Irrepressible Tangent

Game III brings up thoughts of great returns. Alan Langer, Brad Fittler, Andrew Johns. Is it possible, could we add the name Braith Anasta to this list? What of his half-back Mitchell Pearce, what a time to make a debut! Is this the fairy-tale: The son of a former Origin great making his debut and starring in a series decider? Playing alongside him is a man previously voted “The most overrated player in the game”, previously banished from Origin, but now returning triumphant? Or this: Queensland going down in history as a three time consecutive series champion.

In my estimation Qld has exerted more influence over the series – at no stage have New South Wales truly been dominant. You must remember Qld is the two time defending champion with (at this point) far more depth and options in most positions. If both teams played to their potential in two hypothetical games, I would expect Qld to be on top. In game one their poor selections, disappointing attitude, and an outstanding team effort from NSW saw them lose. Game two they got their selections in order, and their forwards steamrolled all over their NSW opponents, who were shown to have no options or variety in their attack. Now at game three, Qld has a strong advantage in terms of momentum, even allowing for the time between games. By keeping the core of its side together after two series, the disappointment of their performance in the first game of this series stung the players. They would have been hurting from their failure to meet the enthusiasm of a previously losing NSW side, possibly underestimating the effect Craig Bellamy would have on refocusing his team. How many times did we hear the word ‘Intensity’ from NSW players in the lead-up to game one?

Bellamy certainly has his work cut out for him. Qld is full of confidence and they are experiencing the “Tosser Effect”. The Maroons will be inspired to do it for Dick “Tosser” Turner, a man who has shaped Origin north of the border. Bellamy will be aware that this emotional commitment from Qld is real and he will have to have his players switched on from the moment camp begins. Their selections are smart in that they have kept the changes to those enforced by injury in the main. The new halves are unavoidable, but their combination is a massive plus. The dumping of Steve Simpson for the return of Ben Cross adds some much needed aggression. Jarrod Hayne is also a massive plus. He is one NSW attacker that can worry Qld, one would expect he would lack some sharpness given his suspension.

As always, the team with the dominant forwards will win – so the acid is on NSW. Brett White is an honest worker, but must find a way of having more impact, the fact they have added Cross will help. Willie Mason, the man must just decide what legacy he wants to leave in Australian rugby league. He has all the attributes to do anything on the field, but is not half the player of a Shane Webcke, Gordon Tallis (prior to injury), Paul Harrigan or Glenn Lazarus. The talk of him being captain of any team says more about a lack of leadership from those around than it says about Mason. I believe the constant talk has been an attempt by his supporters (coaches, etc.) to get him to focus on the detail of his game because the man could be anything – certainly much more then the headline he is known as. To be fair to him, he was not that bad in game two, he was let down by his mates in the forward pack. It just comes with the territory, you have a lot to say – you get a lot of the blame.

What worries me about this NSW team is that with Gasnier out and Hayne possible rusty, what attack will they have? Matt Cooper hasn’t offered anything in attack for a while for NSW, Brett Stewart has been unable to work into the offence and has been almost unsighted so far. Anthony Quinn is a hard worker from dummy-half and a good finisher while Adam Monaghan is on debut. The problem for NSW will be trying to create enough pressure in the middle of the field to force Qld to compress its defensive line. If they can, opportunities will present themselves out wider.

I expect a large number of kicks from NSW – kicks in behind and over the top of the defensive line. Force Karmichael Hunt to play shallower from fullback and then kick deeper as he is not as fast as Billy Slater to the ball, this may also force the Qld wingers to drop back more. Attacking kicks I feel will feature if players are keeping their feet. If the field is slippery the teams will try and go through each other, otherwise they will try and make them turn around all the time. The Melbourne Storm have always scored a large percentage of tries through attacking kicks, expect Darius Boyd to get a real test given both NSW halves are excellent attacking kickers. This may be the opportunity for Brett Stewart to get into the game.

Expect Craig Bellamy to line up the debutant Adam Monaghan against Greg Inglis. This sounds strange given Inglis’ form, but it is more to do with the difference, at this stage, between himself and Israel Falou. Falou, despite his youth is a more mature role player. He realizes that with the Storm if he’s playing opposite Mark Gasnier, for example, his defence must be spot on. He knows he may not get that many opportunities and if he can limit his opponent, hurt him in defence, and hurt him when Falou runs the ball himself, he has done his job. Inglis is the more dynamic player and loves running the ball but he must be given responsibility on the field or mentally he can drift – hence Gasnier running through him in game one. Bellamy may be of the belief that Inglis will relax against an opponent who may be perceived as being of lesser quality. That being said Cooper is the better defensively so try and work that out!

Qld have finally sorted out their selections. Hunt may very well be the best fullback in the world when it comes to representative games. Given all their attacking weapons, it was crucial to have another ball player, so expect the combination between Johnathon Thurston, Scott Prince and Cameron Smith to be even more devastating. Prince’s kicking game will be important, he will not want to turn the ball over as many times as he did in the first half at Suncorp Stadium. So great is Qld’s depth that one of their most dangerous backs, Billy Slater, and creative forwards, Sam Thiaday start off the bench.

So there it is. Bring it on. Who will make history – and whose fairytale will come true? It will all be obvious come next Thursday morning!

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Tags: Origin, rugby league, soo, state of origin

This entry was posted on Thursday, June 26th, 2008 at 10:49 am and is filed under Sports. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.