blues origin 2015

[MarkC]

Pearce at 6 is extremely foolhardy, in my view.

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.

I think Pearce wil play on the right with Hodko on the left, Pearce will play his normal game and probably be the dominant play maker. Don't let the numbers fool you Pearce will play like a 7.

As for Hoppa, I think he mainly got the gig for his defense, it is a slightly odd selection, but the NSW team seems based around being a solid defensive unit.

 

[Craig Johnston]

I think Pearce wil play on the right with Hodko on the left, Pearce will play his normal game and probably be the dominant play maker. Don't let the numbers fool you Pearce will play like a 7.

As for Hoppa, I think he mainly got the gig for his defense, it is a slightly odd selection, but the NSW team seems based around being a solid defensive unit.

nope it will be pearce on the left with jennings, tupou and cordner like they do at club.

 

[MarkC]

nope it will be pearce on the left with jennings, tupou and cordner like they do at club.

Opps I got that wrong ....

Anyway Hodko can play either side, what I am saying is I expect Pearce to play his normal role.

 

[rabbitohs95]

Well considering our available options Pearce and Hodkinson were our only realistic options. Wouldve liked to see Austin picked though.

Baffles me how Tupou, Hopoate, Tamou and Cordner got picked they have no form to back up their selection and there are better replacements available. Disappointing to say the least.

 

[ek999]

nope it will be pearce on the left with jennings, tupou and cordner like they do at club.

Maloney plays on the left for the Roosters with Pearce on the right.

The number on the back of Hokko and Pearce doesn't matter. If Pearce was wearing 7 he would still be playing the exact same way as he will wearing 6. He will be taking the line on a fair bit and do a lot of the attacking kicks whilst Hokko will steer the team around and do a fair chunk of the long kicking.

I'm actually starting to think that the two could actually be a very good halves combination

 

[DOGS AND EELS!!!]

For those that say Hodkinson did nothing for NSW besides the try, I suggest you rewind the tapes and have a closer look. He was solid without being spectacular, he does the basics very well and doesn't f**k up like Pus.

 

[Hutty1986]

So if Pearce will play the same way as he always does, we can safely expect...

Every kick to go to the Qlderp back three on the full/out on the full

Ineffective grubbers that rarely make the in-goal, let alone sit up in-goal

Completely telegraphed inside hospital passes for second rowers to get crunched/drop the ball, or in Cordner's case, both

A lot of yelling instructions that no one actually listens to because no one in the side rates his 'play-making' ability

Approximately 45 scrunched up facial expressions after bad kicks/failed attacking plays

Perhaps a dramatic falling to the ground (ala Anzac Day 2015) after yet another mistake has either killed an attacking raid or just lead directly to qld points.

 

[Craig Johnston]

Maloney plays on the left for the Roosters with Pearce on the right.

The number on the back of Hokko and Pearce doesn't matter. If Pearce was wearing 7 he would still be playing the exact same way as he will wearing 6. He will be taking the line on a fair bit and do a lot of the attacking kicks whilst Hokko will steer the team around and do a fair chunk of the long kicking.

I'm actually starting to think that the two could actually be a very good halves combination

not inside the opposition 20, pearce goes to his pet play;

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LrvMTDWF5Zw

 

[Captain Apollo]

not inside the opposition 20, pearce goes to his pet play;

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LrvMTDWF5Zw

ek999 is correct. In terms of where they set up, Pearce usually plays on the right hand side with Guerra inside him and one of SKD/Ferguson/Aubussson outside him, whilst Maloney plays on the left hand side with Jennings and Tupou outside him and Cordner inside him.

Thing is Robinson does not make it mandatory for them to stay on those side for the whole game. That is whey you will find footage of Pearce and Maloney bobbing up all over the place since 2013 on ether side and even in fact passing the ball to each other.

That said, Pearce has played the vast majority of his football on the right hand side since he came into first grade.

 

[DiegoNT]

For those that say Hodkinson did nothing for NSW besides the try, I suggest you rewind the tapes and have a closer look. He was solid without being spectacular, he does the basics very well and doesn't f**k up like Pus.

In the 59th minute Derp Taylor does his now infamous pass over the sideline. Until the 73rd minute when hodkinson dummied and scored Queensland never had possesion of the football. That's 14 minutes of repeat sets that we would never have gotten under Pearce

 

[Hazardous]

Doggies fan here.. Hodkinson is severely out of form and is a major cause of the Doggies' woes atm. His attack is not only ineffectual, but almost non-existent. Mitchell Pearce has clearly been the standout performer out of halves candidates this season, so there is absolutely nothing wrong with his selection. I would have chosen blake austin to partner him though, in fantastic form and truly is a perfect fit for this sort of game. Hodkinson is not even good enough to be the dogs #7 atm, let alone NSW's with the amount of options we have.. Austin, Maloney, Sezer, A.Reynolds are all better options.

Also, how did Hopoate get a gig? He, like Hodko, has been relatively ineffectual this season (and last mind you). I guess he's been there and done that but surely someone else could step in. AJ, tedesco or Roberts come to mind.

In saying that, the rest of the squad is very strong. I would have loved Lewis, but he has suffered from injury after injury recently.. Jackson will do a great job, regardless where he plays.

 

[benched tiger]

Hopoate was embarrassing for Parra at full back,how many times did this guy fall over in attempting to catch a bomb without getting a hand on the ball ?He seems like a decent young man,and i hope he does well but you dont have to be a rocket scientist to realise Cronk and Thurston are going to bomb his wing repeatedly.

 

[gregstar]

So if Pearce will play the same way as he always does, we can safely expect...

