yeah i feel there should have been more floggings but i think there will be more to come.
if dylan walker is getting picked as a bench player than daley clearly isnt the right man to guide NSW into the future.
2014 was a complete fluke though. and everyone knows it.
over the years i cant help but notice my once excitement for state of origin has turned into me more or less treating it as a burden i have to go through because i just cant look away. similar to watching eels games.
For me I think it's knowing that the game will probably be dictated by NSW trying to grind out a defensive win in a low-scoring affair. When they win, it's a relief they lasted the 80 minutes and held Qld out. When they lose, it's frustrating that I sat through another grim, defensive game only to watch them come away empty handed and knowing I can't get my time back.
It'd be great to see NSW begin to chance their hand more and throw the ball around, play a more up-tempo attacking game. Even if they lost, I could at least walk away having watched an entertaining game of footy where the players selected showed off their usual attacking prowess that they boldly display so often in the NRL every week. Yet come the "pinnacle" of our game and it turns into this dull, defensive affair that seems to be more about not losing than going all out for the win. There are some ball-hogs in that squad who stifle our attack and have played a considerable part in the sort of score lines we hadn't seen since the mid 80's.
Oh- and Fulton has to be turfed. It's complete rubbish that the NSW Origin team has undergone so many organisational changes in the last decade (namely NOT employing a Blues coach whose weekly NRL gig has him playing father figure to a stack of "enemy" players), yet Bozo sticks around like a turd that won't flush, stinking up the joint with his bullshit Manly tokenism. Personally? I'd like to see a NSW selection panel made up primarily of League officials with no ties (past or present) to an NRL club. That's the thing about the Qld selectors- they only care about Qld. What NRL team they were involved with once makes no difference because there's not the historical or political weight behind the Qld NRL teams (no disrespect to the Broncos or Cowboys, but when the oldest NRL team in Qld is no older than the youngest un-merged team in NSW, you get my point). The team make-up and direction of the NSW Blues has to be solely dictated by people who care ONLY about ensuring NSW have the strongest team on the field of the available players and f**k any of this "Who you know> what you know" bullshit. I'm convinced it's this factor that has been more detrimental to the NSW rep teams since 1980 than anything else, regardless of who Qld have had available . The strength of the Sydney NRL scene is a blessing in many ways, but a curse when it comes to Origin.
