Northern Raider wrote: ↑November 19, 2020, 8:00 am
Will Freddy survive as coach? Hard to make a case for him. I know he won a couple of series but that was against Kevvie Walters.
I am pretty sure both Fittler and Walters were reappointed mid year for 2021. They obviously felt that they needed to give them certainty. Presumably it is only about 6 months until the next series starts.
I think Fittler has been good for NSW but I am not sure he is a tactical coach. I think they want him to be like Meninga was to Qld but Meninga always had Hagan or Henry in the box. I assume Fitzgibbon is filling that role for NSW and I know he is highly rated, Greg Alexander has not been involved in coaching. If I was the NSWRL, I would be looking at getting in someone else as assistant. Hasler would be perfect, but probably wouldn't do it. They could even go with the guy who seems to be very highly rated as an assistant coach.
I won't mention his name here, because I think there was a post on the GH about him a few years ago. Name rhymes with Turner.
Northern Raider wrote: ↑November 19, 2020, 8:00 am
Will Freddy survive as coach? Hard to make a case for him. I know he won a couple of series but that was against Kevvie Walters.
I am pretty sure both Fittler and Walters were reappointed mid year for 2021. They obviously felt that they needed to give them certainty. Presumably it is only about 6 months until the next series starts.
I think Fittler has been good for NSW but I am not sure he is a tactical coach. I think they want him to be like Meninga was to Qld but Meninga always had Hagan or Henry in the box. I assume Fitzgibbon is filling that role for NSW and I know he is highly rated, Greg Alexander has not been involved in coaching. If I was the NSWRL, I would be looking at getting in someone else as assistant. Hasler would be perfect, but probably wouldn't do it. They could even go with the guy who seems to be very highly rated as an assistant coach.
I won't mention his name here, because I think there was a post on the GH about him a few years ago. Name rhymes with Turner.
best assistant in the business and a legend of the Lime
Northern Raider wrote: ↑November 19, 2020, 8:00 am
Will Freddy survive as coach? Hard to make a case for him. I know he won a couple of series but that was against Kevvie Walters.
I am pretty sure both Fittler and Walters were reappointed mid year for 2021. They obviously felt that they needed to give them certainty. Presumably it is only about 6 months until the next series starts.
I think Fittler has been good for NSW but I am not sure he is a tactical coach. I think they want him to be like Meninga was to Qld but Meninga always had Hagan or Henry in the box. I assume Fitzgibbon is filling that role for NSW and I know he is highly rated, Greg Alexander has not been involved in coaching. If I was the NSWRL, I would be looking at getting in someone else as assistant. Hasler would be perfect, but probably wouldn't do it. They could even go with the guy who seems to be very highly rated as an assistant coach.
I won't mention his name here, because I think there was a post on the GH about him a few years ago. Name rhymes with Turner.
Dave would be ideal. Already has experience as an assistant at rep level.
Mal was a fantastic figurehead for QLD Origin team. Status in the game commands respect and when he speaks the players listen. I get the feeling when Freddy speaks the players spend the next 5 minutes trying to decifer what he actually said.
* The author assumes no responsibility for the topicality, correctness, completeness or quality of information provided.
I got the impression from seeing Fittler on a few shows that he doesn't watch all that much footy. Throughout the year he was talking up Walker as the form 5/8 in the comp (ahhh hello) and also Tupou. Maybe he only watched channel 9 games?
I thought Freddy had a NSW contract to coach SOO next year. Other than the first match the games were decided once a key playmaker was taken out of the game. No one called Bennett a genius after the 2nd match.
Both sides were missing some fine players players before the series began. Pongia and Turbo would have added to the highlights reel imo.
Next year both sides start from scratch before the series begins. It is a 2 horse race and either side can win.
On a personal note in my brief time as the Roosters merch manager I was part of a planning meeting for the club's Centenary program.
Fittler was also part of it, along with Russell Fairfax. I hadn't met them before.
After the meeting finished Fittler and I walked together to the lift to go our separate ways. He wished me well and remembered my name. It may not seem like much but it impressed me at the time as the sign of a thoughtful guy.
