NSW 2019

[philgood]

How does Ryan Matterson, who was 18th man for game 1 not make the side??

Can play back row, lock, front row, centre and in the halves. How the hell does Wade Graham get picked before Matterson ?

 

[Big Pete]

The Blues still have enough game-winners to take it to a decider, but I hate the rationale behind the side. When Freddy took over, he had a positive selection policy built around the talent and their willingness to come together as a team. It was a bold and confident approach and it was reflected in their style of play. They tore Queensland apart and he had the players capable of making the big plays when the shoe had been on the other foot for so long.

Now he's had one come from behind loss and suddenly he's throwing players under the bus, playing players out of position and flip flopping on players. The one player that really concerns me is Blake Ferguson. Ferguson is a great talent, but at the end of last year he turned Freddy down and said he wanted no part in their bonding session.

For a team that gelled so well and had so much trust in one another, it's strange to see Freddy pick somebody so selfish, especially since he's let the team down in the past.

There's still enough talent to get the job done for Freddy, but he's made it a lot harder for himself than he had to.

 

[isaiah]

None of the newbies and some of last year’s team don’t scare me as a qld fan. So much can go wrong with walker, Vaughan, cam Murray, and Crichton.

This new team is 15 % worse, even with no Crichton and walker. Funny thing is even if you jag a win, players like fergo and wade graham can’t put two good performances together to win the decider

 

[Danish]

How does Ryan Matterson, who was 18th man for game 1 not make the side??

Can play back row, lock, front row, centre and in the halves. How the hell does Wade Graham get picked before Matterson ?

The team just gets worse and worse as more time passes to analyse it

 

[JJ]

Wade Graham is a fine player - but too soon for him to be playing origin

Dropping Mitchell is pretty much unbelievable - must have been quite some distraction, he's a rare talent

 

[DC_fan]

Should NSW lose on Sunday in Perth then Fittler should quit as coach immediately.

 

[JamesRustle]

And Morris. What did he do wrong?

He didn't chase down Gagai when he took the intercept... obviously.

 

[Scotty03]

Agree that Cleary needs to show a little more to create opportunities, however he is 100% the best half we have at the moment and will partner with Jimmy better than Walker.
Cleary made 33 odd tackles last game (more than nearly all our forwards), did all the kicking, slotted all his goals and made no errors. People need to give him a break.

Jimmy will miss a few tackles however will provide more points for us and add that leadership role we need. He's all clutch and should be able to put some guys into holes (which is what Cleary is missing.)

Safiti - WTF. Seriously. WHAT THE #$%&. For real, is this a gee up?

Wighton - the guy that almost single handed gave QLD the win last game (we were up until that point) is placed in at centre. Oh dear.

Big backline, small forward rotation. Am i missing something?

 

[Scotty03]

And Morris. What did he do wrong?

There are 7 changes ffs in a game decided by an intercept.

Wasn't there something about loyalty or does that only apply to Cleary?

In your last 3 posts you've singled out Cleary. Did he sh!t on your lawn or something?

 

[betcats]

Actually don't mind the side. Mitchel is a little hard done by but I think he deserved to be dropped for that game 1 effort. His side got carved up while he was standing in no mans land looking like a lamppost. He literally kicked the ball away when he had a good chance to run and make something happen, he wasn't trying IMO(fired up for 5 minutes in the second half) how does that happen in origin? It doesn't if they are wearing maroon.

I love Mitchell as a player and im sure he will be back in blue but you cant take the piss like that in a rep game and not get dropped.

 

[BranVan3000]

Can somebody please explain the rationale behind Freddy having such a wrap on Wighton’s game one performance? Maybe it was because the pass and kick attempts were like vintage Pearce

Somehow in Freddy’s mind he saw him leak tries on the left, have his kicks charged down and throw an intercept from the position he will be playing and thought “that’s my man”. Gagai must be laughing

 

[big hit!]

And Morris. What did he do wrong?

There are 7 changes ffs in a game decided by an intercept.

Wasn't there something about loyalty or does that only apply to Cleary?

Morris was selected only to keep the seat warm for Tom T. I even mentioned that prior to selection for game 1. No point in selecting a new guy like Ramien and then dumping him immediately next game. With injury to Cotric, it looks as though Ramien could've held a spot in hindsight. It could've looked like:
FB: Tedesco
RW: Tommy T
RC: Ramien
LC: Mitchell
LW: Addo-Carr

The Mitchell dump has to be all about mindset. The only way this lesson will work is if NSW win. If Wighton has a mare and Mitchell is recalled in a Game 3 a dead rubber, it's Mitchell 1 - 0 Freddy.

What Freddy and co have done here for game 2 is full genius.

The coaches have brought in players that already had a decent shift in the origin arena and tarnished the NSW legacy in the process. Fergo has history of antics in camp and he has one brain snap per game in him on the field. Graham lost the 2017 series on his own with ill-discipline. If he’s giving them yet another chance, he should’ve given some of his game 1 under performers a chance.

Freddy’s jovial mood and cracking jokes in the media is poor form after he's swung the axe so brutally. He’s going the wrong way about putting pride in the Blue jersey.

