NSW Origin

[maple_69]

I think Api is there because if Cook fails, he is in for game 2 and he’ll have had the full 10 days playing with the squad.

I think the Maroons starting pack definitely looks better. Add Crichton in and it’s pretty even. Our bench looks a lot stronger and Grant going 80 is a huge gamble.

 

[Jane Murray]

 

[DinkyDi]

Cleary puts faith in Luai’s X factor

NSW Blues halfback Nathan Cleary is backing his fellow halves partner Jarome Luai to not be overawed by the occasion and just be himself

www.nrl.com

 

[GongPanther]

I do expect the Panthers rookies to be overawed in the first 20 minutes. But the overall Blues class will show in the 2nd half and have us drawing away with a comfortable 30+ win.

 

[DinkyDi]

How Welch v Cleary, a rare battle between prop and halfback, could decide Origin I​

By Roy Masters​

June 6, 2021 — 4.30pm
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Despite his stellar season with Penrith, surely the jury is still out whether NSW half Nathan Cleary can perform in big games.
His club and NSW teammate, Jarome Luai, has been nominated as the target of the Maroons’ defence in Wednesday’s first State of Origin match, but perhaps it will be Cleary.

Billy previews Origin I​

Billy Slater previews Origin I days out from the opener on Sports Sunday.
Rugby league’s four biggest matches – three State of Origin and an NRL grand final – were played at the end of last year, and Cleary succeeded in only one.
He was man of the match in the second Origin game, played at Homebush, but lost the other three - including the grand final to Melbourne.

Significantly, the one player who terrorised him in the three losses - Queensland and Storm prop Christian Welch - missed the single match Cleary won.
Cleary is his team’s playmaker and Welch’s main defensive role is cutting down the thinking time of playmakers. Welch’s club coach, Craig Bellamy, says, “he’s the best pressure player in the Storm by a mile.”
It’s rare for a duel between a halfback and a prop to decide a match but whoever wins this battle within the battle in Townsville will go a long way to determining victory.

Nathan Cleary during State of Origin training last week.CREDIT:GETTY
In the grand final replay, a round three match in Penrith, the Panthers won 12-10 without Cleary, while Welch did play. To those who love great defensive contests, it was the best game this year.
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However, since then we’ve seen blown out scorelines, injuries, sin-binnings and suspensions following a crackdown on high tackles.
If we have multiple 13 on 12 situations Wednesday, as well as an avalanche of six again calls one way, it will have more impact on the result than the duel between Cleary and Welch.
Other factors, such as NSW starting with a small pack and big boys on the bench, could influence the outcome.
Reserves Junior Paulo (123kgs) and Payne Haas (117kgs) are heavier than named starters, Jake Trbojevic (107kgs), Cameron Murray (90kgs), Tariq Sims (105kgs) and Isaah Yeo (106kgs).

Nathan Cleary's lethal right boot will be pressured by Maroons prop Christian Welch. CREDIT:GETTY IMAGES, NRL PHOTOS

NSW have also continued the policy of naming centres who play another position for their club. Tom Trbojevic is a fullback at Manly, as is Souths’ Latrell Mitchell who, although experienced as a left centre, hasn’t played a lot of football lately.
Penrith have supplied six players to the Blues and were unbeaten until their 6-26 loss to West Tigers on Friday with the stars missing.
They have had a soft draw since round 8, raising the question whether Cleary would have earned his Dally M points if playing against top teams.
The Storm, who supplied most players to the Maroons, have also been running up big scores but Welch has consistently been doing the self sacrificial tasks judged important by coaches.

He is a graduate in commerce; studied at Harvard; does not have a manager; is a director of the RLPA and reads the political pages of the newspaper.
Most would say this excludes him from the front-rowers’ union because props have traditionally been viewed as the least intelligent members of an NRL team, akin to fast bowlers in cricket.
Yet the best of these behemoths are thinking men, forever processing defensive formations and attacking alignments.
All other positions on the field, other than fullback, are divided into left and right hemispheres, meaning the “middle” players don’t slip familiarly onto one side.
Basically, they have to position themselves on the side of the ruck where they are needed: plug a hole, carry the ball forward, harass a halfback, act as a decoy.

