2020 Origin II - NSW 34-10 QLD @ ANZ

[This Year?]

Is Freddy wearing a toupee?. So, which bench player gets 5 minutes when the game is already lost? My bet will be Yeo.

Maybe the resimed has made him sleep for so long he forgot to wake up and this is some kind of dream/concussion flashback.

 

[Desert Qlder]

Devastating to lose Welch and Brimson, who were both fantastic in Game 1. We just cannot get any luck with the mammoth injury toll this year.

But 2020 is all about the squad as a whole, with all members playig their role regardless of who runs out on the field. Absolutely certain that Lui, Holmes and Fotuaika will bring the same desire and passion we have for the cause of this campaign.

I doubt there will be a repeat of the disastrous Game 2 of last year, now that Walters is out of the coachig picture. And this was a point that DCE mentioned in the post match, with the similarities between both first games evident. The job is by no means done, and we will have to improve substantially to win in Sydney.

Val Holmes may surprise yet. He copped the bulk of criticism from neutrals for NQ performances this year, justifiably given his paycheque. But there were definite signs of improvement as the season went on and his fitness improved. Like Gagai, he is born to play Origin and will be up for the contest.

 

[soc123_au]

I'll start by saying that I think Keary has been pretty hard done by. The only reason to justify him being dropped is if the arm injury isn't right.

On Cleary, I am beginning to wonder if half of you actually watch the game, or when you see a blue jersey with the number 7 on it your eyes glaze over & you start foaming at the mouth. None of the halves did a real lot, Walker looked most likely but wasn't really playing a halves role. The forwards were dominated convincingly, that makes it difficult to lump the defeat at the feet of either half.

The catch cry for Cleary is he has no assists. Try & linebreak assists are defiantly an indicator for a halves performance. So are try involvements that dont appear in the stats. Both of JAC's trys were started by Cleary drawing in the defenders to create space on the outside. Hardly revolountianry stuff, but if he just dumped it to Tedesco for try one or Walker for try 2 then the space isn't there. Gutho was the receiver from Teddy & Walker & gets the assist in the stats. He did his job in both cases, but he didn't create shit. The stats don't always tell the full story.

The kick intended for JAC looked great off the boot, initially I thought it was going to be a certain try, unfortunately a wind gust got hold of the ball & it becomes a 7 tackle restart. The rest of his kicking game was admittedly well below par.

QLD ran a lot of their attack down our right. Cleary & Gutho made 61 tackles between them for 4 misses (2 each) On the left Keary & Wighton made 27 tackles between them for 11 misses. No try assists or involvements from either of them.

Cleary isn't a particularly instinctive player, I don't think he ever will be. He still had a more positive impact on the game than his halves partner did. He is never going to be Joey Johns, but he is the best option we have right now. The only other option is Reynolds, there isn't a lot between them, the advantage Cleary has over Reynolds is his age & the hope that he improves on the creativity, Reynolds isn't improving beyond where he is now. Nathan may not create a hell of a lot, but he does allow others the chance to do that. He also doesn't butcher chances like Pearce used to.

 

[Valheru]

thats what we said about Pearce...for 8 years

Pearce was ordinary but he at least had the excuse of playing against Smith, Thurston, cronk, lockyer, GI etc etc and the one chance he got to not play against them he didn't shit the bed (barely).

 

[Valheru]

Dont agree with the decisions by Fitter

Keary was not the issue, for mine he was much more involved than Cleary. Cleary brings a kicking game or nothing, and he didn't have that in game 1

Walker can be a fantastic impact player off the bench as he proved. Giving him free reign on both sides of the ruck really opened up the attack as well

Stuck at 5/8 for 80 minutes he will just get drained in defence once again and his attack will suffer. Walker will win you a game in 20 minutes, not 80

Lack of changes to the outside backs overlooks the major issues that were evident there this week.

Bench looks good though and Brown will be a great substitute for Murray's ability to add energy to the team

Agreed.

The other issue is walker and keary are very similar players. I think it is unfair to drop keary after 1 game regardless, but there would have at least been logic to putting someone like Wighton in his place who is a completely different type of 5/8.