My take on him is that yes he was a champion player, he's a good bloke and he obviously is well liked by the players.
Does that make him a good coach? Not convinced yet.
Re his TV work, I actually like the fact that he is a bit different and doesn't approach things as just being another talking head who went to presenter school.
I don't watch Nine pretty much at all so admittedly I don't see a lot of him on there.
You may remember me from such forum usernames as hrundi99 and... hrundi99.
RedRaider wrote: ↑November 19, 2020, 6:48 pm
I thought Freddy had a NSW contract to coach SOO next year. Other than the first match the games were decided once a key playmaker was taken out of the game. No one called Bennett a genius after the 2nd match.
Both sides were missing some fine players players before the series began. Pongia and Turbo would have added to the highlights reel imo.
Next year both sides start from scratch before the series begins. It is a 2 horse race and either side can win.
I agree with this.
I was never much a fan of Fittler and thought he was going to be another Daley-type NSW coach. But he did two things we hadn't seen for a long time: 1) He picked the best players available and not the guys with 'Origin experience', and 2) He instilled a bit of belief, which in part came from his unique approach.
This series, he picked good teams but with a couple of odd selections. The bench for Game III not having a utility (with Papenhuyzen sitting right there!) is a prime example. Walker at five-eighth always struck me as strange because he's only ever been able to dominate behind a winning team and Origin is regularly about digging yourself out of trouble. This put all the emphasis on Cleary and the pack, which worked in Game II but not in Game III.
I still think he should be coach for next year and think he learned a few lessons. NSW still has an excellent pool to draw from and should be able to field a stronger 17 next year. But there will be no complacency or ambushes. QLD will have to win straight up.
I'm a NSW fan but don't have even close to anything in the vicinity of passion that I have for the Raiders, so I regularly find myself barracking for QLD Raiders or even just the contest. From this perspective, I think QLD winning this year actually sets up a really exciting future for Origin where, like RR says above, both teams go in even and with really exciting players.
RedRaider wrote: ↑November 19, 2020, 6:48 pm
I thought Freddy had a NSW contract to coach SOO next year. Other than the first match the games were decided once a key playmaker was taken out of the game. No one called Bennett a genius after the 2nd match.
Both sides were missing some fine players players before the series began. Pongia and Turbo would have added to the highlights reel imo.
Next year both sides start from scratch before the series begins. It is a 2 horse race and either side can win.
I agree with this.
I was never much a fan of Fittler and thought he was going to be another Daley-type NSW coach. But he did two things we hadn't seen for a long time: 1) He picked the best players available and not the guys with 'Origin experience', and 2) He instilled a bit of belief, which in part came from his unique approach.
This series, he picked good teams but with a couple of odd selections. The bench for Game III not having a utility (with Papenhuyzen sitting right there!) is a prime example. Walker at five-eighth always struck me as strange because he's only ever been able to dominate behind a winning team and Origin is regularly about digging yourself out of trouble. This put all the emphasis on Cleary and the pack, which worked in Game II but not in Game III.
I still think he should be coach for next year and think he learned a few lessons. NSW still has an excellent pool to draw from and should be able to field a stronger 17 next year. But there will be no complacency or ambushes. QLD will have to win straight up.
I'm a NSW fan but don't have even close to anything in the vicinity of passion that I have for the Raiders, so I regularly find myself barracking for QLD Raiders or even just the contest. From this perspective, I think QLD winning this year actually sets up a really exciting future for Origin where, like RR says above, both teams go in even and with really exciting players.
Surely pointing out that Ponga and Tom T are still to return only highlights the issue. NSW already tried to shoe-horn too many play-makers in (hence Wighton and Gutho in the centres). With Ponga and Tom T available, how do you fit them all in (yeah, drop Gutho, but still...)? Actually, personally I've never been that sold on Turbo Tom. He seems a bit, well, fragile, and he's below Ponga and Gutho in the full-back pecking order for me.
moto748 wrote: ↑November 20, 2020, 9:38 pm
Surely pointing out that Ponga and Tom T are still to return only highlights the issue. NSW already tried to shoe-horn too many play-makers in (hence Wighton and Gutho in the centres). With Ponga and Tom T available, how do you fit them all in (yeah, drop Gutho, but still...)? Actually, personally I've never been that sold on Turbo Tom. He seems a bit, well, fragile, and he's below Ponga and Gutho in the full-back pecking order for me.
