No doubt Cleary would have relished having that ideal platform and being the class player he is he would have taken full advantage but I’m not sure that he’d have done any better than Moses did on the night. His performance certainly demands that he holds that spot.
IMO Luai wasn’t poor but a conservative coach like Maguire isn’t likely to make any changes to a winning team.
What if the game had been tighter, more physical, and NSW had been on the back foot for 60 minutes? Do you think Moses would have done as well as Cleary in that situation?
What if you were just picking a team from scratch for game 3? Would you have Moses ahead of Cleary?
This isn’t an NRL premiership game, with finite squad sizes, salary caps, and a season to play out.
It’s a one off game where you have access to every healthy NSW player (and this is assuming Cleary is healthy).
The ‘you can’t change a winning team’ mantra is as flawed as the ‘well, his team won the comp last year, so maybe we pick him’ approach. It’s doesn’t stand up to actual reason.
If there is a better team to be picked, for what will be a different game, in different circumstances, with different ebbs and flows, and different skills required, then you pick the best players available.
The only reason you pick Mitch Moses ahead of Nathan Cleary (again, assuming he’s fit and available), is if you think Mitch Moses is a better halfback than Nathan Cleary. Then, have at it.