 

[T-Boon]

man the ads on the jerseys suck.
Do they really need the money that bad?

 

[KeepingTheFaith]

Freddy throwing darts against the selection sheet I see.

 

[Silent Knight]

At last. Justice.

 

[AlwaysGreen]

You're frothing at the mouth now. Really, Luai should have been brought in, to bring together the combination that blitzed all comers 17 games straight, but Freddy lost his balls somewhere along the M4 heading east in 1995 or so.

The coach thinks they do, sorry.

Same coach ??

 

[Fufu Andronez]

I suggested Tyrone May ages ago, but I knew they wouldn't select him. Maybe Fittler has been told not to. I know he's not quite a superstar, but if he were the 14 you could have a bench with 4 forwards, since he can play hooker, backrow or lock as well as halves and centres. This is why Peachey played Origin, not because he was a world beater (his form was much better than it is now though), but because he covered so many positions adequately at the time, he allowed far more options elsewhere in the team.

Tyrone May as 14.

Why don't we just do Penrith Panthers vs Queensland?

Probably not a bad idea, they would have won game 1 and 2 and shit the bed in the last one.

 

[Bring back John Fifita]

Pearce was ordinary but he at least had the excuse of playing against Smith, Thurston, cronk, lockyer, GI etc etc and the one chance he got to not play against them he didn't shit the bed (barely).

Agreed.

The blues sides of his time (08-14) were regularly in the contest, there was the odd smashing but most years the series was tight. Yeah he wasn't what we'd hoped he could be but he wasn't awful either - especially like our halves last wednesday in Adelaide (even given the anomalies of the season this year).

I'd take any of those Blues sides Pearce was in (2008-2014) over the Blues sides that have won the series in 2018/19. And this year.

The blues teams of 2018-20 would have got absolutely mauled by all the Qld teams 2008-14.

The quality of both teams has fallen off a cliff from about 2016.

 

[Captain Apollo]

Ahh another 5/8 dropped due to the halfbacks abysmal performance

In all honesty I think the only thing saving Cleary in the side is the lack of a regular recognised goal kicker elsewhere in the NSW squad. There isn't one.

 

[The_Frog]

Same coach ??

The coach has no balls.
The coach picks the team.

The above statements are not mutually exclusive.

 

[Valheru]

In all honesty I think the only thing saving Cleary in the side is the lack of a regular recognised goal kicker elsewhere in the NSW squad. There isn't one.

Lomax?

 

[Bring back John Fifita]

Lomax?

Yep. A genuine centre and a genuine goal kicker..

Qld centres went through NSW centres like shit through a goose in game 1...

And if Cleary goes down injured... goal-kicker anyone??

We may well jag a win but for the life of me some of these selections beggars belief..

 

[GongPanther]

Well funnily enough 2 guys you left out should have been there for mine. Koro would have been fine at hooker and on form my back rowers would have been Angus Crichton & Liam Martin

Left out Koro and Martin because I'm quite sure they are carrying injuries.

 

[GongPanther]

Yep. A genuine centre and a genuine goal kicker..

Qld centres went through NSW centres like shit through a goose in game 1...

And if Cleary goes down injured... goal-kicker anyone??

We may well jag a win but for the life of me some of these selections beggars belief..

Bring Crichton in for the other centre position. He is also a noted goal kicker.

 

[Captain Apollo]

Lomax?

Yep. A genuine centre and a genuine goal kicker..

Qld centres went through NSW centres like shit through a goose in game 1...

And if Cleary goes down injured... goal-kicker anyone??

We may well jag a win but for the life of me some of these selections beggars belief..

Cheers. I didn't realise he was a recognised goal kicker. Thanks for the clarification

 

[Bring back John Fifita]

Cheers. I didn't realise he was a recognised goal kicker. Thanks for the clarification

All good. Lomax was actually the 4th highest point scorer this season. Which is even more impressive given the side he played in.

 

[Bring back John Fifita]

Bring Crichton in for the other centre position. He is also a noted goal kicker.

I’d have picked em both for the whole series but I’m not Brad Fittler.