NSW will be going for size this year in the pack with a choice between Tamou, Grant, Fifita, Mason and Woods.
I hope and pray that the selectors blood Kennedy before they default back to Jacob Lilyman who is surely coming to the end of his career.
you'd think so, but apparently not.
Word is, and from the way Daley is talking about it, he's going to persist with Stuart's strategy and go small and mobile again. Gallen at prop with Tamou, and only one other fully fledged prop on the bench.
He probably thinks that they can finally expose the QLD forwards this time considering the maroons are down both Petero and Hannant in the middle rotation from last season.
If QLD go 4 props as usual, only way NSW can expose them with a smaller mobile middle unit is by completing more sets.
I wouldn't be surprised if QLD are hesitant on debuting two props in the one game and might only opt for one and shift Myles (who plays prop anyway) there instead. That way, Parker comes onto the starting side in the middle with Scott, Myles, Parker & Smith. Thaiday & Harrison will stick to the right and left edges of this.
McGuire/Kennedy (one of) & Shillo are the bench rotation for the props, with perhaps T'eo and Gillett the small forwards. It might make interchange rotations a bit difficult in that neither of T'eo or Gillett are really middle forwards. Perhaps Thaiday could shift into the middle when Parker has a spell as he has been playing here for Brisbane all year anyway, and Gillett comes onto Thaiday's right edge. Then Parker can replace Thaiday after his stint.
I'm sure the composition of the forwards when Hannant went down has caused Meninga/Henry a bit of a headache. It was logical to blood a new prop to replace Petero and basically carry on as normal. But now potentially two fresh faces in the middle could severely impact the way QLD have recently dominated it here.