We know Walker's rep career is over now after it barely started, but Cody is going to come away from this and most likely burn his Blues jumper after this experience and Freddy's Anasta quip, but he's not blameless either. Walker should’ve focused entirely on the game rather than anthem. Yes, as a footballer on the national stage, he finally had some currency to put an issue important to his people at the forefront of public debate, but it also showed he wasn't 100% focused on the game. Still, I stand by my original view prior to game 1 that Walker was the wrong choice with Cleary from the outset. They're both #2 halves on their teams. I’m a souths supporter so no blind parochialism from me.

Crichton was the wrong choice too. He may have been a part of a winning side last series, but the balance of the team changed with Murray in for De Belin. NSW needed another prop/hard nut in the middle rotation. Crichton's selection was f**king lazy. A brains trust of Freddy, Buderus and Brandy SHOULD know the dynamic had changed. Likewise, someone like Brandy should know what is required in a halves combo and two #2s was trash.

So taking into account injuries (Klemmer, Haas, Cotric), the axing of players that shouldn't really have been there in Game 1 (Walker, Crichton), or 2nd best option for injured players (Morris), I would've expected a few changes in this Game. Apart from Maloney and Finucane who both should've been there in Game 1, it's the other replacements that have me really f**king stumped!

 

[Fangs]

Gus still holds a lot of sway. Some of these decisions aren't so left field when you follow his public comments.

Calls Latrell Mitchell a distraction and he gets dropped.

Nathan Cleary 'pact' to stick by him no matter to consequences.

Also called for Wighton at centre in game 1 2018.

Didn't get his wish re dropping Boyd Cordner but all in good time.

 

[TheFrog]

Gus still holds a lot of sway. Some of these decisions aren't so left field when you follow his public comments.

Calls Latrell Mitchell a distraction and he gets dropped.

Nathan Cleary 'pact' to stick by him no matter to consequences.

Also called for Wighton at centre in game 1 2018.

Didn't get his wish re dropping Boyd Cordner but all in good time.

Yes, there's little doubt Gus is a mentor. And why not, he is the most successful NSW origin coach by quite some way. But I don't remember Gus ever going into a must-win Origin game with just one genuine prop, rather than the 4 needed.

 

[TheFrog]

Still, I stand by my original view prior to game 1 that Walker was the wrong choice with Cleary from the outset.

Gus in his podcast tells how he spoke with Cordner prior to game 1, asking the captain how he and the other Roosters players were going to combine with Walker. The reply was they told Walker to play his natural game. They should have told him to get the ball to Mitchell, Teddy and himself without fail. So Walker was like a deer in the spotlights, when he should have had clear instructions in his first Origin game. This is not only poor team leadership but very poor coaching. If they wanted someone they didn't need to tell what to do, they could have picked Maloney in the first place.

 

[Meapro Ham]

Actually don't mind the side. Mitchel is a little hard done by but I think he deserved to be dropped for that game 1 effort. His side got carved up while he was standing in no mans land looking like a lamppost. He literally kicked the ball away when he had a good chance to run and make something happen, he wasn't trying IMO(fired up for 5 minutes in the second half) how does that happen in origin? It doesn't if they are wearing maroon.

I love Mitchell as a player and im sure he will be back in blue but you cant take the piss like that in a rep game and not get dropped.

Agree with this. It’s not the first time this kind of thing has happened with Latrell. He played a bunch of disinterested games in 2017 then got dropped to lower grades for a few games which may have been a lot longer if SKD didn’t get sacked for off field stuff.

Freddy was likely telling the truth when he said that the roosters aren’t happy with him and is probably doing what Trent Robinson can’t do because Latrell has become too big a player to get dropped at club level.

Massive call by Freddy but the reality of Latrell is he does appear disinterested sometimes so Freddy is entitled to not put up with that.

 

[grouch]

Excited that with the shortened preparation for game 2, and all the changes to the backline with players out of position in the centres, we have entrusted the very stable club halves pairing that have led Penrith to 14th spot on the ladder and was whipped 30-10 by the Warriors on their home gorund just a month ago. Very cool.

 

[TheFrog]

How does Ryan Matterson, who was 18th man for game 1 not make the side??

Can play back row, lock, front row, centre and in the halves. How the hell does Wade Graham get picked before Matterson ?

Two words. Origin experience. Matterson would have been a reasonable choice as bench utility.

 

[big hit!]

Yes, there's little doubt Gus is a mentor. And why not, he is the most successful NSW origin coach by quite some way. But I don't remember Gus ever going into a must-win Origin game with just one genuine prop, rather than the 4 needed.

admittedly, he had a headache fitting them all in.

in his first stint, he had the likes of lazarus, harrigan, carroll, roberts, gillespie. i'm getting a hard on just thinking about them.

in his second stint, he had o'meley, kearns, luke bailey, and ryles. they were mainstays for several years.

klemmer has been the only NSW enforcer who consistently turns up in the game today - and now he's injured. cupboard is bare when you're looking at a 19 yo with only a few games under his belt.

 

[TheFrog]

Excited that with the shortened preparation for game 2, and all the changes to the backline with players out of position in the centres, we have entrusted the very stable club halves pairing that have led Penrith to 14th spot on the ladder and was whipped 30-10 by the Warriors on their home gorund just a month ago. Very cool.

We've beat the Roosters and Rabbitohs in the past 2 games, and top 8 sides the two games before that. You forgot to mention that.

Maybe you make a good point though. He's picked blokes on form from a month ago.

cupboard is bare when you're looking at a 19 yo with only a few games under his belt.

Tamou, aged 30, has been tremendous all year. Fittler needs to watch more footy.