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Thanks Freddy

Maroon4life

Juniors
Messages
1,647
You don't think the QLD squad was strong enough to win this year's series M4L?

Basically an all Australian backline, Wally Lewis medal winner and freak rep player in Gagai, hit man Napa, NRL's best halfback so far in 2018 in Hunt, Munster - who Darren Lockyer said was the greatest Origin debut ever (in f**king history mind you!!!!) last year, experience in grub McGuire, Wallace and Cooper in starting pack, McCullough with 200+ NRL games, the young behemoth Coen Hess with a series under the belt already. Young monster Jai Arrow who can't be stopped with a tank. Don't forget Josh 'Wrecking ball' Papali as well.

Not a bad team there at all.


No I didnt, I’ve watched Hunt go around for my team for a few years so I knew what to expect, same goes for McCullouch. A lot of our incumbents are just good players who had simple roles in a stacked team.

As far as 1,6,7 & 9 NSW have it over is undoubtedly. If someone told me I’d be watching Hunt and Macca running around as first choice picks for QLD I’d have laughed it off.
 

OldPanther

Coach
Messages
13,404
Has to be acknowledged that he only want for the job when the whole RL community knew the talent cycle was dramatically shifting toward the blues. Until now he’d left the job to others to have their legacy tainted.

Smart move though.

He went for the job earlier but Loz got the job.
 

Spot On

Coach
Messages
13,897
No I didnt, I’ve watched Hunt go around for my team for a few years so I knew what to expect, same goes for McCullouch. A lot of our incumbents are just good players who had simple roles in a stacked team.

As far as 1,6,7 & 9 NSW have it over is undoubtedly. If someone told me I’d be watching Hunt and Macca running around as first choice picks for QLD I’d have laughed it off.

So Slater, Munster and Hunt inferior to their opposites?

QLD selectors got it wrong?

Cook obviously superior. I'll give you that. But the coach needed to have a plan for the non existant attack from dummy half if he was happy to have McCulough.
 
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Maroon4life

Juniors
Messages
1,647
So Slater, Munster and Hunt inferior to their opposites?

QLD selectors got it wrong?

Cook obviously superior. I'll give you that. But the coach needed to have a plan for the non existant attack from dummy half if he was happy to have McCulough.

I’d say they picked the best of what they had, aside from some differing views between the opposite #1’s I don’t think it can be argued that the NSW spine is the superior one (been a very long time since we’ve said that)

Those 3 are attacking players, Neither Hunt or Munster are your typical game managing halves so I’d say Walters knew what he was getting with Macca and it just wasn’t good enough this series.
 

typicalfan

Coach
Messages
15,430
I reckon Freddy when it’s all said and done people will say well he didn’t have Cam Smith playing against him and it’s true, Cam Smith is still easily the best Qlder in the league. I reckon Freddy is trying to bait him out of retirement for next season so he can say Qld had no excuses. These debutants will have a series under their belt by then and should be better than this year.
 

Spot On

Coach
Messages
13,897
I don't think the team would have been too much different under another coach and it is hard to justify any of the debutants being picked prior to this year.

I for one DO NOT believe had Laurie Daley remained NSW coach or possibly anyone else stepped in that we would have seen the back of Woods, Graham, Jackson, Ferguson and Dugan. Could not see them picking de Bellin if that would have been the case either. I'd also make a case for Laurie wanting to pick Fifita for 2 games.

Surely Hayne would have been tossed, Morris out too you would think.

Absolutely no way another coach would have picked 11 debutants - no way - unless mass injuries forced him to.
 

Hutty1986

Immortal
Messages
34,034
I reckon Freddy when it’s all said and done people will say well he didn’t have Cam Smith playing against him and it’s true, Cam Smith is still easily the best Qlder in the league. I reckon Freddy is trying to bait him out of retirement for next season so he can say Qld had no excuses. These debutants will have a series under their belt by then and should be better than this year.
Still a huge amount of improvement in that blues side
 

typicalfan

Coach
Messages
15,430
Still a huge amount of improvement in that blues side
Definitely, will wait to see if it is bait. If it is I think Freddy will harp on about it every now and then between now and next series. He also retired from rep footy and made the comeback and by next year Cam Smith might want to return as well.

If next year is billed as the young successful blues vs Cam can you imagine the hype. Probably cringeworthy tbh.
 

Jason Maher

Immortal
Messages
35,977
NSW would have won more series over the last 10 years if QLD had no Thurston, Cronk, Smith and Scott (not to mention Slater game 1).

