Lyon's rep in tatters after snubbing Blues
Brad Walter | June 25, 2008
MANLY star Jamie Lyon has escaped suspension but faces an unofficial representative black ban after turning his back on the NSW Origin team.
With Mark Gasnier ruled out of next Wednesday night's series decider due to a back problem, Lyon would have been the selectors' first choice to replace the Dragons centre - but he told Blues coach Craig Bellamy he did not want to play Origin. Bellamy, who had grown tired of criticism over Lyon's omission from the NSW side this year, revealed yesterday after naming a team with five new faces from the one thrashed 30-0 by Queensland in Origin II that Lyon had knocked back the chance to play in Brisbane when Gasnier was in doubt with a hamstring injury.
As a result, Lyon was not considered when Gasnier became unavailable for the decider and Canberra's Joel Monaghan was handed his Origin debut, alongside 19-year-old Sydney Roosters halfback Mitchell Pearce, who replaces injured Bronco Peter Wallace in the No.7 jersey. Roosters five-eighth Braith Anasta, who has earned a recall after Greg Bird suffered a knee injury playing for Cronulla last weekend, joins Parramatta winger Jarryd Hayne and Newcastle prop Ben Cross as the other changes. Hayne (suspended) and Cross (broken thumb) played in the series opener but were unavailable for Origin II. The Maroons have named an unchanged team.
Bellamy said that Pearce and Anasta were chosen in part because of their club combination, while Monaghan's selection follows the four days he spent with the team before Origin II on stand-by for Gasnier. If the St George Illawarra captain had not recovered to play in Origin II, some members of the Blues camp believed Lyon would have been the first player suspended for pulling out of a representative match without a medical reason since Bulldogs great Terry Lamb was stood down from club football after he withdrew from the NSW team in 1987 to be with his pregnant wife Kim.
But ARL chief executive Geoff Carr told the Herald no action could be taken because the selectors had not officially named Lyon. After deciding to bring a player into camp on stand-by for Gasnier, the selectors wanted Lyon - but when Bellamy phoned him, he said he did not want to play representative football.
"With the Jamie Lyon thing, it didn't come out
but Jamie had the chance to come into the camp for the second [Origin game] when Gasnier was under a cloud," Bellamy told radio 2KY's Big Sports Breakfast program.
Bellamy didn't want to comment further when later asked about the incident but it is understood he thanked Lyon for his honesty and moved on to the next name on the selectors' list - Monaghan. Sea Eagles chief executive Grant Mayer said club officials were unaware Bellamy had phoned Lyon and were not sure of his intentions regarding representative football.
But Carr said Lyon, who also withdrew from this year's City-Country match due to injury, had not applied to retire from representative football.
"As far as we're concerned and the selectors are concerned, Jamie Lyon is available for selection in representative teams," Carr said.
But he conceded that Lyon's reluctance to play for NSW may count against him in future representative teams, including the 40-man Australian squad to be named on August 1 for the end-of-season World Cup.
"If a player isn't excited about playing then I'm sure a coach like Ricky Stuart would probably rather find someone who was," Carr said.
Meanwhile, Bellamy said he would not seek a meeting with referees boss Robert Finch ahead of Origin III, despite admitting uncertainty over rule interpretations for the series decider. Bellamy and the NSW coaching staff have expressed concern about the performance of Tony Archer in Origin II after he was again appointed to referee the series decider.
In particular, the Blues were unhappy that Archer awarded 16 penalties (9-7 to Queensland) in Origin II after the count was tied at 3-3 in the first game, during which he allowed defenders more leniency in slowing down the play-the-ball.
