It’s often said in sport that a good big man will always beat a good small man, and this is often the case in rugby league. What player doesn’t enjoy running out on to the field in the knowledge that he’s much bigger than his opponent and therefore has the advantage when the collisions come. So just pick the biggest players, right? Simple.
In my last article, I named a QLD team selected solely on size, so here’s a team of NSW Origin players also picked solely on size, and the only other criteria is that they must have run out for NSW in Origin on at least one occasion in their selected position.
(Numbers in brackets are their estimated playing weights and the number of games played for NSW in that position).
Fullback – Josh Dugan (100 kgs, 6 games). No real heavyweights for NSW in this position, but Graham Eadie and James Tedesco were also in the mix.
Wingers – John Hopoate (110 kgs, 1 game) and Daniel Tupou (105 kgs, 9 games). Tupou is an aerial specialist while Hopoate has some very unique skills all of his own. Some other big wingers in contention were Blake Ferguson, Matt King, Terry Fahey and Luke Lewis.
Centres – Tom Trbojevic (105 kgs, 5 games) and Latrell Mitchell (105 kgs, 7 games). Mitchell may be even heavier depending upon where he is in his annual weight loss/gain cycle. Big centres to miss out were Terry Hill and Paul McGregor.
Five-Eighth – Shaun Timmins (105 kgs, 5 games). Timmins was versatile and often played at either at centre or at back of the scrum. Biggest of the rest was Greg Bird.
Halfback – Nathan Cleary (95 kgs, 12 games). The halfback position was once the territory of the little guy but now many halves are as big as forwards.
(Photo by Mark Kolbe/Getty Images)
Lock – Jake Trbojevic (110 kgs, 6 games). One of the smallest players in the pack but probably the smartest, and with a big motor to boot.
Second Row – Paul Sironen (115 kgs, 11 games) and Willie Mason (120 kgs, 3 games). A pair of juggernauts if ever I saw one. Other big back rowers in contention were Noel Cleal, Bob Cooper, Mark Geyer and John Cartwright.
Front Row – Josh Perry (125 kgs, 2 games) and Junior Paulo (125 kgs, 3 games). Both these guys look like they’ve spent a fair bit of time in a good paddock but they cause mayhem when they run the ball. Some other big boppers unlucky to miss out were Payne Haas, Glen Lazarus, Andrew Fifita, Keith Galloway, and Daniel Saifiti.
Hooker – Mario Fenech (100 kgs, 2 games). Mario was passionate and highly entertaining and used his size to advantage. He edges out Luke Priddis and Danny Buderus.
So there they are, 1.420 tonnes of NSW’s finest, just 5 kgs, in total, heavier than their QLD counterparts.
Are there any big blue boppers missing from this list?
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