blues origin 2015

[Craig Johnston]

So much for player safety, picking a guy who's been knocked out twice in the last 3 weeks. Lol@nrl

if he fails concussion tests, frizell is in....what's the big deal with that?

 

[Craig Johnston]

all nsw forwards are in career best form, the dads army pillows up north can't even run 100 metres for their club lately. qld are going to get steamrolled to a rude awakening, and choppy will be screaming death of origin again before you know it.

 

[macavity]

Tariq Sims desperately unlucky to miss out for Josh Jackson...

 

[kbw]

It will be an interesting series, old and out of form QLDers and a lazy "missing" Ingli$.
Unfortunately they will probably pull their fingers out and play out of their skins.

I would not write off the NSW halves, I have a feeling they might just stand up this year. Hopoate is an interesting selection as he has been pretty ordinary this year. Cordner has been on fire in the last few Roosters games and has hardly dropped a ball.
I do think Aubusson is made for SOO and would love to see him play.

 

[Craig Johnston]

It will be an interesting series, old and out of form QLDers and a lazy "missing" Ingli$.
Unfortunately they will probably pull their fingers out and play out of their skins.

I would not write off the NSW halves, I have a feeling they might just stand up this year. Hopoate is an interesting selection as he has been pretty ordinary this year. Cordner has been on fire in the last few Roosters games and has hardly dropped a ball.
I do think Aubusson is made for SOO and would love to see him play.

no he's not he's a 90kg backrower who relys on a dry track. same reason james roberts probably fell away at the end. handy utility but there are stacks ahead of him for that

 

[kokz2014]

Well it was a serious attempt, but I agree I am struggling in terms of the NSW halves.
Pearce as failed many times in the past, but seems to be an improved player.

Hodkinson is way out of form and has been struggling for most of the season.
In the past QLD have picked players in that situation and they have stepped up and played well at origin, but I don't think this will happen.
Hodkinson will do his job in defense but will not offer much in attack.
NSW can still win but if QLD gets a 10-12 point lead at any stage it is probably game over.
Soward has just come back from injury that is why I am leaving him out at this stage, and also because I expect game 1 to be a brutal forwards battle.
I expect they will play footy in games 2 & 3, and a fast open game will suit Soward.

My friend Hodko is not out of form, the doggies are? Hodko can attack, you must of missed that winning try from Him in game 2 last year or are you going to overlook it? Both Soward and Pearce had their chances. If we going to go back in the past, there were chances for NSW to win the series and Pearce was the one who failed miserably in game 3 2012. It didn't make sense why Pearce got picked in 2013 and Todd Carney didn't? Todd did his job 2012, watch it again you will see who stood out despite of losing the series?

It doesn't matter now, Pearce has been picked and I don't mine it. I really do think Pearce will go well with Hodko.

Now the biggest surprise was Jackson at lock and hoppa? Much can't be said now just have to be optimistic with our team. NSW has a strong bench so overall NSW can still win it.

BLUES UP!

 

[kokz2014]

Guys don't sweat it. NSW has a bigger forward pack. QLD is going to struggle to contain Woods, Fifita, and Tamou up front. We are going to put a dent in that QLD defense and have them back peddling for our backs to execute. Have a bit of faith game 1 hasn't started yet!

 

[Tommy Smith]

Cordner has been on fire in the last few Roosters games and has hardly dropped a ball.

Shush. He's a hugely overrated hack.

Sure he runs hard, hits hard, runs great lines and hits a hole better than any backrower in the comp and scores a few tries, but he doesn't possess any Mateo-like ball skills.

And that's all that matters.

 

[JJ]

The Mitchell Pearce factor will be key...

:lol: in all seriousness, NSW stack up well until you look at 6 and 7

 

[bluey]

Guys don't sweat it. NSW has a bigger forward pack. QLD is going to struggle to contain Woods, Fifita, and Tamou up front. We are going to put a dent in that QLD defense and have them back peddling for our backs to execute. Have a bit of faith game 1 hasn't started yet!

I agree we will be better than most think.

 

[Craig Johnston]

I agree we will be better than most think.

it's the same white noise from clubs that didn't get enough players selected every year

 

[Allstar Knights]

Shush. He's a hugely overrated hack.

Sure he runs hard, hits hard, runs great lines and hits a hole better than any backrower in the comp and scores a few tries, but he doesn't possess any Mateo-like ball skills.

And that's all that matters.

He has been useless in every rep game he's played in like his buddy Pearce. Both good club players and that's where it ends unfortunately.

 

[tumbidragon]

QLD lolling all the way to #1inarow

 

[big hit!]

Now the biggest surprise was Jackson at lock and hoppa? Much can't be said now just have to be optimistic with our team. NSW has a strong bench so overall NSW can still win it.

