2019 NSW Origin team

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The Nickman
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Re: 2019 NSW Origin team

Post by The Nickman »

Woodgers wrote: May 28, 2019, 2:11 pm I'm happy with the side selected. I thought NSW might be a middle short on the bench as well but I think Freddy wants that mobility and agility in the defence to contain the running games of Ponga and Munster.

At the risk of being absolutely slammed I will say i'm disappointed that Pearce was ruled out. That would have been quite a redemption story for a bloke playing unreal footy and i've always felt he's maybe the biggest scapegoat I've seen in the sport, taking the full criticism for a side completely outclassed in all areas.
Agreed. Personally, I would've LOVED to see him back in the side but, like you, I'm very happy with the NSW team this series too.
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Woodgers
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Re: 2019 NSW Origin team

Post by Woodgers »

What specifically about the NSW team do you like Rickman?
We continue to **** about with blokes that are part of some fraternity. It's infuriating.
The Nickman
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Re: 2019 NSW Origin team

Post by The Nickman »

Everything! It’s **** great!

From changing the halves to bringing back Josh Morris, to the forward pack, to the bench, I just love it

It’s perfect for Origin


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TongueFTW
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Re: 2019 NSW Origin team

Post by TongueFTW »

Woodgers wrote: May 28, 2019, 2:11 pm I'm happy with the side selected. I thought NSW might be a middle short on the bench as well but I think Freddy wants that mobility and agility in the defence to contain the running games of Ponga and Munster.

At the risk of being absolutely slammed I will say i'm disappointed that Pearce was ruled out. That would have been quite a redemption story for a bloke playing unreal footy and i've always felt he's maybe the biggest scapegoat I've seen in the sport, taking the full criticism for a side completely outclassed in all areas.
I usually agree with you, but couldn't disagree more with this. Pearce has been absolutely horrible at Origin level - his style is far too frantic, he lacks instinct, and his kicking game woeful (according to articles in 2017 he had forced ONE SINGLE dropout in 15 Origin games).

NSW were consistently able to get themselves into attacking areas with decent go forward, but Pearce made the wrong decisions time and time again - he could never build pressure and would go for a silly, rehearsed play regardless of the defence reading it. He would end sets in poor final positions, leading to that incredible statistic with the single dropout. I still shudder thinking of his mid field "bombs" which would be easily swallowed up by Slater on the 20m line for a 15m carry, starting QLD sets on the 40. Urgh.

People justify him with "oh, NSW would have lost anyway against a team with Cronk, Thurston etc.", ignoring his complete and utter ineptitude at that level. NSW forwards were good enough to at least make a game of it (and we won in 2014 with Hodkinson at half back ****), but Pearce was Sam Williams at Origin level.
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Re: 2019 NSW Origin team

Post by The Nickman »

TongueFTW wrote: May 28, 2019, 2:37 pm
Woodgers wrote: May 28, 2019, 2:11 pm I'm happy with the side selected. I thought NSW might be a middle short on the bench as well but I think Freddy wants that mobility and agility in the defence to contain the running games of Ponga and Munster.

At the risk of being absolutely slammed I will say i'm disappointed that Pearce was ruled out. That would have been quite a redemption story for a bloke playing unreal footy and i've always felt he's maybe the biggest scapegoat I've seen in the sport, taking the full criticism for a side completely outclassed in all areas.
I usually agree with you, but couldn't disagree more with this. Pearce has been absolutely horrible at Origin level - his style is far too frantic, he lacks instinct, and his kicking game woeful (according to articles in 2017 he had forced ONE SINGLE dropout in 15 Origin games).

NSW were consistently able to get themselves into attacking areas with decent go forward, but Pearce made the wrong decisions time and time again - he could never build pressure and would go for a silly, rehearsed play regardless of the defence reading it. He would end sets in poor final positions, leading to that incredible statistic with the single dropout. I still shudder thinking of his mid field "bombs" which would be easily swallowed up by Slater on the 20m line for a 15m carry, starting QLD sets on the 40. Urgh.

People justify him with "oh, NSW would have lost anyway against a team with Cronk, Thurston etc.", ignoring his complete and utter ineptitude at that level. NSW forwards were good enough to at least make a game of it (and we won in 2014 with Hodkinson at half back ****), but Pearce was Sam Williams at Origin level.
Haha they won with Hodkinson and Reynolds in the halves in 2014 and then in 2015 changed the halves back to Pearce and Hodkinson just for us to win back the shield!