Injury aside..
TTurbo craps all over Gutho.
3rd Battalion Royal Australian Regiment..Old Faithful
#emptythetank
The spiral of silence refers to the idea that when people fail to speak, the price of speaking rises. As the price to speak rises, still fewer speak out, which further causes the price to rise, so that fewer people yet will speak out, until a whole culture or nation is silenced. This is what happened in Germany.
If you do not speak, you are not being neutral, but are contributing to the success of the thing you refuse to name and condemn.
moto748 wrote:Surely pointing out that Ponga and Tom T are still to return only highlights the issue. NSW already tried to shoe-horn too many play-makers in (hence Wighton and Gutho in the centres). With Ponga and Tom T available, how do you fit them all in (yeah, drop Gutho, but still...)? Actually, personally I've never been that sold on Turbo Tom. He seems a bit, well, fragile, and he's below Ponga and Gutho in the full-back pecking order for me.
Ponga is also a Queenslander and probably walks back into the Maroons Number 1 jersey
Not picking actual centres is such a NSW thing to do, Ponga doesn’t even belong in this debate
moto748 wrote:Surely pointing out that Ponga and Tom T are still to return only highlights the issue. NSW already tried to shoe-horn too many play-makers in (hence Wighton and Gutho in the centres). With Ponga and Tom T available, how do you fit them all in (yeah, drop Gutho, but still...)? Actually, personally I've never been that sold on Turbo Tom. He seems a bit, well, fragile, and he's below Ponga and Gutho in the full-back pecking order for me.
Ponga is also a Queenslander and probably walks back into the Maroons Number 1 jersey
Not picking actual centres is such a NSW thing to do, Ponga doesn’t even belong in this debate
You're right about NSW not picking actual centres but QLD started a second-rower at centre and he did well. It depends on the player and the team around them. I don't know what was wrong with Jack this series but he isn't an example of a shoehorn selection. Technically, he was out of position but he's perfectly suited to centre and has played rep footy there to a really high level. There were many, many years when a large percentage of this forum were claiming he was out of position when he played anywhere but centre.
The problem was he just stunk it up this year. On the flip side, Brenko did well on Wednesday but under no measurement known to man should he rank higher up the best centres list than Jack.
Gutho was out of position and was exploited. That was an odd choice because the qualities that make him a good fullback (backing up through the middle, positioning, chiming into backline moves etc.) don't translate to centre and his weaknesses that aren't as big an issue at fullback (size, one-on-one defence) are a problem at centre. Next year, one or more of Staggs, Lomax and Crichton will get picked.
Turbo is a top shelf player and can play anywhere in the back five for me. He just needs to be fit, which I worry he won't ever fully be.
Origin prop pact with Josh Papalii driving Canberra Raiders forward Dunamis Lui
As Dunamis Lui and best mate Josh Papalii walked on the sacred Lang Park turf the pair vowed to get back to the Origin stage next year.
"After I played [game two] I felt like I had five more good years in me," Lui said. "I'm 30 now and I didn't know how long I could play for. It motivated me to get back there. I was speaking to 'Paps', we were walking around the field and he was, 'Man is this us next year or what?' and I was, 'Yeah oath bro'."
moto748 wrote:Surely pointing out that Ponga and Tom T are still to return only highlights the issue. NSW already tried to shoe-horn too many play-makers in (hence Wighton and Gutho in the centres). With Ponga and Tom T available, how do you fit them all in (yeah, drop Gutho, but still...)? Actually, personally I've never been that sold on Turbo Tom. He seems a bit, well, fragile, and he's below Ponga and Gutho in the full-back pecking order for me.
