Origin Is Upon Us: State of Origin is here, we are a week away from teams being selected and injuries have hit both teams hard.
Here are how the teams should look given the current injury toll:
New South Wales
1.James Tedesco 2.Brian To’o 3.Kotoni Staggs 4.Stephen Crichton 5.Zac Lomax 6.Matt Burton 7.Nicho Hynes
8.Tom Hazelton 9.Api Koroisau 10.Payne Haas 11.Angus Crichton 12.Teig Wilton 13.Isaah Yeo
14.Cameron McInnes 15.Stefano Utoikamanu 16.Terrell May 17.Haumole Olakau’atu
The Blues Origin team has very few locks with most of the positions fluid.
Such fluidity will ensure James Tedesco edges out the red-hot Dylan Edwards. Discussion around the halfback position post-Cleary injury has been ridiculous.
If Nicho Hynes is not chosen, Michael Maguire should be sacked before Game 1.
Put simply, Mitch Moses isn’t ready and Hynes is a better player.
Matt Burton, with his kicking game and his running ability, is the perfect complement and should be miles ahead of Jarome Luai and Cody Walker.
There are two open three-quarter spots with Kotoni Staggs edging out Bradman Best and Zac Lomax a bigger risk-reward call over Josh Addo-Carr due to his work under the high ball and his rucking-out ability.
The pack and bench are wide open, Yeo, Koroisau and Haas are the only certainties.
For middles, it is ridiculous that Tom Hazelton is not being mentioned in dispatches, he is the perfect starting prop and offers far more than the likes of Jake Trbojevic.
Stefano Utoikamanu is likely to be suspended and those mentioning Reagan Campbell-Gillard need their heads checked given his bad turn of form.
Terrell May is another not being touted who would be a great bench prop given his size and skill, while Cam McInnes will be picked on the bench given his ability to cover hooker.
Edge is fascinating, plumped for Crichton, Olakauatu and Wilton with Hudson Young and Liam Martin close and unlucky (but both more likely to be selected).
Queensland
1.Reece Walsh 2.Murray Taulagi 3.Selwyn Cobbo 4.Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow 5.Xavier Coates 6.Tom Dearden 7.Daly Cherry-Evans
8.Lindsay Collins 9.Harry Grant 10.Reuben Cotter 11.Jeremiah Nanai 12.David Fifita 13.Pat Carrigan
14.Ezra Mam 15.J’maine Hopgood 16.Christian Welch 17.Jai Arrow
The injury to Cameron Munster has opened up the No.6 jersey with Tom Dearden named as the man to replace him by most but given the form of Ezra Mam, serious debate should be had.
Mam also deserves consideration for the No.14 jersey over Ben Hunt.
Queensland selectors stick fat and won’t dump Hunt but on form Mam deserves the spot.
Three spots in the three-quarter line are locked in with most picking Valentine Holmes but he is going so bad that Murray Taulagi should be picked ahead of him as well as a host of others including Dane Gagai.
The pack is reasonably settled with Christian Welch edging Mo Fotuaika on the bench.
Des Was Right: Des Hasler has been wrong more often than he has been right over the last decade but he was absolutely spot on when he declared that The Bunker had “no idea” when it disallowed a potential match-winning try to Brian Kelly in the dying minutes of their clash with the Knights.
Kelly scored the try and even if he did not, there was no clear evidence to overturn, as is the burden of proof.
Wyatt Raymond is new to the NRL and has got himself early in the Badger/Butler/Gough no idea cohort.
It also reinforces the notion that the NRL needs to remove referees completely from The Bunker, starting a new specific position of Bunker Official that needs to have all the knowledge of a referee, but is removed from their heinous culture while also being inclusive of those who do not have elite levels of fitness.
The Bunker now essentially reducing its pool of talent significantly by only having officials in there who can run an 80 minute footy game, something the game cannot afford.
The Most Unpopular Man in Rugby League: Jackson Hastings sure is lippy for a player with such limited ability.
Hastings very nearly cost the Knights a win with his completely unnecessary verbal and physical niggle that saw him sin binned before halftime.
He was so disliked by the Titans players that they all sent him back to the pavilion with a barrage of return fire.
Hastings has never lasted more than three years at any of his six NRL and Super League clubs.
He currently is tied for 26th in all halves this season for try assists per game and probably needs to better understand how little he contributes before he starts picking fights with teammates or getting binned for mouthing off.
