change line-up from game to game when the team is losing. But each game they change their line-up, new combinations have to be formed and players have to learn each other’s tendencies. This is especially important in edge defence.

The idea that New South Wales are content to look for the next player rather than build cohesion could result not only in inconsistency but also damage the relationship between players and the New South Wales Origin staff. Latrell Mitchell is not a player that NSW would want to keep on the outer, but their lack of faith in him could end in a frayed relationship, which would only benefit Queensland.

There is no doubt Fittler is disappointed in the likes of Latrell Mitchell and Cody Walker, but he should them at least give them the chance to redeem themselves in the Origin arena.

What Fittler has to do in the eyes of many is create a New South Wales team that can compete year on year. Right now he’s chosen the quick and easy ‘win now’ option rather than sticking to his guns and seeing his selections through.

If this gamble doesn’t pay off, New South Wales could be on the precipice of mediocrity once again.