They obsess about little things, making some of them the most prepared players on the field.

RELATED ARTICLE​

https://www.smh.com.au/national/que...-league-to-its-heartland-20210601-p57x6d.html

A lot goes on inside their heads, yet if we could peer inside, we would see complicated circuitry that operates even when exhaustion threatens to frazzle them.
Welch will be responsible for eroding Cleary’s thinking and kicking time, while also ensuring he doesn’t err himself by encroaching inside the ten metre defensive line and win the Blues a repeat set.
Cleary will be aware of Welch’s presence on the field and the Blues will have blockers to detour his rushes. Cleary will also have a familiar ally alongside in Luai.

But Cleary will also be aware of something more significant, even though the publicity he has enjoyed this year means many have missed it.
He will know he failed in last year’s big games.
That may weigh more heavily on him than the presence and pressure of Welch.

 

[WestyLife]

This person has a lot to say on Cleary.

 

[unKwn]

This person has a lot to say on Cleary.

LOL I still remember that thread. I was actually looking for it recently but couldn’t find it, so thank you for posting it here.

As far as the thread goes, it’s all a bunch of rubbish. Your telling me some football fan on twitter knows more about playing halfback than a professional player yeah ok. He’s pointed out very specific frames without any context whatsoever, ignores the fact that defences slide…

That amount of knit picking he did you could do for any other halfback in the competition and make them look bad. Football twitter fans are the most deluded troubled people I’ve come across, so I wouldn’t read into it at all

 

[WestyLife]

LOL I still remember that thread. I was actually looking for it recently but couldn’t find it, so thank you for posting it here.

As far as the thread goes, it’s all a bunch of rubbish. Your telling me some football fan on twitter knows more about playing halfback than a professional player yeah ok. He’s pointed out very specific frames without any context whatsoever, ignores the fact that defences slide…

That amount of knit picking he did you could do for any other halfback in the competition and make them look bad. Football twitter fans are the most deluded troubled people I’ve come across, so I wouldn’t read into it at all

Exactly. I love some deep analysis but still frames completely remove all context. Particularly how the defence is reacting.

 

[Original Name]

This person has a lot to say on Cleary.

Some of these the space out the back is illusion. Some of them are stuff ups which every player will make in quick paced game to some degree and for some of them there numbers are there just off screen. Even when Cleary's playing far better than other play maker he only picks the best option like 90% of the time. That's just how hard to it is be the main guy who touches the ball 60 times a game and getting it right every single time without expectation. It's near impossible. With that said Cleary wouldn't be happy with this he'd want to be much better but it's a massive exaggeration these stills create.

Even if there's an overlap sometimes the defence on the outside is coming up too fast and the pass isn't on/sometimes the runners have missed the jump and it's best to take the tackle so an armchair can point and say he did this but if he passes and a knock on is forced the halfback is criticised by commentary for things like lack of composure, chasing points or whatever.

Even then playmakers sometimes want to sacrifice possible extra metres to work to a specific place on the field to follow different plans. E.g Kicking, making it easier and quicker to count numbers, trying to isolate specific defenders, etc. So after an offload a halfback might start screaming at a forward for something like this when they want him to take the tackle and play it as quick as possible. Cleary probably not but HBs like Reynolds or Moses would do this for any forwards who don't run where they tell to run.

 

[mxlegend99]

He points out the 6 bunched Queenslanders but completely ignores there are even more NSW players bunched together in that group. So exactly what's the expectation? 9 NSW are in that small frame. Leaving only 4 who aren't. Queensland have 7 in frame leaving 6 who aren't.

