State of Origin is now 20 days away, and the selection call that could define Laurie Daley’s second coming as NSW coach is looming.
The big call for Laurie is whether he puts the band back together and places Isaah Yeo, Nathan Cleary, Jarome Luai and Dylan Edwards together as his attacking centrepiece.
The advantage of doing this is obvious. The Penrith premiership winners know each other’s games so well, and picking Luai would be like welcoming him back into the family.
What this would mean for NSW, and we’ve seen it in previous series, is that they’d play a very similar style to Penrith. It’s an incredibly successful game plan that has delivered four premierships by grinding away, waiting for the opposition to crack, and then nailing them.
There’s only one problem, but it has been exposed at Origin level before – the best players in the world can absorb that pressure for longer periods of time because they’re the fittest, toughest and mentally strongest athletes in the game.
So whoever Daley picks at five-eighth – whether that’s Mitchell Moses or Luai, and whoever he picks at fullback – Edwards or James Tedesco – is going to dictate what style NSW play.
Blues hopefuls Jarome Luai and Mitchell Moses.Credit: Getty Images/Jamie Brown
Looking at the Blues’ strike weapons, there is so much firepower on either edge of the field. The band just has to get the ball out wide when it’s on, which means breaking out of that Penrith structure. That’s Nathan Cleary’s job.
In Origin II last year, the Blues left edge of Angus Crichton, Latrell Mitchell and Brian To’o couldn’t be stopped on the back of Moses realising this. He fired long balls to Luai and isolated Queensland in one-on-one tackles.
This year, you’ll have the same set-up with either Latrell or Bradman Best at centre – a selection call I think will be decided this weekend.
And on the right, you’ll have Liam Martin, Cleary, and a combination of Stephen Crichton, Tom Trbojevic and Zac Lomax. With any quick play-the-ball, the halves and spine just have to get the ball wide quickly.
So the question is, what style does Laurie want to play? Because a Cleary-Moses combination in the halves is going to play with a lot more width based on their natural games.
If he gets the band back together with Cleary and Luai, they’ve got the combination they’ve honed since they were teenagers and that Penrith style. That’s where to the left, it’s Yeo playing link man to Cleary and Luai, which potentially cramps up the outside backs. And on the right again, you’ve got Yeo going to Cleary and Edwards.
Thinking as Laurie Daley for a moment, this is the backline I think he picks: Dylan Edwards, Brian To’o, Latrell Mitchell or Bradman Best, Stephen Crichton or Tom Trbojevic, Zac Lomax. And up front: Isaah Yeo is lock with Angus Crichton and Liam Martin in the back row, Mitch Barnett and Payne Haas at prop and Reece Robson at hooker, with Connor Watson, Spencer Leniu, Haumole Olakau’atu and Hudson Young off the bench.
As for what he does in the halves, though? I don’t know yet, I’ve chopped and changed myself as well. But one thing I do know is that will move dictate the style of footy the Blues play.
That’s entertainment: No.7s to lead try-scoring shootout
As for the game right in front of us on Thursday night, I thought Parramatta played well last Friday night against the Sharks and could have won the game if a few things had fallen their way.
A 28-18 loss was just a four-point margin with 10 minutes to go, while the Dolphins were beaten 36-26 by the Roosters, but that scoreline doesn’t tell the full story either.
The Roosters switched off in that game, and the Dolphins were never in it. They were down 30-8 with 15 minutes to go.
Given the fast, dry track at Commbank Stadium and Parramatta’s last two wins there, I think we’re in for a try-scoring shoot-out. Both sides have speed and strike out wide, and I think it will take 28-30 points to win this game.
The key match-up for me is Mitchell Moses up against Isaiya Katoa. They’re both great halves, and if I’m to compare them, Moses probably has five-to-six years of NRL left in him, while Katoa could still be playing for another 15 years.
Moses has got a longer kicking game, and he loves those long, scything passes to his outside backs. Katoa is a bigger body, he’s a better defender, and no one plays straighter into the line than him as a playmaker.
When Cleary and Moses are coming to an end as the Blues’ halfback option in five years, it will be Katoa who takes over from them.
I’m leaning towards the Dolphins in an entertaining, high-scoring affair.
For mine, they have a stronger bench and an advantage in their edge forwards Kulikefu Finefeuiaki and Connelly Lemuelu. Herbie Farnworth will also be looking to improve after a really quiet game against the Roosters where he was found out defensively.
Joey’s tip: Dolphins by four
First try-scorer: Herbie Farnworth
Man-of-the-match: Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow
Keep the Magic in Brisbane
Magic Round was once again sensational and probably the best version of the event I’ve been to yet. Not even the rain and slippery conditions could take the shine off.
Fifty-six points in the Warriors-Cowboys game, then 62 between the Tigers and Dragons was just great entertainment. There’s been talk, as usual, of taking Magic Round on the road, but there shouldn’t be. Its home is Brisbane, and it always should be.
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