Ponga is also a Queenslander and probably walks back into the Maroons Number 1 jersey
Not picking actual centres is such a NSW thing to do, Ponga doesn’t even belong in this debate
You're right about NSW not picking actual centres but QLD started a second-rower at centre and he did well. It depends on the player and the team around them. I don't know what was wrong with Jack this series but he isn't an example of a shoehorn selection. Technically, he was out of position but he's perfectly suited to centre and has played rep footy there to a really high level. There were many, many years when a large percentage of this forum were claiming he was out of position when he played anywhere but centre.
The problem was he just stunk it up this year. On the flip side, Brenko did well on Wednesday but under no measurement known to man should he rank higher up the best centres list than Jack.
Gutho was out of position and was exploited. That was an odd choice because the qualities that make him a good fullback (backing up through the middle, positioning, chiming into backline moves etc.) don't translate to centre and his weaknesses that aren't as big an issue at fullback (size, one-on-one defence) are a problem at centre. Next year, one or more of Staggs, Lomax and Crichton will get picked.
Turbo is a top shelf player and can play anywhere in the back five for me. He just needs to be fit, which I worry he won't ever fully be.
Ruben, I think the issue with Jack this series was Angus Crichton. I am struggling to think when he passed the ball to his left center partner. In game three when Tupou scored that silky try on the left the backs organised themselves and with Crichton out of it and Jack running the decoy play it was a good try.
Of the Qld tries in game three the one where NSW were most caught out was the Edrick try. There was no one on the left side of the park. I looked at why. Tupou was involved in try saving the play before after Munsters double kick play. Understandable Tupou would have difficulty in getting across. Jack and Crichton chased across field but the Brenko fumble and Edrick right foot step led them to overchase and go past the ball. So where was Cody Walker? When Munster gets the ball for the kick across field he is not in the shot. There are six blues in the shot but he is not amongst them. On such positional plays do Origin series rest.
When I looked at the series as a whole NSW outscored Qld 62 points to 48.
moto748 wrote:Surely pointing out that Ponga and Tom T are still to return only highlights the issue. NSW already tried to shoe-horn too many play-makers in (hence Wighton and Gutho in the centres). With Ponga and Tom T available, how do you fit them all in (yeah, drop Gutho, but still...)? Actually, personally I've never been that sold on Turbo Tom. He seems a bit, well, fragile, and he's below Ponga and Gutho in the full-back pecking order for me.
Ponga is also a Queenslander and probably walks back into the Maroons Number 1 jersey
Not picking actual centres is such a NSW thing to do, Ponga doesn’t even belong in this debate
You're right about NSW not picking actual centres but QLD started a second-rower at centre and he did well. It depends on the player and the team around them. I don't know what was wrong with Jack this series but he isn't an example of a shoehorn selection. Technically, he was out of position but he's perfectly suited to centre and has played rep footy there to a really high level. There were many, many years when a large percentage of this forum were claiming he was out of position when he played anywhere but centre.
The problem was he just stunk it up this year. On the flip side, Brenko did well on Wednesday but under no measurement known to man should he rank higher up the best centres list than Jack.
Gutho was out of position and was exploited. That was an odd choice because the qualities that make him a good fullback (backing up through the middle, positioning, chiming into backline moves etc.) don't translate to centre and his weaknesses that aren't as big an issue at fullback (size, one-on-one defence) are a problem at centre. Next year, one or more of Staggs, Lomax and Crichton will get picked.
Turbo is a top shelf player and can play anywhere in the back five for me. He just needs to be fit, which I worry he won't ever fully be.
Ruben, I think the issue with Jack this series was Angus Crichton. I am struggling to think when he passed the ball to his left center partner. In game three when Tupou scored that silky try on the left the backs organised themselves and with Crichton out of it and Jack running the decoy play it was a good try.
Of the Qld tries in game three the one where NSW were most caught out was the Edrick try. There was no one on the left side of the park. I looked at why. Tupou was involved in try saving the play before after Munsters double kick play. Understandable Tupou would have difficulty in getting across. Jack and Crichton chased across field but the Brenko fumble and Edrick right foot step led them to overchase and go past the ball. So where was Cody Walker? When Munster gets the ball for the kick across field he is not in the shot. There are six blues in the shot but he is not amongst them. On such positional plays do Origin series rest.
