Origin 2013 NSW side

[Different kind of Rabbit]

Reynolds did all he could possibly do yesterday. The first half was a slow ruck dominated bore fest where neither teams halves really had a lot of opportunity. In the second half, when things got a little looser around the ruck, he carved country up. In all fairness, city would have won that game if Reynolds had a decent halves partner. City would have won that game if Tedesco could catch a ball. Reynolds put Jennings away three times, (twice by pass and once with a freakin line drop out ffs) and City botched three opportunities. This despite the fact that Reynolds was heavily targeted by the country defence. If Sironen was any sort of footballer he'd have had a field day. No one even batted an eyelid when he had the ball.

As an aside, how did Reece Robinson not get picked? I'm assuming he was injured because he is a 1000 times better FB than Tedesco.

 

[Burwood]

Reynolds did all he could possibly do yesterday. The first half was a slow ruck dominated bore fest where neither teams halves really had a lot of opportunity. In the second half, when things got a little looser around the ruck, he carved country up. In all fairness, city would have won that game if Reynolds had a decent halves partner. City would have won that game if Tedesco could catch a ball. Reynolds put Jennings away three times, (twice by pass and once with a freakin line drop out ffs) and City botched three opportunities. This despite the fact that Reynolds was heavily targeted by the country defence. If Sironen was any sort of footballer he'd have had a field day. No one even batted an eyelid when he had the ball.

As an aside, how did Reece Robinson not get picked? I'm assuming he was injured because he is a 1000 times better FB than Tedesco.

Robinson was Hayne's replacement, but was ruled out himself due to a leg injury.

 

[BranVan3000]

Two people with the IQ of a dead dog right there, was nowhere near to being best on field, not even close. A halfbacks main role is to create close to the line, what did Reynolds do close to the line? The first try came directly off Graham, the 2nd I'll grant you, but 1 try in 80 minutes? You really think that is a MOTM performance? Do I feel Pearce is the answer, no, but Reynolds didn't make an impression today really.

Did you watch the game? Reynolds created a fair bit, but he was rarely ever given the opportunity to do it close to the line because the forwards gained very little momentum. Reynolds created a fair few opportunities for Jennings on the outside and took some smart plays like the short drop kick. Jennings seemed to have glue in his hands though because he didnt pass it all night.

 

[Someone]

Farah will be playing 80 minutes in all 3 games if fit, so we dont need a hooker on the bench as some are suggesting.

 

[Bulldog Benny]

This is the team that will get picked,

Stewart
Hayne
Jennings
Morris
Morris
Carney
Pearce
Grant
Farah
Tamou
Lewis
Bird
Gallen

Gidley
Hoffman
Merrin
Watmough
18- woods

 

[evil_p091280]

This is the team that will get picked,

Stewart
Hayne
Jennings
Morris
Morris
Carney
Pearce
Grant
Farah
Tamou
Lewis
Bird
Gallen

Gidley
Hoffman
Merrin
Watmough
18- woods

NSW would be far better served putting A Reynolds at 7, J Maloney at 6, and putting Carney on the bench at 14. Get rid of Gidley and Pearce.

Carney can easily cover 1, 3, 6, 7 and 9, and at least he is in the top 5 of some of those positions whereas Gidley isn't top 10 in any position.

I also would have got rid of Lewis and put Hoffman in the starting side, and brought in a big bobba who can cause some damage off the bench - even if only for 10 mins a half to give Gall a rest (Mason???). Unfortunately Lewis carved up on Friday night so he has to get picked.

 

[big hit!]

This is the team that will get picked,

Stewart
Hayne
Jennings
Morris
Morris
Carney
Pearce
Grant
Farah
Tamou
Lewis
Bird
Gallen

Gidley
Hoffman
Merrin
Watmough
18- woods

Hope not. Will be giving up the middle to QLD yet again. Need two props on the bench, not one that now plays as a ball player for his club, and another two who play on the edges. And the team doesn't need a utility on the bench when Lewis and Bird are also in the team.

Two real props starting at 8 & 10, and two more on the bench to give a penetrating middle rotation which is effective for the entire 80 mins. QLD got on top in the second half of ecah game last year when NSW inside forwards who normally play as outside and more mobile forwards at their clubs started to get dominated.

 

[Bulldog Benny]

This is the team that will get picked,

Stewart
Hayne
Jennings
Morris
Morris
Carney
Pearce
Grant
Farah
Tamou
Lewis
Bird
Gallen

Gidley
Hoffman
Merrin
Watmough

The team i would pick,
Hayne
Morris
Morris
Jennings
Gordon
Carney if not fit maloney
A reynolds
Tamou
Farah
Grant
Watmough
Bird
Gallen

Lewis
Merrin
Woods
Mannah
18- woods

 

[Springs]

1. Brett Stewart
2. Jarryd Hayne
3. Michael Jennings
4. Josh Morris
5. Akuila Uate
6. James Maloney
7. Adam Reynolds
8. Aiden Tolman
9. Robbie Farah
10. James Tamou
11. Anthony Watmough
12. Greg Bird
13. Paul Gallen (c)