Oh how we laughed and laughed north of the border. I'm sure they've learned their lessons from... oh, I see.
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Re: 2019 NSW Origin team

Post by TongueFTW »

Just found this video - sure you can make these of most players, but I just wanted to provide examples of what I was referring to:

https://www.facebook.com/nrlzerofuksgiv ... 3159252711

NSW did not need Cronk or Thurston to win more than a single series in that streak - they needed a slightly above average playmaker who could build pressure and take advantage of field position. Pearce just needed to play a few 6/10 games, but he was consistently a 2 or 3.
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Re: 2019 NSW Origin team

Post by Woodgers »

Fair enough points. As I said I didn't see him as poor as that for the most part, what I think happened was he did have a few poor or below par games where he wore the brunt of it all even when there were worse performances in blue jumpers. Then it became a thing to basically harp on and on about how rubbish he was and how he was costing the state entire series wins which to me was grossly unfair. He wasn't shining but in many instances he was nowhere near as bad as was portrayed. One thing I find with Origin is that because it drags in all the casual fans, the opinions being thrown around and repeated by those casual fans who aren't weekly viewers seem to snowball and they're repeated so many times they become gospel. I find this to be a major drawback of the annual Origin series, the casual fan increases the eyes on the game to give it that hype but the aftermath and hearing the worst form of armchair critique at work or on social media or whatever drives me nuts. So i've toned down my interest in Origin significantly over time.

Pearce is a damn good club halfback and his last 5 weeks have been the best of his career. I think he'd be better equipped to do a job for NSW now than previously and I talked a lot in the offseason about how players improve and their ability, experience, confidence etc etc are factors (mainly in response to people saying Jack couldn't play 5/8 years ago so was a reason not to try it again). I think Pearce is definitely a player that has progressed rather than regressed, and as I said i'd back him to be much better in that arena now than before. Personally I reckon the bloke has copped more than his fair share of over the top criticism and abuse both for his on and off the field actions, I don't think it has been relative to my viewing of the scenarios and feel like he is a maligned character in the game.
We continue to **** about with blokes that are part of some fraternity. It's infuriating.
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Re: 2019 NSW Origin team

Post by Woodgers »

TongueFTW wrote: May 28, 2019, 2:46 pm Just found this video - sure you can make these of most players, but I just wanted to provide examples of what I was referring to:

https://www.facebook.com/nrlzerofuksgiv ... 3159252711

NSW did not need Cronk or Thurston to win more than a single series in that streak - they needed a slightly above average playmaker who could build pressure and take advantage of field position. Pearce just needed to play a few 6/10 games, but he was consistently a 2 or 3.
That video was pus. As I said he definitely made errors there but like I say about people embellishing things, a lot of those plays are things like chargedowns due to great pressure as soon as he catches the ball and he cops the blame for not getting the kick away. That video probably meets in the middle of both our points, he's had some really poor moments in Origin but he's also blamed for a whole bunch of things that are extremely harsh to pin on him which is more of less my point. As soon as it became a thing, people were finding fault in absolutely everything he did.
We continue to **** about with blokes that are part of some fraternity. It's infuriating.
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Re: 2019 NSW Origin team

Post by TongueFTW »

Woodgers wrote: May 28, 2019, 3:02 pm Fair enough points. As I said I didn't see him as poor as that for the most part, what I think happened was he did have a few poor or below par games where he wore the brunt of it all even when there were worse performances in blue jumpers. Then it became a thing to basically harp on and on about how rubbish he was and how he was costing the state entire series wins which to me was grossly unfair. He wasn't shining but in many instances he was nowhere near as bad as was portrayed. One thing I find with Origin is that because it drags in all the casual fans, the opinions being thrown around and repeated by those casual fans who aren't weekly viewers seem to snowball and they're repeated so many times they become gospel. I find this to be a major drawback of the annual Origin series, the casual fan increases the eyes on the game to give it that hype but the aftermath and hearing the worst form of armchair critique at work or on social media or whatever drives me nuts. So i've toned down my interest in Origin significantly over time.

Pearce is a damn good club halfback and his last 5 weeks have been the best of his career. I think he'd be better equipped to do a job for NSW now than previously and I talked a lot in the offseason about how players improve and their ability, experience, confidence etc etc are factors (mainly in response to people saying Jack couldn't play 5/8 years ago so was a reason not to try it again). I think Pearce is definitely a player that has progressed rather than regressed, and as I said i'd back him to be much better in that arena now than before. Personally I reckon the bloke has copped more than his fair share of over the top criticism and abuse both for his on and off the field actions, I don't think it has been relative to my viewing of the scenarios and feel like he is a maligned character in the game.
I see what you are saying, but I really think the criticism was warranted. I take your point about the casual, water cooler fan ("oh how bad was Michael Pearce?!"), but that doesn't change just how poor he was. I cannot get over the 1 forced drop out stat - it is incredible, really.
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