When I looked at the series as a whole NSW outscored Qld 62 points to 48.
I hadn't thought of that. It was clear that the outside backs didn't get quality ball all series. Even the cross-field kicks to Tupou, which should be free money, were poor. In Game III, the only move they had was the same block play that QLD saw coming a mile away and shut down. But I didn't consider Crichton's involvement. Perhaps you're right.
And Cody Walker should never play Origin again. Full stop.
I'm a huge Jack fan but I still think he wasn't right this series. I've never seen him make as many poor tackles in the whole of the rest of his career as he did in those three games.
Wighton was pretty good in the centres for the Blues last year. This year he was terrible. When he did look good was his brief cameo at 5/8 at the end of game 3.
It's clear that Fittler wants him in the team and equally clear Fittler has no idea how to use him. The answer to that 2nd part is glaringly obvious to most people.
* The author assumes no responsibility for the topicality, correctness, completeness or quality of information provided.
moto748 wrote:Surely pointing out that Ponga and Tom T are still to return only highlights the issue. NSW already tried to shoe-horn too many play-makers in (hence Wighton and Gutho in the centres). With Ponga and Tom T available, how do you fit them all in (yeah, drop Gutho, but still...)? Actually, personally I've never been that sold on Turbo Tom. He seems a bit, well, fragile, and he's below Ponga and Gutho in the full-back pecking order for me.
Ponga is also a Queenslander and probably walks back into the Maroons Number 1 jersey
Not picking actual centres is such a NSW thing to do, Ponga doesn’t even belong in this debate
You're right about NSW not picking actual centres but QLD started a second-rower at centre and he did well. It depends on the player and the team around them. I don't know what was wrong with Jack this series but he isn't an example of a shoehorn selection. Technically, he was out of position but he's perfectly suited to centre and has played rep footy there to a really high level. There were many, many years when a large percentage of this forum were claiming he was out of position when he played anywhere but centre.
The problem was he just stunk it up this year. On the flip side, Brenko did well on Wednesday but under no measurement known to man should he rank higher up the best centres list than Jack.
Gutho was out of position and was exploited. That was an odd choice because the qualities that make him a good fullback (backing up through the middle, positioning, chiming into backline moves etc.) don't translate to centre and his weaknesses that aren't as big an issue at fullback (size, one-on-one defence) are a problem at centre. Next year, one or more of Staggs, Lomax and Crichton will get picked.
Turbo is a top shelf player and can play anywhere in the back five for me. He just needs to be fit, which I worry he won't ever fully be.
Ruben, I think the issue with Jack this series was Angus Crichton. I am struggling to think when he passed the ball to his left center partner. In game three when Tupou scored that silky try on the left the backs organised themselves and with Crichton out of it and Jack running the decoy play it was a good try.
Of the Qld tries in game three the one where NSW were most caught out was the Edrick try. There was no one on the left side of the park. I looked at why. Tupou was involved in try saving the play before after Munsters double kick play. Understandable Tupou would have difficulty in getting across. Jack and Crichton chased across field but the Brenko fumble and Edrick right foot step led them to overchase and go past the ball. So where was Cody Walker? When Munster gets the ball for the kick across field he is not in the shot. There are six blues in the shot but he is not amongst them. On such positional plays do Origin series rest.
When I looked at the series as a whole NSW outscored Qld 62 points to 48.
moto748 wrote:Surely pointing out that Ponga and Tom T are still to return only highlights the issue. NSW already tried to shoe-horn too many play-makers in (hence Wighton and Gutho in the centres). With Ponga and Tom T available, how do you fit them all in (yeah, drop Gutho, but still...)? Actually, personally I've never been that sold on Turbo Tom. He seems a bit, well, fragile, and he's below Ponga and Gutho in the full-back pecking order for me.
Ponga is also a Queenslander and probably walks back into the Maroons Number 1 jersey
Not picking actual centres is such a NSW thing to do, Ponga doesn’t even belong in this debate
You're right about NSW not picking actual centres but QLD started a second-rower at centre and he did well. It depends on the player and the team around them. I don't know what was wrong with Jack this series but he isn't an example of a shoehorn selection. Technically, he was out of position but he's perfectly suited to centre and has played rep footy there to a really high level. There were many, many years when a large percentage of this forum were claiming he was out of position when he played anywhere but centre.