That the 4 NSW players not in frame will somehow outnumber the 6 Queenslanders not in frame? It's also first tackle. They obviously have no idea about the game if they think he's wasting an opportunity on tackle 1 to use his 4 NSW players out of frame to outnumber the 6 Queenslanders.

If there was space it would have been identified by Damien Cook or whoever was at dummy half. Queensland have all players marked though and they slide off as the ball is shifted so any illusion of space vanishes and you're going sideways and not forward.

 

[KennySterling]

Not sure what our record for having origin players in a team is but it’s looking like it will be beaten

Panthers previous record Origin representation was 6 players in 2004 (4 for NSW and 2 Qld) - Luke Rooney, Luke Lewis, Trent Waterhouse, Craig Gower & Rhys Wesser and Ben Ross.

 

[WestyLife]

Some of these the space out the back is illusion. Some of them are stuff ups which every player will make in quick paced game to some degree and for some of them there numbers are there just off screen. Even when Cleary's playing far better than other play maker he only picks the best option like 90% of the time. That's just how hard to it is be the main guy who touches the ball 60 times a game and getting it right every single time without expectation. It's near impossible. With that said Cleary wouldn't be happy with this he'd want to be much better but it's a massive exaggeration these stills create.

Even if there's an overlap sometimes the defence on the outside is coming up too fast and the pass isn't on/sometimes the runners have missed the jump and it's best to take the tackle so an armchair can point and say he did this but if he passes and a knock on is forced the halfback is criticised by commentary for things like lack of composure, chasing points or whatever.

Even then playmakers sometimes want to sacrifice possible extra metres to work to a specific place on the field to follow different plans. E.g Kicking, making it easier and quicker to count numbers, trying to isolate specific defenders, etc. So after an offload a halfback might start screaming at a forward for something like this when they want him to take the tackle and play it as quick as possible. Cleary probably not but HBs like Reynolds or Moses would do this for any forwards who don't run where they tell to run.

He points out the 6 bunched Queenslanders but completely ignores there are even more NSW players bunched together in that group. So exactly what's the expectation? 9 NSW are in that small frame. Leaving only 4 who aren't. Queensland have 7 in frame leaving 6 who aren't.

That the 4 NSW players not in frame will somehow outnumber the 6 Queenslanders not in frame? It's also first tackle. They obviously have no idea about the game if they think he's wasting an opportunity on tackle 1 to use his 4 NSW players out of frame to outnumber the 6 Queenslanders.

If there was space it would have been identified by Damien Cook or whoever was at dummy half. Queensland have all players marked though and they slide off as the ball is shifted so any illusion of space vanishes and you're going sideways and not forward.

Good to get some legit analysis. It bugs me how so many fans don't understand this stuff having watched for years and sometimes even played.

 

[DinkyDi]

I am so looking forward to tonight's game. Up the Blues, and good luck to the Panther players, especially the ones on debut.

 

[DinkyDi]

These two are going to have some fun tonight.

 

[BxTom]

These two are going to have some fun tonight.

Jane, we are all capable of accessing the NRL website, we don't need you to paste every story...

 

[Black Diamond]

Jane, we are all capable of accessing the NRL website, we don't need you to paste every story...

I actually appreciate this being posted. I just tried to read it on facebook and it was behind Telegraph pay wall. Good article. Thanks

 

[DinkyDi]

Jane, we are all capable of accessing the NRL website, we don't need you to paste every story...

Bugger I've been exposed. Not all can access the articles, as they are hidden behind a paywall.

 

[DinkyDi]

I actually appreciate this being posted. I just tried to read it on facebook and it was behind Telegraph pay wall. Good article. Thanks

Oh, but, according to BxTom, you all have access to these articles. You're welcome.

 

[ACTPanthers]

BxTom, I am not Jane. Not all can access the articles, as they are hidden behind a paywall.

I call bullshit... Your writing style, language and use of commas is ridiculously similar.

 

[martielang]

Get'em Janey!