Gidley looms as fallback option with NSW at sixes and sevens
GREG PRICHARD
May 7, 2010
Kurt Gidley is the fallback option as NSW halfback if Brett Kimmorley doesn't fire for Country against City at Port Macquarie tonight.
Kimmorley's club form for the Bulldogs this season has been steady, rather than brilliant. He remains at the head of the list for the Blues job in the absence of Roosters half Mitchell Pearce, who had firmed to favouritism before recently getting injured, but does not have a mortgage on the job. Kimmorley needs to convince selectors by playing well for Country to get the gig against Queensland at ANZ Stadium on May 26.
Newcastle fullback Gidley, who made his name in the halves, played fullback for NSW in all three games last year, but the Herald has learned the selectors would be prepared to switch the Blues captain if veteran Kimmorley - who made a successful comeback for Origin III in 2009 after a two-year absence - didn't play well. Mystery surrounded the selection of Penrith centre Michael Jennings on the wing for City, but it emerges he was chosen there as part of the bigger picture.
If the Blues went without Kimmorley and Gidley was chosen at halfback, Parramatta's Jarryd Hayne - fullback for his club but a winger at representative level - would take over at fullback, leaving a wing spot open. The NSW brains trust wants to see how Jennings handles wing tonight, in case they want to consider him there for the Blues. St George Illawarra's Brett Morris is a certain selection on one wing.
Jennings is due to have a minor operation on his knee after tonight's match and will miss the next couple of games for the Panthers, but he may be back in time for Origin I. Jennings has not been at his best recently and has dropped in the pecking order for the NSW centre spots. Manly's Jamie Lyon, who will play for Australia against New Zealand in Melbourne tonight, has one spot sewn up, if that is where the selectors want to put him.
Lyon also remains under consideration for five-eighth, along with Gold Coast utility Greg Bird, who will play there for Country.
Bulldogs centre Josh Morris is out of action with a fractured eye socket. He is not due back until round 11, and the Origin team will be picked after round 10. The selectors would obviously prefer to see Morris in action again before picking him, but that doesn't mean he won't be picked and given the chance to pass a medical.
Until he was hurt, Morris was pushing hard to play in the centres, alongside Greg Inglis, for Australia. His injury would only be stopping him from doing contact training, so he should still be able to maintain condition. Jennings, Timana Tahu (Parramatta), Matt Cooper (St George Illawarra) and Chris Lawrence (Wests Tigers) are others in the frame.
As usual with NSW teams, there is a plethora of talent under consideration for the lock and second-row spots, including Paul Gallen (Cronulla), Luke Lewis (Penrith), Anthony Watmough (Manly), Ben Creagh (St George Illawarra), Trent Waterhouse (Penrith), Glenn Stewart (Manly), Anthony Laffranchi (Gold Coast), Luke O'Donnell (North Queensland), Ryan Hoffman (Melbourne) and Bird.
Lewis, Gallen and Watmough are in the Australian team, but selection in the Test side does not automatically mean selection for NSW, as Manly prop Brent Kite found out in 2008. There are different coaches involved - Tim Sheens for Australia and Craig Bellamy for NSW - with different ideas about how they want their team to play and which players they should use, and the selectors will take that into account.
But it is safe to say props Josh Perry (Manly) and Michael Weyman (St George Illawarra), who are both on the bench for Australia, will be in the NSW side, along with Melbourne front-rower Brett White, who will start for Country. It is just a matter of which two start and who comes off the bench.
Those who can play second-row or prop, such as Canberra's Tom Learoyd-Lahrs and North Queensland's Willie Mason, are a chance for the bench. Bulldog Michael Ennis (Country) is in front of Wests Tiger Robbie Farah (City) for the hooking spot, but not far enough to be considered over the line. Their clash tonight will have a significant influence on NSW selection.
Possible NSW team
1 Kurt Gidley (c), 2 Jarryd Hayne, 3 Jamie Lyon, 4 Josh Morris, 5 Brett Morris, 6 Greg Bird, 7 Brett Kimmorley, 8 Michael Weyman, 9 Michael Ennis, 10 Josh Perry, 11 Ben Creagh, 12 Trent Waterhouse, 13 Paul Gallen. Interchange: 14 Luke Lewis, 15 Anthony Watmough, 16 Tom Learoyd-Lahrs, 17 Brett White.