BLUES UP!

to be honest, i don't watch too many Canterbury games, but what i have seen in the past is with him as the right forward in their structure. Eastwood plays as the middle forward and Finucane would sub him in prior seasons.

Now he might have shown some form over the years in the right side role, but can someone tell me if this bloke has ever played consistent minutes in the middle as a forward at club level, because that's basically where he's been picked to play by Daley. Scott will be the right forward, Hoffman the left and as specialist players in these respective positions, you'd expect them to play big minutes in Game 1.

Now despite Gallen & Bird unavailable, surely there are other consistent middle forwards deserving of inclusion in the squad. Jackson will be targeted by their middle men - Scott, Myles & Parker - from the get go.

 

[MarkC]

My friend Hodko is not out of form, the doggies are? Hodko can attack, you must of missed that winning try from Him in game 2 last year or are you going to overlook it?

BLUES UP!

Look, I hope Hodko goes well, but putting it mildly he has been one of the lesser lights in a struggling Doggies side.

That is not to say, he can't do a job in Origin, it is a different team and a different style of match.

But to put into perspective his stats running the ball last game where 3 runs for 9 meters.

So when he does run the ball, there is the element of surprise, he was in much better form this time last year, but hopefully he can step up for the big occasion.

I do agree NSW has probably picked the best available team, with the possible exception of Hodko who is not in form.

 

[Tommy Smith]

He has been useless in every rep game he's played in like his buddy Pearce. Both good club players and that's where it ends unfortunately.

Lolol. Yeah in all 3 of them... where he played off the bench. Although I do recall him having a very good game for Australia a year ago... almost playing the full 80min.

What kind of mong wants to write off a 22 year old forward because he didn't star off the bench in his debut series? The same ones that probably wanted to write Merrin off after a slow start to his rep career when he was dropped twice for two Game 3s... he's now one of the Blues best. And the same ones that think Josh Jackson is overrated even though he's a star.

Mongs, mongs everywhere.

 

[MarkC]

to be honest, i don't watch too many Canterbury games, but what i have seen in the past is with him as the right forward in their structure. Eastwood plays as the middle forward and Finucane would sub him in prior seasons.

Jackson will be targeted by their middle men - Scott, Myles & Parker - from the get go.

Jackson can and has filled in at hooker in the past, he is a good defender and can definitely defend in the middle. He is one of 3 dogs players doing most of the defense these days, 40+ tackles is a regular day at the office for him.

I would have expected NSW to start Merrin in the middle with Jackson on the bench.
I am not sure what Daley is thinking but I do think the prop rotation of Woods, Tamou, Fifita and Klemmer is excellent and will give NSW a chance.

If Fifita has a big game NSW may win, he is probably the X_Factor for NSW in this game

 

[Captain Apollo]

In terms of the NSW team, once it became clear who was going to be picked at fullback and in the three quarters you knew that one of either Trent Hodkinson or James Maloney were going to get picked for NSW. Reason? Goal kicking. Whilst Qld have Thurston and Cameron Smith to choose from with NSW they have only had 1 player in their squad who is their club's first choice goal kicker.

Much as Maloney is a fine player in attack, his defence can be problematic to say the least. As such Hodkinson had the edge over Maloney and unfortunately Maloney did not show enough in the last few weeks that he was better than Hodko.

 

[TheFrog]

My friend Hodko is not out of form, the doggies are? Hodko can attack, you must of missed that winning try from Him in game 2 last year or are you going to overlook it? Both Soward and Pearce had their chances.

It's pretty obvious that try was the reason he's been picked this time, not anything he's done since. He's an average halfback, simple as that, but he got lucky with a dummy. Probably Qld were in a torpor after the bash and barge employed by NSW up to that time.

Pearce at 6 is extremely foolhardy, in my view. He has never played in that position FFS. I would have had 6 Soward 7 Pearce. Soward has more creativity and team management skills and a much better kicking/passing game than Hodkinson and Pearce combined. Soward has had 2 games back from injury, same as Darius Boyd and they had no qualms picking him.

The other odd selection is Hopoate on the wing. Daley certainly has his favourites, as does Meninga but in the latter case they've done something to deserve it.

 

[Allstar Knights]

Lolol. Yeah in all 3 of them... where he played off the bench. Although I do recall him having a very good game for Australia a year ago... almost playing the full 80min.

What kind of mong wants to write off a 22 year old forward because he didn't star off the bench in his debut series? The same ones that probably wanted to write Merrin off after a slow start to his rep career when he was dropped twice for two Game 3s... he's now one of the Blues best. And the same ones that think Josh Jackson is overrated even though he's a star.

Mongs, mongs everywhere.

lol was that the game for Australia when he got repeatedly smashed in every hitup and fumbled the ball twice?

He is an excellent hole runner in a well drilled club side. Besides that I don't see anything special about him and am yet to see him perform at the highest level. I don't think he's as good as Jackson, Frizzell, Sims or even J Thompson.