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Billy Slater knows what it takes to succeed in Origin, particularly as a fullback, and he knows it’s a gamble picking Reece Walsh ahead of Kalyn Ponga but one he’s willing to take.
Brad Fittler is also well aware that rugby league teams at the elite level can’t be choirboys and a certain mongrel element is needed when you take on a pack of Queenslanders, hence the high-risk decision of handing a debut jersey to combustible Bulldogs prop Tevita Pangai jnr.
Both teams will have a fresh look when the annual interstate contest kicks off in Adelaide on May 31 with pretty much all the changes instituted at the selection table rather than due to injuries.
Fittler needs to regain the Origin shield to ensure his sixth series in charge is not his last one while Slater is not resting on his laurels after his first-up success, keen to regenerate his team with fresh blood while making the exruciatingly tough calls on Ponga, Kurt Capewell and Dane Gagai, who has likely played his last match in a Maroons jersey after a decade of sterling service.
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Slater was asked several times at his news conference on Monday whether Ponga’s recent stints on the sidelines with concussion were a factor in him losing the Maroons’ No.1 jersey despite a starring role last year culminating in a player of the match performance in the series decider.
Reece Walsh. (Photo by Bradley Kanaris/Getty Images)
Queensland’s coach was too smart to fall for the trick. If he’d said the Knights star was left out because of concerns over head knocks, Walsh would feel like he’s only in the side because his main rival for the spot was damaged goods.
He answered the concussion issue without actually addressing it directly by saying he was comfortable with taking Walsh over Ponga and when taking “everything into consideration”, he had no qualms about making such a big call.
“It is the right decision for the team and Reece Walsh has been playing fantastic football,” Slater said. “I have watched him closer than most people. His game’s in a good place.
“There’s a lot more to Reece Walsh than what we see on the surface. He’s got a great work ethic. If you ever watch him play live, he’s moving a lot without getting in the picture. ”
Walsh was supposed to make his Origin debut in game two of 2021 but was ruled out due to a hamstring injury.
At 18 and in his rookie NRL season at the Warriors, it was perhaps a blessing in disguise that he wasn’t thrown to the wolves in sky-blue for the match following the 50-6 demolition in Townsville.
“I believe there’s two things you need to play State of Origin for Queensland,” Slater said. “The first thing is you need to be capable and the second thing is you need an opportunity.
“Now, to be fair, I think Reece probably got his opportunity before he built that capability in his game and didn’t get to play because of his hamstring.
“Now he is a much more capable player, he’s a much more rounded player and he is only going to get better.”
While Walsh has been electric at the back for the Broncos this season, he can be error prone.
Only his club and state teammate Selwyn Cobbo and Dragons centre Moses Suli (22 apiece) have come up with more handling errors than Walsh’s 21 this season.
“We want Reece to be Reece,” Slater said when asked about his propensity for an inopportune mistake, which can be a problem at club level but could decide who gets the shield in Origin. “We want Reece to bring his game and we know his game’s dangerous and team oriented.”
For his part, the 20-year-old was fully aware of the gigantic task that awaits him.
“KP is a wonderful player. This is my opportunity right now and it is mine to lose. I don’t want to come in for one game and be out the next,” he said when he fronted up to his Monday media scrum on the first day in Origin camp.
“If I was in here doubting myself and not confident I would probably be doing Queensland and the jersey wrong. I will do whatever the team needs.
“What got me this jersey is taking my opportunities and come Wednesday I will express myself and be me. I definitely feel a lot more ready this time.
Kalyn Ponga. (Photo by Ian Hitchcock/Getty Images)
“It is a bonus that I can get tips off the best fullback we have probably ever seen.”
Blues halfback Nathan Cleary in particular will test Walsh out with his variety of attacking kicks but brimming with the ebullience of youth, he was not concerned.
“I don’t really care what the Blues do,” he said.
“I am going to go out there and play football so they can do whatever they want. It is not going to faze me.”
On the NSW side of the selection debate, the inclusion of Pangai was not necessarily forced upon Fittler but he needed to find size and aggression to complement Payne Haas and Junior Paulo in his middle-forward rotation with Jake Trbojevic (calf), Reagan Campbell-Gillard (groin) and Spencer Leniu (ruptured testicle) sidelined.
The Blues considered selecting a safer on-field option in St George Illawarra workhorse Jack de Belin but, given that his return to Origin for the first time since 2019 would have needed boardroom approval due to his off-field record, Pangai’s promotion will at least mean less of an off-field distraction in the lead-up to the crucial series opener.
NSW don’t play at home until game three this year so they can ill afford a loss on the neutral South Australian turf.
“I’ve liked him for a while. I can see that teams are intimidated by him. At times he hasn’t handled that well either,” Fittler said.
(Photo by Mark Kolbe/Getty Images)
“But I’ve just always liked him. He is super talented. It’s just a matter of him just getting that next level of control, showing leadership.
“And when I talk to people at Canterbury he is a great trainer, and he prepares excellent.”
The problem with Pangai is that while he can hit hard in defence and make hard yards with the ball in hand, he is also prone to overplaying his hand with an over-ambitious offload or giving away a penalty so cheap you would get change if they were on sale at the $2 shop.
There used to be an unwritten rule that players could get away with more in Origin and grand finals and while that may still be slightly true, the referees and bunker are under more pressure than ever to punish any contact with the head by dispatching offenders to the sin bin.
A 10-minute period a player down in Origin is not necessarily a knockout blow but it’s the kind of gut punch that no team can afford when there’s barely any difference in the overall quality of each line-up.
“Everyone understands now with sin bins, that red line is a dangerous place to go,” Fittler said.
“There’s teams that do it very well and others that are happy to flirt with that line.
“It’s a pretty physical game. It’s as tough as it gets. They have to be confident and ready.”
with AAP