14. Luke Lewis
15. Tim Mannah
16. Trent Merrin
17. Aaron Woods/Ryan Hoffman

Stewart has shown enough in Origin to keep his fullback spot over Hayne.
Hayne keeps one wing spot, Uate can be devastating despite defensive deficiencies. No idea why Brett Morris seems an automatic selection. Average club form and been found out in both attack and defence in Origin, much worse than Uate has.
Jennings and Josh Morris played good last year, no one challenging them really.
Maloney for five-eighth, outplayed the injured Carney so far.
Reynolds over Pearce because f**k Pearce, he's shit. Reynolds in far superior form over the last year and a bit. Pearce isn't even the best half at the Roosters.
Tolman deserves a spot, does a ton of large work that largely goes unnoticed. Better than Grant. Tamou's form has been just good enough to retain his spot.
Farah is obvious.
Don't like either Bird or Watmough but they were good last year and have been in great form in the opening rounds.
Gallen as captain.

Lewis for the utility role because he should be there anyway and gives us another prop or backrower on the bench instead of Gidley. Only iffy part is no one to fill in if Farah is injured but I'd rather that than have a useless utility like Gidley or Buhrer like last year to only play 5 minutes.
Mannah, Woods and Merrin are in fantastic form and would be my pick to round out the bench. Merrin to possibly start at 13 with Watmough to the bench. Mannah and Woods for prop rotation.
Hoffman unlucky but with 4 great backrowers + Merrin not sure if we need another backrower.

 

[Special K]

Just IMO but you have one of Mannah and Merrin not both. Just not enough size if you have them plus Gallen playing upfront.

Good call on Carney being a utility but I'm not sure about his defense in the middle. Plus he is best when he runs so unless he scoots a lot it's a waste. Carney has been great at 6 for us. Gidley as shit as he is can at least hold his own in the middle. Graham showed he could play 9 on the weekend but not sure you'd want that at origin. Backrower for sure but that position is over flowing and his club form is down.

 

[Spanner in the works]

1. Stewart
2. Hayne
3. Jennings
4. Morris
5. Gordon

6. Maloney
7. Carney

8. Tolman
9. Farah
10. Gallen
11. Lewis
12. Bird
13. Fensom

14. Woods
15. Merrin
16. Tamou
17. Watmough/Sims/Fifita/Mannah/etc

Edit:
18th man: Watmough/Sims/Fifita/Mannah/etc
19th man: Wighton

 

[KiamaSaint]

Carney, Pearce, Mullen & Campese are all far more complete players.

If you can't see that then I worry for you, nothing like a good bandwagon though...

Mullen and Campese haven't been selected consistently so I won't comment or their ability to win big games.

But can you name one moment where Carney or Pearce has won a big game. A grand final? A SOO? How many years has Pearce been selected for? When did he take a game by the scruff of the neck and win it? Please enlighten us because I can not thing of one moment?

The selectors will go Pearce because they are mainstream. Believe me, if Queensland had the players we are looking at they would select Reynolds without a doubt, but I guess what would they know about winning SOO?

 

[Pazza]

Stewart
Hayne
Jennings
Morris
Morris
Maloney
Pearce
Tamou
Farrah
Mannah
Bird
Lewis
Gallen

Gidley
Watmough
Grant
Hoffman

 

[Big Pete]

1. Brett Stewart
2. Jarryd Hayne
3. Michael Jennings
4. Josh Morris
5. Brett Morris
6. Todd Carney
7. Mitchell Pearce
8. Aiden Tolman
9. Robbie Farah
10. James Tamou
11. Greg Bird
12. Glenn Stewart
13. Paul Gallen

14. Kurt Gidley
15. Luke Lewis
16. Trent Merrin
17. Anthony Watmough

Haven't made too many changes. I felt like Ricky was on the right path and I don't think there are superior players putting their hands up at this point in time.

I feel like Brett Stewart is criminally underrated at this level. May not be absolutely killing it but he's capable of doing his job at the back and is always a threat close to the line. Hayne may possess more talent, but I question his composure in the tight situations. Brett is a two time premiership winner and while those knee injuries may have set him back, he's still all class.

Tolman is the new face. I simply don't think Grant did enough to earn a recall (sitting an old Bulla on his backside isn't grounds for immunity) and his form has been down as of late. I reckon Aiden compliments his front row partner in Tamou nicely and gives NSW a handy work-horse who isn't afraid of getting his hands dirty in the middle, which at times is where they struggle.

Stewart earns a recall purely because right fringe second rows are a rare breed in NSW and I believe it's important to have a specialist out there. He doesn't have a lot of competition with only B. Scott (also injured on the sidelines) and J. Jackson putting their hands up. If worse comes to worse, they can always promote Lewis or Watmough.

Bench is far from finalised for me. Kidley gets his spot because let's face it, he's going to be there. Lewis and Watmough also get a look in due to their selections in the Australian side. I'm not really big on having two backrows on the bench so I'm open to changing that but sticking with it because I honestly can't think of more deserving players.