NSW deserved the victory but I don't see Fittler as some messiah. I like how many coaches have been vilified despite getting so close to beating the maroons at their best (with far better teams than they dished up this year) and yet so many now act like Fittler has changed the blues by just beating this weakened team.

Credit where it's due but I don't see the huge difference that some are.

The difference is he picked a much better team. And the players want to play for him. You never heard those comments about Laurie.
 

Jimmy O

Juniors
Messages
185
Slayer man if the match? So biased for his last game. Homes was clearly game standout and deserved to be man of the match.
 

no name

Coach
Messages
19,081
I reckon Freddy when it’s all said and done people will say well he didn’t have Cam Smith playing against him and it’s true, Cam Smith is still easily the best Qlder in the league. I reckon Freddy is trying to bait him out of retirement for next season so he can say Qld had no excuses. These debutants will have a series under their belt by then and should be better than this year.
I think Cam is more concerned with what Barb says than what Freddy says.
 

Billythekid

First Grade
Messages
6,560
The difference is he picked a much better team. And the players want to play for him. You never heard those comments about Laurie.

My point is this. We won this series 2-1 (and probably would have lost game 2 if not for a Ben hunt brain explosion). This was against a QLD side with no Smith, Cronk, Thurston, Scott or Slater (for game 1).

Other coaches have been bagged out like they're total shit despite getting so damn close to beating the QLD side at its absolute peak (and probably the best we'll ever see).

Now I'm not saying we didn't deserve the win or he shouldn't get credit. I just don't see him as some huge saviour or the others that came before as somehow being massively worse.

I also think there have been some questionable selections that had we lost would have been talked up a lot more.
 

SBD82

Coach
Messages
16,905
My point is this. We won this series 2-1 (and probably would have lost game 2 if not for a Ben hunt brain explosion). This was against a QLD side with no Smith, Cronk, Thurston, Scott or Slater (for game 1).

Other coaches have been bagged out like they're total shit despite getting so damn close to beating the QLD side at its absolute peak (and probably the best we'll ever see).

Now I'm not saying we didn't deserve the win or he shouldn't get credit. I just don't see him as some huge saviour or the others that came before as somehow being massively worse.

I also think there have been some questionable selections that had we lost would have been talked up a lot more.
The main point for me is that he didn't pick a negative team. There was no "made for origin" mentality that, in previous years, led to the selection of players who would try their hardest to not lose.

The team that Freddy picked was one that went out there with the mentality to beat QLD. Even if Smith, Cronk and Thurston had played and beaten us, I still would have been much more proud to support this team and their mentality than supporting the Gal and Daley version of NSW.
 

Angry_eel

First Grade
Messages
8,547
That team should have been beaten by 3 or more tries last night. QLD tried so hard and still managed to win only by a try. If it wasn't for a Sims brain explosion and Klemmer trip, it would have come down to a field goal. I don't remember any coach getting the team to play like that in a long time.
 

billygilmore

Juniors
Messages
1,221
That team should have been beaten by 3 or more tries last night. QLD tried so hard and still managed to win only by a try. If it wasn't for a Sims brain explosion and Klemmer trip, it would have come down to a field goal. I don't remember any coach getting the team to play like that in a long time.

That’s what I took out of the game, in the past we would have pumped 30 points on the blues easily, that really was some incredible defence by the blues last night, especially that first 35mins and all you can do is tip your hat to them.

Even though they came back into the game you could see a lot of the players were simply to gassed to put a decent play on and they struggled to make metres, even though we didn’t score many points while we were on top the damage had been done in a sense
 

beave

Coach
Messages
15,527
Slayer man if the match? So biased for his last game. Homes was clearly game standout and deserved to be man of the match.

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Pedge1971

First Grade
Messages
5,898
Has to be acknowledged that he only want for the job when the whole RL community knew the talent cycle was dramatically shifting toward the blues. Until now he’d left the job to others to have their legacy tainted.

Smart move though.

I think he applied when they gave it to Daley but never got it.
 

Pedge1971

First Grade
Messages
5,898
Definitely, will wait to see if it is bait. If it is I think Freddy will harp on about it every now and then between now and next series. He also retired from rep footy and made the comeback and by next year Cam Smith might want to return as well.

If next year is billed as the young successful blues vs Cam can you imagine the hype. Probably cringeworthy tbh.

Freddy will need Barbs permission but it could happen now Billy abd Coops are gone.
 
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