Every kick to go to the Qlderp back three on the full/out on the full

Ineffective grubbers that rarely make the in-goal, let alone sit up in-goal

Completely telegraphed inside hospital passes for second rowers to get crunched/drop the ball, or in Cordner's case, both

A lot of yelling instructions that no one actually listens to because no one in the side rates his 'play-making' ability

Approximately 45 scrunched up facial expressions after bad kicks/failed attacking plays

Perhaps a dramatic falling to the ground (ala Anzac Day 2015) after yet another mistake has either killed an attacking raid or just lead directly to qld points.

followed by journalists rating his performance as 7 or 8 out of 10.

 

[Hutty1986]

followed by journalists rating his performance as 7 or 8 out of 10.

"Pearce was brave and courageous in a beaten side"

"Pearce was tough as the Maroons bent him over sans lube"

 

[Valheru]

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.

Mate these are the same morons who whinge and cry about the strength of the chooks squad after they belt their pathetic club teams. They cite the amount of rep players we have with Pearce and Cordner at the forefront as proof we must be over the cap. Yet when it comes time for said players to play rep football they become overrated hacks who no one in their right mind would want in their team.

To be fair to them, blame is solely given to Pearce for every loss by all and sundry including the media so we can’t expect them to think for themselves. The Cordner one is a bit mystifying though but a closer examination will show it’s mostly dragons fans who want some bloke form their team in the blues squad.

 

[big hit!]

with no Gallen or Bird in there to hog plays and get in the way generally, I wouldn't at all be surprised if Pearce puts in the greatest origin matches or series of his career. Farah could still stifle his play though.

this has been the issue with Pearce as I see it.........he's a play maker but he's not the go-to playmaker at SOO as he is with his club. NSW has had 3 extremely dominant characters in Gallen, Bird & Farah over the years who try to be influential individually in matches rather than ensure their contribution is team-oriented. Pearce needs and is used to quick ball from the acting half, but Farah loves to dance out to see what he can do for himself before dishing it off to halves when nothing is on offer for him and the defence is already at the play-makers face.

NSW didn't win last series because of any flash from the halves in Hodko and Reynolds. That were merely solid. Their inclusion suited the balance of the team where there were other folks in Hayne, Bird, Farah, Gallen etc to be the dominant influences in the team. Pearce has always had to compete among this lot and it has never worked out.

This game/series is his first with just about all these blokes unavailable. He will now be the influential player/driver in the team just as he is at Sydney. This could finally turn out very well for him.

And I'm no Pearce sympathiser. I support South Sydney. Just calling it as I see it, as always.

 

[ek999]

I'm a Cordner fan too and I don;t think his couple of performanecs in Origin have actually been that bad. Not sure where the hate comes from.

The problem with Pearce is he has literally never had a good game for NSW so the criticism has been justified IMO. Losses haven't all been his fault, but he has always been a contributor to them. If he plays a blinder next week and we still lose, he should keep his place in the team and anyone that criticises him will be being biased. If he has another poor game this time, when he is in the form of his life for the Roosters, questions have to be asked of his mental suitability for rep football.

I think playing with a halfback that can take control of the team instead of him having too will let him play a lot more freely then he has done for NSW in the past

 

[big hit!]

I think Pearce wil play on the right with Hodko on the left, Pearce will play his normal game and probably be the dominant play maker. Don't let the numbers fool you Pearce will play like a 7.

As for Hoppa, I think he mainly got the gig for his defense, it is a slightly odd selection, but the NSW team seems based around being a solid defensive unit.

number on the back mean nothing. halves are very much designated as right side and left side these days, like the term second-rower has no meaning as well. it's right and left edge forward.

the obvious assumption is Pearce will play alongside Jennings and Tupou on the left, and Hodko on the right with Morris because of the club connection, but this actually means swapping both Pearce and Hodko from the sides they normally play at club level, particularly in defence. Pearce has had history as a left-side player at Origin and linked up very well with Jennings in these matches, but I don't know if f**king with patterns players are currently used to is the way to go.

One of the reasons (apart from the Cronk and DCE injuries) NSW were so successful last series was because Daley selected and structured players in the positions they practically played in every week. Some players like the Morris' and Bird have historically had the versatility to play in different parts of the line, but guys like Scott and Hoffman who are exclusively right and left side edge forward specialists and Reynolds and Hodko who were placed alongside those two respectively on the same sides as they are at Canterbury was instrumental in keeping these areas strong against the QLD firepower out wide. With no Cronk and DCE playong busted on the right, it meant much of their attack had to go via Thurston down the left if they were to be a threat, and Scott and Reynolds (& Hayne in cover) were instrumental here.

There were no new patterns these guys had to adjust to in less than a week of training. Daley could get straight into what was required to actually win the game. He'd be aiming for the same this season.

 

[Craig Johnston]

I'm a Cordner fan too and I don;t think his couple of performanecs in Origin have actually been that bad. Not sure where the hate comes from.

The problem with Pearce is he has literally never had a good game for NSW so the criticism has been justified IMO. Losses haven't all been his fault, but he has always been a contributor to them. If he plays a blinder next week and we still lose, he should keep his place in the team and anyone that criticises him will be being biased. If he has another poor game this time, when he is in the form of his life for the Roosters, questions have to be asked of his mental suitability for rep football.

I think playing with a halfback that can take control of the team instead of him having too will let him play a lot more freely then he has done for NSW in the past

like i said earlier, the nature of the nsw having 9 clubs to pick from will always have players on selection fringe targetted. i'm guilty of it myself when hoffman originally made the side, i hated the f**ker coz he was from the storm. but he's proven he's up to it this year and last

 

[Bobby DIGital]

Wow what a painfully average team.

Shannon Boyd is a better young prop than Klemmer.