luke patten would be a better fullback than gidley. gidley is a first grade standard half five eight who is at best form a good bench option for nsw. when he plays 1 they trie to play him like a matt bowen darren lockyer in his fullback days kind of player, a drifting playmaker, but it doesnt work because then on top of that you (would assume) nsw have picked two dominant playmakers as well so that can get in the way.
but other than that id say luke douglas deserves a run this year
qld side doesnt really need any bolters other than a replacement for hodges and johnson
which we have plenty of. one player who must get a run is cooper cronk, and im putting aside my cowboys bias, even though i think payney deserves a spot. cronk has the ability to play 1,6,7,9 and has even played lock in his early days at the storm and offers tremendous versatility off the bench and you got to think he has smith and inglis and former teammate folau there to gel with. if smith gets injured id start with aaron payne at hooker and cronk off the bench or the other way around
