You are probably wondering why I have not listed the Queensland and New South Wales sides heading into State Of Origin three.
The reason is, it doesn’t really matter who was named.
Queensland have named a very strong side, they have dropped Ben Hannant for Petero Civoniceva. They looked great.
New South Wales on the other hand look like a complete mess.
We have got to the end of New South Wales fifth straight series loss, and we have no plan for the future. There is no clear path we are leading. There is no core of a side that you can be sure we can build a winning Origin team around.
Michael Jennings, Josh Morris and Jamal Idris are three of the best young centers in the game. Two of them were playing Test football last October.
Between them they have a combined total of one bench appearance and one start in the 2010 series.
Jarryd Hayne, last years Dally M Medal winner, has played just one game at fullback so far this series. He will play his second game at fullback in the third match.
Kurt Gidley started the series at fullback, as captain. Moved to the bench, as captain. Now he is on the bench, but he is no longer the captain.
We’re looking to the future, but in game one the halfback was Brett Kimmorley. he was dropped for Mitchell Pearce in game two, because we are looking to the future. In game three, Trent Barrett, who is going to retire at seasons end, was named at five-eight, and as captain.
In the forwards, its such a mess that I’m not even going to attempt to work out what they are thinking.
You would have hoped that in 2010, you would at least be able to say that we have a core of a team to build around, and we simply don’t.
The next New South Wales coach basically has to start all over again. They need to start from scratch, reset the whole thing, the combination, the way the team plays, even down to telling players how they should be defending at this level.
Between the New South Wales Rugby League management, the selectors, the team management and the coach, they are completely destroyed any solidarity New South Wales had at Origin level.
On Wednesday night, I’ll be watching the third State Of Origin game very differently.
I will be hoping Michael Jennings goes well. I’ll be hoping we see the back row of Paul Gallen, Luke Lewis and Greg Bird really stepping up and dominating the game.
I’m hoping I see SOMETHING from Mitchell Pearce, anything at all to suggest he might be up to playing in a winning side at ANY level.
I hope that Jarryd Hayne finds his way, I’m worried that 2009 was form and not the reality of what he is capable as a fullback. I hope to see Brett Morris get some ball and finds some space.
I hope to see Kade Snowden and Tom Learoyd-Lahrs get on a roll and demand they are the starting.
As a New South Wales fan, hope for the future is all you have left, because the fact is that right now, there is nothing good happening for our state or Origin time.
