2024 State of Origin

[cmorrison9]

The goldfish like memory of the media and fans is quite amusing.

NSW Lose game 1
Win game 2 convincingly.
3 weeks of media beat up about how NSW are basically unbeatable.
Lose game 3 at Suncorp.

That was SOO 2022 (i.e 2 years ago).

Apart from Andrew Webster, every other “jurno” has rubbed it from the memory banks while waxing lyrical about how this NSW team will be unbeatable in Brisbane.

Spare me.

Agree. Couldn’t have scripted it any better.

 

[Kempy]

I’m under no illusion how difficult this will be for the Blues to play a decider up there.

The biggest X Factor the Blues have is Latrell. Queensland will be having nightmares about him again. In a tight contest he needs to see more ball than he did the other night.

My worry is that Jerome Luai isn’t that guy. We saw how often he took it himself and just ran back inside. The play after Crichton made the intercept and the Blues were spreading the ball out only for Jerome to go himself and kill the play.

We really only saw Luai get early ball to Latrell once. That was for the To’o try.

 

[Prowsey]

I’m under no illusion how difficult this will be for the Blues to play a decider up there.

The biggest X Factor the Blues have is Latrell. Queensland will be having nightmares about him again. In a tight contest he needs to see more ball than he did the other night.

My worry is that Jerome Luai isn’t that guy. We saw how often he took it himself and just ran back inside. The play after Crichton made the intercept and the Blues were spreading the ball out only for Jerome to go himself and kill the play.

We really only saw Luai get early ball to Latrell once. That was for the To’o try.

I would add that playing Murray at 13 is a must.

It’s not been spoken about too much, but Murray and Haas in tandem tore apart the Qld middle.

I know I say this a lot, but unless our forwards set the platform, we will be demolished in Brisbane.

Only way we are going to win is keeping Murray on the field for as long as possible.

Yeo is not the player he was. Not sure if he’s carrying an injury but he’s nothing like he was in 21/22.

And why we would name Jake as captain and then play him for 29 and 31 minutes is beyond me. He is not up to origin and needs to be “retired” immediately.

But if we can get Haas and Murray carving them up in the middle and Chricton and Martin terrorising them on an edge, we have a chance.

Oh and Leniu coming on and providing that punch through the middle at the back end of halves too.

 

[Kent Brockman]

The goldfish like memory of the media and fans is quite amusing.

NSW Lose game 1
Win game 2 convincingly.
3 weeks of media beat up about how NSW are basically unbeatable.
Lose game 3 at Suncorp.

That was SOO 2022 (i.e 2 years ago).

Apart from Andrew Webster, every other “jurno” has rubbed it from the memory banks while waxing lyrical about how this NSW team will be unbeatable in Brisbane.

Spare me.

Yep, QLD will have absolutely no scars from SOO2.
If given the chance they would play the third game tomorrow. Whenever. They don't care. They believe they'll win.

 

[Pplspoet]

The 3 game series is a difficult beast.

The teams are generally fairly evenly matched talent wise, so to win 2 in a row generally takes a fairly dominant performance.

NSW managed it in 2021 and 2019.

But fell to Prowsey’s suggested fate in 2022, 2020 and 2017, following up entirely dominant wins with a series loss.

It’s less a rule and more a cautionary tale that NSW have a history of maybe getting a little bit too happy with themselves at times after big wins.

 

[Gazman]

I suggested this on Twitter the other night and was shocked at how many people were against this.

That was also discussed on 360 and they made the point that Moses relished being the playmaker and the consensus was having Cleary in the team would cramp his style to some extent. I honestly can’t see the need or point of mucking about with the role of the best player on the field in O2 for an unnecessary change. Moses was brilliant, he’s enough…..

 

[Pplspoet]

That was also discussed on 360 and they made the point that Moses relished being the playmaker and the consensus was having Cleary in the team would cramp his style to some extent. I honestly can’t see the need or point of mucking about with the role of the best player on the field in O2 for an unnecessary change. Moses was brilliant, he’s enough…..

Again, you think Cleary wouldn’t have been as good in a side that dominated the opposition across the park?

Personally I hope they stick with Moses (assuming Cleary is actually available). Better for QLD.

 

[brend]

The 3 game series is a difficult beast.

The teams are generally fairly evenly matched talent wise, so to win 2 in a row generally takes a fairly dominant performance.

NSW managed it in 2021 and 2019.

But fell to Prowsey’s suggested fate in 2022, 2020 and 2017, following up entirely dominant wins with a series loss.

It’s less a rule and more a cautionary tale that NSW have a history of maybe getting a little bit too happy with themselves at times after big wins.

I noticed how focussed and subdued the celebrations at FT were by the blues. There was a definite “one more before we can really celebrate” vibe going on. Maguire has done a great job so far.

 

[Smiths Crisps]

The fact Qld came back in the second half will give Madge ammunition and help NSW focus. QLD won’t be so easy as NSW won’t get the leg-up penalties they did in game 2. I think NSW still wins if they can keep out of the crap QLD creates when behind (see second half).

 

[Prowsey]

Again, you think Cleary wouldn’t have been as good in a side that dominated the opposition across the park?

Personally I hope they stick with Moses (assuming Cleary is actually available). Better for QLD.

He may have been able to stop Luai running around in circles like a headless chook.

Nathan Cleary is objectively the best halfback in the comp (definitely the best who is eligible for NSW).

Cleary at half and Moses at 5/8 would be an impressive halves combo.

 

[Kempy]

That was also discussed on 360 and they made the point that Moses relished being the playmaker and the consensus was having Cleary in the team would cramp his style to some extent. I honestly can’t see the need or point of mucking about with the role of the best player on the field in O2 for an unnecessary change. Moses was brilliant, he’s enough…..

I watched Moses play a support role to Cody Walker last year. Did his job and didn’t overplay his hand.

Things went well for him the other night. He won’t have it as easy in Game 3. One thing I do know about Moses is he will be better at getting clear ball to Latrell than Luai would.

It looks like this is a pointless debate though. Cleary won’t be available and Madge won’t make changes. I just feel like Luai will kill off attacking chances too often. Walker would be a better option. Although I don’t want him near origin.

 

[Gazman]

Again, you think Cleary wouldn’t have been as good in a side that dominated the opposition across the park?

Personally I hope they stick with Moses (assuming Cleary is actually available). Better for QLD.

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.

 

[Pplspoet]

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.

 

[MiniCooper]

There’s been a lot of comment on how the blues dominated, but that was just the first half. Fact is blues lost the second half by a considerable margin. Focus should be on fixing that. Whether that means improving strategy or the team make up I’ll leave that to the experts. But that was a concern to me.

 

[Pplspoet]

The lopsided nature of both contests to date sets up a fascinating game 3. From that perspective, the lacklustre nature of the first 2 games hopefully serves up a peach game 3.