Wakeham Potentially Joins Infamous List: If Brandon Wakeham is found guilty of drug distribution as he has been charged with, he will join a long list of premiership players done for dealing drugs that includes Manu Vatuvei and Paul Hayward.
The Pride of Orange: Penrith’s Jack Cole, of Orange, left a mark that will never be forgotten with his reversal of fortune.
Betting Close Calls: This week’s close betting calls:
- Any bettor on the Titans to win at good odds should invoice Wyatt Raymond and the NRL Bunker after they were robbed.
- Cowboys -8.5 bettors endured a wild, frustrating and ultimately unfulfilling game – getting 10-up on the back of an eight-point try, failing to extend despite multiple chances and then allowing a soft Damien Cook try to give Souths their first cover in 17 games.
- Dylan Edwards had a chance to keep all multis running through shorties Penrith with a penalty kick to level the scores on full-time but pushed it.
- Those who bet the Dolphins late and got -12.5 are still keeled over with the Phins not only failing to put the Tigers away but getting a penalty on full-time, pointing to the posts and set to extend the score to 14 when the always-confused Chris Butler eventually realised feet across was a differential penalty, leading to Isaako to tap and kick the ball out.
2024 Field Goal Update – 14: Jock Madden slotted his first field goal in his fledgling NRL career to give Brisbane a 13-12 win over Manly.
Fun Fact #1: Tom Hazelton sits third on Cronulla’s tryscoring list with five tries this season.
Fun Fact #2: Four starting props have scored multiple tries this year: Hazelton, fellow Shark Oregon Kaufusi, Addin Fonua-Blake and Tom Burgess.
Fun Fact #3: Jesse Bromwich sits fourth on the all-time prop tryscoring list with 31. Addin Fonua-Blake is seventh.
Willie M Team of the Week: This week’s team of drongoes, dimwits and delinquents:
1.Connor Tracey (Bul) 2.Charlie Staines (Tig) 3.Brent Naden (Tig) 4.Aaron Schoupp (GC) 5.Jacob Kiraz (Bul) 6.Jack Cole (Pen) 7.Jayden Sullivan (Tig)
8.Reagan Campbell-Gillard (Par) 9.Danny Levi (Can) 10.Joe Ofahengaue (Par) 11.Viliame Kikau (Bul) 12.Asu Kepaoa (Tig) 13.Alex Twal (Tig)
14.Kelma Tuilagi (Par) 15.Matt Lodge (Man) 16.Tom Burgess (Sou) 17.Makahesi Makatoa (Par)
Coach: Brad Arthur (Par)
Betting Market of the Week: Canterbury fans’ favourite infection:
- $1.02: Staph $10.00: Any Other
Rumour Mill: Eels winger Maika Sivo has been linked to a move to North Queensland with both clubs in discussion with Parramatta keen to move the veteran winger on.
Souths are set to release Lachlan Ilias with the Bulldogs – idiotically – set to sign the Braith Anasta-managed half.
Sitili Tupouniua is set to leave the Roosters with the Tigers and the Dragons his most likely suitors.
The Tigers are happy to see oft-injured Adam Doueihi depart, Super League could be in his future though he may be a good fit at the Titans.
The Coaching Crosshairs: The pressure is mounting on Todd Payten – and Payten knows it.
Even after a win, the pressure is mounting on Payten after what was a diabolical showing in victory last week against Souths.
Once again the Cowboys failed to show anything resembling a killer instinct in another lacklustre performance.
Payten became very introspective afterwards but bristled at calls that the team could be underprepared.
It is clear though that the Cowboys don’t know some fairly basic rules or concepts.
Payten strikes as a coach who is emotional and coaches with fear and they very rarely succeed.
If Payten was to be moved on, expect the Cowboys to look at Dean Young or Josh Hannay with Willie Peters also likely to be in the mix.
Moronic Coaching Decision of the Week: Cameron Ciraldo’s persistence with Drew Hutchison at halfback in preference to Toby Sexton was always going to bite Canterbury – and it did against Canberra.
The Bulldogs were an out-and-out rabble against the Raiders, struggling to take advantage of a team that was down to 11 men for a period.
The Bulldogs had zero organisation and a kicking game that was horrific at best, Sexton is a halfback, Hutchison is a slow small prop and only Ciraldo can’t see it.
Watch It: Wally Lewis was not only one of the great footballers of all-time but one of the great characters.
It is hard for people who didn’t see him in his pomp what all the fuss was about.
This clip from Today Tonight in 1983 is well worth watching, watch it here.