All the the innuendo is over and the teams have been announced. You can smell it in the air and the talk around the country is intensifying. Have the right teams been picked? Who will step up to the mark and who will wonder where the time went once the final whistle is gone.
Greg Bird, Jamie Buhrer, Todd Carney, Ben Creagh, Robbie Farah, Paul Gallen (c), Jarryd Hayne, Michael Jennings, Luke Lewis, Trent Merrin, Josh Morris, Mitchell Pearce, Brett Stewart, Glenn Stewart, James Tamou, Tony Williams, Akuila Uate
Billy Slater, Darius Boyd, Greg Inglis, Justin Hodges, Brent Tate, Johnathan Thurston, Cooper Cronk, Matt Scott, Cameron Smith (c), Petero Civoniceva, Nate Myles, Sam Thaiday, Ashley Harrison. Interchange: Matt Gillett, David Taylor, Ben Hannant, David Shillington. 18th man: Daly Cherry-Evans. 19th man: Dane Nielsen
What is to be seen now is which selection panel has gotten it right. On paper, Queensland (biased I know) are by far the more superior looking team and with QLD at $1.45 to NSW's $2.75 even the experts don't expect much from the blues squad. Experience in Origin could well be the factor with no player in the NSW having experienced more than 4 wins and only 6 having more than 1, compare that to QLD who have only 1 debutant, 7 with more than 10 winning games and all but 3 having 5 wins or more. So to add to Queensland's domination in wins is the confidence that winning breeds. There is no doubt in their minds they will win, but with NSW, the doubts will sink in if they fall behind. Considering only Luke Lewis has played in a winning series, I can see nerves and doubt aplenty appearing in blue.
The major problem I see with the NSW side though is if a major injury occurs to their side in the forwards. Gallen is a key to their defence and go forward and has had injury concerns of late. With a forward pack of mainly back rowers, they cannot afford an injury to their front row. Queensland will be running big forwards at them all night and with a big bench they will not tire, it will be interesting to see how the pack of NSW lasts in a faster environment than what they are used to. Queensland on the other hand have no problems in the forward department, and many may argue that their weakness could be an injury to the backline. With Gillett they are covered in all backline positions as all players can be easily shuffled into another position.
I am also picking game one to be a game full of cheap shots, at least one intentional late shot aimed at nothing more than taking out a playmaker in maroon, an all in brawl and at least one sin binning. Hopefully the game does not come down to a poor decision by the referees or a game where inconsistent rulings in the ruck and offside occur. I am also hoping to see that blocking of kick chasers is policed properly for change this year. The only other thing that will be yelled at more the the refs this year will again be the one sided commentary team that has Gould at the forefront with the idiocy of Johns and Fittler added in.
What is to be seen now is which selection panel has gotten it right. On paper, Queensland (biased I know) are by far the more superior looking team and with QLD at $1.45 to NSW's $2.75 even the experts don't expect much from the blues squad. Experience in Origin could well be the factor with no player in the NSW having experienced more than 4 wins and only 6 having more than 1, compare that to QLD who have only 1 debutant, 7 with more than 10 winning games and all but 3 having 5 wins or more. So to add to Queensland's domination in wins is the confidence that winning breeds. There is no doubt in their minds they will win, but with NSW, the doubts will sink in if they fall behind. Considering only Luke Lewis has played in a winning series, I can see nerves and doubt aplenty appearing in blue.
The major problem I see with the NSW side though is if a major injury occurs to their side in the forwards. Gallen is a key to their defence and go forward and has had injury concerns of late. With a forward pack of mainly back rowers, they cannot afford an injury to their front row. Queensland will be running big forwards at them all night and with a big bench they will not tire, it will be interesting to see how the pack of NSW lasts in a faster environment than what they are used to. Queensland on the other hand have no problems in the forward department, and many may argue that their weakness could be an injury to the backline. With Gillett they are covered in all backline positions as all players can be easily shuffled into another position.
I am also picking game one to be a game full of cheap shots, at least one intentional late shot aimed at nothing more than taking out a playmaker in maroon, an all in brawl and at least one sin binning. Hopefully the game does not come down to a poor decision by the referees or a game where inconsistent rulings in the ruck and offside occur. I am also hoping to see that blocking of kick chasers is policed properly for change this year. The only other thing that will be yelled at more the the refs this year will again be the one sided commentary team that has Gould at the forefront with the idiocy of Johns and Fittler added in.
Otherwise I am looking forward to seeing Greg Inglis overtake Dale Shearer as the leading try scorer and go on towards a record that may never be beaten. Queensland will win game one 36-12 and NSW will go on to change there combination yet again. But one can go on all they like until kick-off, the debates will rage before and long after, regardless of the result and actions on the field.
No comments:
Post a Comment