Merrin takes the final bench spot. Normally I like having a big boppa off the bench but Merrin's mobility gets him the cash at this time. I just hope he finally delivers. So far, he's only shown his potential once.

 

[mattyg]

1. Brett Stewart
2. Jarryd Hayne
3. Michael Jennings
4. Josh Morris
5. Brett Morris
6. James Maloney
7. Mitchell Pearce
8. James Tamou
9. Robbie Farah
10. Aiden Tolman
11. Luke Lewis
12. Paul Gallen
13. Greg Bird

14. Trent Merrin
15. Anthony Watmough
16. Willie Mason
17. Aaron Woods

 

[Joker's Wild]

Needs more Mason Pete. Call me biased but I think he has been close to the form NSW front rower in the comp this season and he thrives at this level.

Hell, he was part of the last series winning NSW side too. That experience couldn't hurt

Top side mattyg. Thats pretty much exactly the side I'd go with

 

[RWB]

Farah will be playing 80 minutes in all 3 games if fit, so we dont need a hooker on the bench as some are suggesting.

We also don't need a 4th second rower or a 5th prop on the bench.

Picking a dummy half in the final bench position makes more sense... if not to play then to cover injuries in the spine.

 

[RWB]

Hope not. Will be giving up the middle to QLD yet again. Need two props on the bench, not one that now plays as a ball player for his club, and another two who play on the edges. And the team doesn't need a utility on the bench when Lewis and Bird are also in the team.

Two real props starting at 8 & 10, and two more on the bench to give a penetrating middle rotation which is effective for the entire 80 mins. QLD got on top in the second half of ecah game last year when NSW inside forwards who normally play as outside and more mobile forwards at their clubs started to get dominated.

Watmough doesn't play on the fringes at club level, he'll play lock and shift Gallen to the front row. We'll still be going into the game with 5 middle third players.

 

[RWB]

Mullen and Campese haven't been selected consistently so I won't comment or their ability to win big games.

But can you name one moment where Carney or Pearce has won a big game. A grand final? A SOO? How many years has Pearce been selected for? When did he take a game by the scruff of the neck and win it? Please enlighten us because I can not thing of one moment?

The selectors will go Pearce because they are mainstream. Believe me, if Queensland had the players we are looking at they would select Reynolds without a doubt, but I guess what would they know about winning SOO?

:lol: That's better than the claims Reynolds won MOTM.

Reynolds isn't even the best young halfback going around, I'd take Sam Williams & Aiden Sezer well before him. But hell if you think a halfback with 3 linebreak assists in his career is going to take a game by the scruff off the neck, create points and win games for you then you've got bigger issues than trying to figure out who the media's support is truly behind in the nsw halfback race.

 

[RWB]

1. Brett Stewart
2. Jarryd Hayne
3. Michael Jennings
4. Josh Morris
5. Brett Morris
6. Todd Carney
7. Mitchell Pearce
8. Aiden Tolman
9. Robbie Farah
10. James Tamou
11. Greg Bird
12. Glenn Stewart
13. Paul Gallen

14. Kurt Gidley
15. Luke Lewis
16. Trent Merrin
17. Anthony Watmough

Haven't made too many changes. I felt like Ricky was on the right path and I don't think there are superior players putting their hands up at this point in time.

I feel like Brett Stewart is criminally underrated at this level. May not be absolutely killing it but he's capable of doing his job at the back and is always a threat close to the line. Hayne may possess more talent, but I question his composure in the tight situations. Brett is a two time premiership winner and while those knee injuries may have set him back, he's still all class.

Tolman is the new face. I simply don't think Grant did enough to earn a recall (sitting an old Bulla on his backside isn't grounds for immunity) and his form has been down as of late. I reckon Aiden compliments his front row partner in Tamou nicely and gives NSW a handy work-horse who isn't afraid of getting his hands dirty in the middle, which at times is where they struggle.

Stewart earns a recall purely because right fringe second rows are a rare breed in NSW and I believe it's important to have a specialist out there. He doesn't have a lot of competition with only B. Scott (also injured on the sidelines) and J. Jackson putting their hands up. If worse comes to worse, they can always promote Lewis or Watmough.

Bench is far from finalised for me. Kidley gets his spot because let's face it, he's going to be there. Lewis and Watmough also get a look in due to their selections in the Australian side. I'm not really big on having two backrows on the bench so I'm open to changing that but sticking with it because I honestly can't think of more deserving players.

Merrin takes the final bench spot. Normally I like having a big boppa off the bench but Merrin's mobility gets him the cash at this time. I just hope he finally delivers. So far, he's only shown his potential once.

Glenn Stewart aside I'd be happy with that.

I said it all last year and I'll say it again, I just don't think ball players get the time and space at origin level to be as effective as they are at club level. If he had Jamie Lyon outside him I'd say it's worth persisting with but it's not like he has natural ball playing talent imo, he's just worked incredibly hard to build combinations with his club teammates. Wade Graham is one who really impresses me; natural ball player, good workrate & strong in defence.