Fittler learns from Origin series defeat

Fair point Walter

Rep matches are not suited to Bellamy's coaching style. Bellamy molds the team over a long period of time, developing players into a cohesive whole which is just what you need at club level. But, pulling experienced players together and fitting them together like a jigsaw over a short period of time, as in Origin, is definitely not his thing.

think most love it when 2 book ends start having a stink. the NHL still allows fighting as a means of the players policing themselves in a game. When you look at a blue – how many punches actually land flush? not too many. Reckon if the odd fight was still allowed i.e. Spud going boonta on someone if they tackled Toove’s there’d be less dog shots. just gotta make sure the stinks 1 on 1 so no one gets blindsided. Just look at Sella vs Fitzimmons when the French played the Wallabies in the 90’s (around the 2 min mark) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QcFOmf6Q1lk

Freddy is not a coach, he is a TV personality. Can anyone imagine Josh Addo-Carr being a coach? Well, that's what you get with Freddy a JAC coach. Players know Freddy is a bit out there and a good laugh, but certainly not a coach that any of them respect and that showed. Why play Brown for 8 minutes and no Papenhuyzen. Another stuff up was playing Addo-Carr who was obviously injured while a fresh Nick Cotric got no game time. No one thinks Freddy can coach. Klem spoke his mind and lost his job, the others keep quiet.

& Kaufusi should be banned from playing Origin ever again after his playing dumb when sin binned in G1. Also a 5 man gang tackle should be a penalty (i.e. max 3 in a tackle) & this is coming from a Maroons supporter

like how the press keep writing how so and so is an enforcer - what crap. An enforcer will make sure an opponent will suffer repercussions for any illegal activity especially on their playmaker. (Like Spud on anyone who touched one blonde hair on Tooveys head). Now players like JWH do dog shots on players knowing there will be no retalliation. Grubs mate just grubs. Like Ennis - all mouth when they know there is no one there who will close it for them

You’re right and it’s a shame Kent. I felt Tino added a hint of mongrel to Qld

Qld play for their state NSW play for their bank balance

Fittlers issue seems to be game planning. At that level you can really only have 1 or 2 alternatives, If fittler has them he hasn't gone to them at the half (only chance a coach really gets to put it in place a runner can only communicate so much). He's also seemingly stuck to a preconceived rotation regardless of the game situation. I can understand not carrying true cover for every position, you do that and you blunt your best 17s effectiveness. But it's his inflexibility that's his downfall, ironic given his Yoga mentality:) I think it is a gap that would be fixed with club coaching.

Agree - NSW selectors are like the Australian test selectors in that they tend to stick with the incumbents until its too late - and to be fair the Queensland selectors tended to do the same thing in their golden period when they won all those series in a row. If a team is successful you are loathe to change a winning formula. This time around Queensland were forced to make a large number of changes due to injuries and the players chosen rewarded them. NSW had the opportunity to choose new players e.g. two new centres - but were punished for being too conservative.

Ah yes "it was the other three, not me" excuse!! Oh - and I'm not crying I've got omething in my eye But we dun good mate but they dun better on the day mate

Gutho had a bonzer year & deserved a spot but only at FB, & he wasn't going to replace Tedesco, so he shouldn't have been picked. Look at how there is an issue if the right centre has to switch to the left edge - you're dealing with fraction of a second reaction times, what angles to run etc so playing a fullback or 5/8 in the centres is fraught with danger. 12 months is a long time between series' so why they stay loyal if a player is out of form is beyond me, seems prettyhard to play yourself into form when you're playing in the toughest series of games. Qld proved it yet again - pick players on form. Grant would never gotten the gig if he was eligable for the Blues

firebrand players are a dying breed as the NRL has gotten rid of the agro where a blue my flare up atanytime. Now SOO is a club game where every player is fit & there are no "bunnies" in the team

carrying injured players was only an issue because of the bubble where new players could not be brought in. If it were a normal year, any injured player could be dropped and replaced by a healthy player. Biggest mistake was the bench with no utility "can play anywhere in the backline" player

That comment about Klemm losing form, he’s shielding the big bloke. Reagan Campbell G. and Payne Haas were arguably poorer in the last month of the regular season than he was yet there they were. If it was about Newcastle fading late what was Saiffiti doing out there yet alone winning best Blues forward ? Don’t buy those reasons for a second.

All that’s well and good, he let his players down and they let him down. I’m arguing exclusively over your initial post that he didn’t select a utility on the bench, he did. Whatever happened after that or whatever people think of that choice is irrelevant to the argument. Secondly, he did select a tough man in Brown, why he didn’t give him minutes is a different discussion. Freddie being out coached, well he lost, but got nothing to do with what we’re jibbering about.

I also like the following article where Fittler said it was an oversight not to pick Papenhauzen on the bench. Turns out he rolled the dice, picked Brown instead then gave Brown 8 or 9 minutes in the end. Freddie was wrong. This was quoted on NRL.com :- “Fittler admits Blues could have done things differently. NSW coach Brad Fittler has admitted that it was an "oversight" not to include Ryan Papenhuyzen as a bench utility for the State of Origin decider. It seems obvious now given captain James Tedesco only lasted 20 minutes before copping a head knock as the Blues lost 18-14 to the Maroons at Suncorp Stadium last Wednesday. ut Fittler noted "it's not often you lose your fullback", and had Tedesco stayed fit, he believes it may have been tough to inject Papenhuyzen into the game for his debut when NSW had to do so much defence. Papenhuyzen hadn't played since suffering a calf injury as he starred at fullback in Melbourne's grand final win over Penrith. "It would've been good to pick him for game two [when he was injured] but I thought [bench forward] Nathan Brown was fantastic in game two," Meanwhile, Fittler indicated that veteran prop David Klemmer's omission from the team this year was linked to the Knights' patchy finish to the NRL season. "I think Newcastle in general in the last couple of years have faded at the back-end of the year. So given the Origin series was at the back-end of the year this year we decided to go another way," he said. "But Dave's been a dominant figure for a couple of clubs now and it's just about now Newcastle going to the next level."

Coach Freddie turned out to be loser this series and out coached by a superior coach. This article on Fox Sport sums it up perfectly. Have a read and look at what the majority of people think about Freddie’s poor choice of so called utility and hard man:- https://www.foxsports.com.au/nrl/state-of-origin/teams/new-south-wales/state-of-origin-2020-brad-fittler-regret-nsw-vs-qld-blues-vs-maroons/news-story/d7eae43c868a82c570cdecc9198b231b

The coach said on his podcast Yeo was being considered for Game 3 based on ‘his ability to play multiple positions.’ That’s all you need to get.

Of course you’re correct. Yeoh started his career in the centres so that obviously makes him a state of origin class utility that could fill in the backs. He killed it filling in the centres in game three-he put up a man of the match performance filling in out there. Arthur Beetson started his career as a centre before transitioning to prop-obviously according to your reasoning Big Artie would have been a genuine utility that could have handled filling in the backs for QLD. Brown was given 8 or 9 minutes at the end of the game, obviously he was the chosen firebrand to stick it up Qld in the first half and set the tone of the game. Obviously you’re correct.