The problem was he just stunk it up this year. On the flip side, Brenko did well on Wednesday but under no measurement known to man should he rank higher up the best centres list than Jack.
Gutho was out of position and was exploited. That was an odd choice because the qualities that make him a good fullback (backing up through the middle, positioning, chiming into backline moves etc.) don't translate to centre and his weaknesses that aren't as big an issue at fullback (size, one-on-one defence) are a problem at centre. Next year, one or more of Staggs, Lomax and Crichton will get picked.
Turbo is a top shelf player and can play anywhere in the back five for me. He just needs to be fit, which I worry he won't ever fully be.
Ruben, I think the issue with Jack this series was Angus Crichton. I am struggling to think when he passed the ball to his left center partner. In game three when Tupou scored that silky try on the left the backs organised themselves and with Crichton out of it and Jack running the decoy play it was a good try.
Of the Qld tries in game three the one where NSW were most caught out was the Edrick try. There was no one on the left side of the park. I looked at why. Tupou was involved in try saving the play before after Munsters double kick play. Understandable Tupou would have difficulty in getting across. Jack and Crichton chased across field but the Brenko fumble and Edrick right foot step led them to overchase and go past the ball. So where was Cody Walker? When Munster gets the ball for the kick across field he is not in the shot. There are six blues in the shot but he is not amongst them. On such positional plays do Origin series rest.
When I looked at the series as a whole NSW outscored Qld 62 points to 48.
The only score that counts is Queensland won 2-1
Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
I seem to recall GE claiming that Queensland won the 2014 series because they won the differential.
The Nickman wrote: ↑November 21, 2020, 7:59 am
Ponga is also a Queenslander and probably walks back into the Maroons Number 1 jersey
Not picking actual centres is such a NSW thing to do, Ponga doesn’t even belong in this debate
You're right about NSW not picking actual centres but QLD started a second-rower at centre and he did well. It depends on the player and the team around them. I don't know what was wrong with Jack this series but he isn't an example of a shoehorn selection. Technically, he was out of position but he's perfectly suited to centre and has played rep footy there to a really high level. There were many, many years when a large percentage of this forum were claiming he was out of position when he played anywhere but centre.
The problem was he just stunk it up this year. On the flip side, Brenko did well on Wednesday but under no measurement known to man should he rank higher up the best centres list than Jack.
Gutho was out of position and was exploited. That was an odd choice because the qualities that make him a good fullback (backing up through the middle, positioning, chiming into backline moves etc.) don't translate to centre and his weaknesses that aren't as big an issue at fullback (size, one-on-one defence) are a problem at centre. Next year, one or more of Staggs, Lomax and Crichton will get picked.
Turbo is a top shelf player and can play anywhere in the back five for me. He just needs to be fit, which I worry he won't ever fully be.
Ruben, I think the issue with Jack this series was Angus Crichton. I am struggling to think when he passed the ball to his left center partner. In game three when Tupou scored that silky try on the left the backs organised themselves and with Crichton out of it and Jack running the decoy play it was a good try.
Of the Qld tries in game three the one where NSW were most caught out was the Edrick try. There was no one on the left side of the park. I looked at why. Tupou was involved in try saving the play before after Munsters double kick play. Understandable Tupou would have difficulty in getting across. Jack and Crichton chased across field but the Brenko fumble and Edrick right foot step led them to overchase and go past the ball. So where was Cody Walker? When Munster gets the ball for the kick across field he is not in the shot. There are six blues in the shot but he is not amongst them. On such positional plays do Origin series rest.
When I looked at the series as a whole NSW outscored Qld 62 points to 48.
The only score that counts is Queensland won 2-1
Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
I seem to recall GE claiming that Queensland won the 2014 series because they won the differential.
That's only relevant if you recognise GE had a valid argument.
* The author assumes no responsibility for the topicality, correctness, completeness or quality of information provided.
The Nickman wrote: ↑November 21, 2020, 7:59 am
Ponga is also a Queenslander and probably walks back into the Maroons Number 1 jersey
Not picking actual centres is such a NSW thing to do, Ponga doesn’t even belong in this debate
You're right about NSW not picking actual centres but QLD started a second-rower at centre and he did well. It depends on the player and the team around them. I don't know what was wrong with Jack this series but he isn't an example of a shoehorn selection. Technically, he was out of position but he's perfectly suited to centre and has played rep footy there to a really high level. There were many, many years when a large percentage of this forum were claiming he was out of position when he played anywhere but centre.
The problem was he just stunk it up this year. On the flip side, Brenko did well on Wednesday but under no measurement known to man should he rank higher up the best centres list than Jack.
Gutho was out of position and was exploited. That was an odd choice because the qualities that make him a good fullback (backing up through the middle, positioning, chiming into backline moves etc.) don't translate to centre and his weaknesses that aren't as big an issue at fullback (size, one-on-one defence) are a problem at centre. Next year, one or more of Staggs, Lomax and Crichton will get picked.
Turbo is a top shelf player and can play anywhere in the back five for me. He just needs to be fit, which I worry he won't ever fully be.
Ruben, I think the issue with Jack this series was Angus Crichton. I am struggling to think when he passed the ball to his left center partner. In game three when Tupou scored that silky try on the left the backs organised themselves and with Crichton out of it and Jack running the decoy play it was a good try.
Of the Qld tries in game three the one where NSW were most caught out was the Edrick try. There was no one on the left side of the park. I looked at why. Tupou was involved in try saving the play before after Munsters double kick play. Understandable Tupou would have difficulty in getting across. Jack and Crichton chased across field but the Brenko fumble and Edrick right foot step led them to overchase and go past the ball. So where was Cody Walker? When Munster gets the ball for the kick across field he is not in the shot. There are six blues in the shot but he is not amongst them. On such positional plays do Origin series rest.
When I looked at the series as a whole NSW outscored Qld 62 points to 48.
The only score that counts is Queensland won 2-1
Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
I seem to recall GE claiming that Queensland won the 2014 series because they won the differential.
You're right about NSW not picking actual centres but QLD started a second-rower at centre and he did well. It depends on the player and the team around them. I don't know what was wrong with Jack this series but he isn't an example of a shoehorn selection. Technically, he was out of position but he's perfectly suited to centre and has played rep footy there to a really high level. There were many, many years when a large percentage of this forum were claiming he was out of position when he played anywhere but centre.
The problem was he just stunk it up this year. On the flip side, Brenko did well on Wednesday but under no measurement known to man should he rank higher up the best centres list than Jack.
Gutho was out of position and was exploited. That was an odd choice because the qualities that make him a good fullback (backing up through the middle, positioning, chiming into backline moves etc.) don't translate to centre and his weaknesses that aren't as big an issue at fullback (size, one-on-one defence) are a problem at centre. Next year, one or more of Staggs, Lomax and Crichton will get picked.
Turbo is a top shelf player and can play anywhere in the back five for me. He just needs to be fit, which I worry he won't ever fully be.
Ruben, I think the issue with Jack this series was Angus Crichton. I am struggling to think when he passed the ball to his left center partner. In game three when Tupou scored that silky try on the left the backs organised themselves and with Crichton out of it and Jack running the decoy play it was a good try.
Of the Qld tries in game three the one where NSW were most caught out was the Edrick try. There was no one on the left side of the park. I looked at why. Tupou was involved in try saving the play before after Munsters double kick play. Understandable Tupou would have difficulty in getting across. Jack and Crichton chased across field but the Brenko fumble and Edrick right foot step led them to overchase and go past the ball. So where was Cody Walker? When Munster gets the ball for the kick across field he is not in the shot. There are six blues in the shot but he is not amongst them. On such positional plays do Origin series rest.
When I looked at the series as a whole NSW outscored Qld 62 points to 48.
The only score that counts is Queensland won 2-1
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I seem to recall GE claiming that Queensland won the 2014 series because they won the differential.
I don’t recall that
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I don't recall either. Could be true... but it was six years ago!