Its State of Origin time!

Its that time of year again!

State of Origin kicks off a week today at ANZ Stadium in Sydney. The Australians are celebrating 30 years of what is the most anticipated three matches of the summer. And with that, the two squads were selected and announced on Monday.

Without further ado, the New South Wales side will be:

1. Kurt Gidley (Newcastle)
2. Brett Morris (St George Illawarra)
3. Matt Cooper (St George Illawarra)
4. Timana Tahu (Parramatta)
5. Jarryd Hayne (Parramatta)
6. Jamie Lyon (Manly)
7. Brett Kimmorley (Bulldogs)
8. Michael Weyman (St George Illawarra)
9. Michael Ennis (Bulldogs)
10. Josh Perry (Manly)
11. Trent Waterhouse (Penrith)
12. Ben Creagh (St George Illawarra)
13. Anthoney Watmough (Manly)

14. Jamal Idris (Bulldogs)
15. Tom Learoyd-Lahrs (Canberra)
16. Luke Lewis (Penrith)
17. Brett White (Melbourne)

I said it last year, and I will say it again this year. New South Wales are missing the quality of half backs that Queensland will have. Its what has cost them the last four series. It was more evident last year than ever when Jamie Soward should have been selected. Terry Campese flopped in game one and they replaced him with Trent Barrett, who past his best before he moved to Wigan and went back to the NRL.All of this was despite Campese had the better game between him and scrum half Peter Wallace. But Wallace gets the second shot in game two and when the series is over by game three they select two players with the combined age of 63 years to run in the halfs and past their best five years ago.

This year they have brought in Jamie Lyon at five eighth. A man who wants to play Origin one minute, then changes his mind the next. Because the selectors for NSW can see that the tried and tested partnership of Darren Lockyer and Jonathan Thurston works for Queensland, they think it will work for them. The only difference is, Lockyer and Thurston have been playing together at representative level for years. They  have played together for Australia since Andrew Johns retired, so have developed a winning partnership that finally clicked many moons ago. The same hasn't developed for NSW because the selectors want immediate success, and after four straight Origin losses who can blame them? But they won't get that series win unless they can gel two players together in the halfs. Then NSW half backs can start to claim that green and gold jersey.

So what of the Queensland team? Here is it:

1. Billy Slater (Melbourne)
2. Darius Boyd (St George Illawarra)
3. Greg Inglis (Melbourne)
4. Willie Tonga (North Queensland)
5. Israel Folau (Brisbane)
6. Darren Lockyer (Brisane)
7. Jonathan Thurston (North Queensland)
8. Matthew Scott (North Queensland)
9. Cameron Smith (Melbourne)
10. Petero Civoniceva (Penrith)
11. Nate Miles (Sydney)
12. Sam Thaiday (Brisbane)
13. Ashley Harrison (Gold Coast)

14. Cooper Cronk (Melbourne)
15. David Shillington (Canberra)
16. Neville Costigan (St George Illawarra)
17. David Taylor (South Sydney)

18. Ben Te'o

For the four Melbourne players, it might be nice to actually play a competitive match for once. Joking aside, that team excels in the half back roles as I mentioned earlier. Other than that, the two teams are very evenly matched. The Queensland backs may have the edge on New South Wales, but I feel the NSW pack is a lot stronger. On paper it might seem very close, but my pre series predictions are an easy pick.

Game one winner: New South Wales. They are on home turf and I think they could be motivated to get that first win on the board early.

Series winner: Queensland. Overall, I can't see anything but a fifth straight series win for the Maroons.

A brief lookback on 2009.

2009.

Eventful. Exciting. Pleasurable. And not without its fair share of controversy. So in the week leading up to the NRL play offs, its best to go over the highlights of what already has been a busy season so far.

I last left you in the aftermath of Martin Gleeson's transfer to Wigan, with a reported £100,000 plus Richie Mathers. I think its fair to say that for Warrington it was the deal of the century. While Mathers hasn't been the perfect fullback, he has performed above expectation considering what his form was like in Wigan's colours. Gleeson on the otherhand missed several games after their loss to Celtic and has done very little in the cherry and white overall since.

Speaking of Celtic, they're starting to remind me of the fictional Harchester United FC which was the focus of the TV drama series, Dream Team. Still only a baby compared to more established clubs, their catapult to the top flight in such a short space of time has seen them struggle to compete this season. An early Challenge Cup exit and with only three wins to their name in the league (Bradford, Wigan and Salford) they have failed to capture anyones imagination, especially the Bridgend locals if you were to read into their home attendance figures. Not wanted by many in Super League to begin the year with, their implosion will have no doubt put a smile on the fans of many Championship clubs. Espicially the fans of Widnes, Halifax and Leigh.
But the real drama occured in August when it was confirmed that no less than six of their first team players were to be deported on the basis of playing and staying in the UK on the wrong visas. The offence is estimated to have occured during the 2007 season in which Celtic were promoted to what was National League One. Captin Jace van Dijk, Tony Duggan, Damien Quinn, Darren Mapp, Mark Dalle Cort, and John Hannay are all alledged to have played under a working holiday visa illegally, despite this practise being allowed in the past and a UK Border Agency rule change preventing this practise between the 2006 and 2007 seasons. Who is to blame remains a closely guarded secret, which may be a first for Rugby League. This story has a million and one complications, as another semi proffesional club had, before the 2007 season, appealed to the UK Border Agency to let its players play under this type of visa and they were granted permission. This was reported in one of the trade newspapaers. So my own personal opintion of this is that is was an administrative error. Thats not to say Celtic shouldn't face the consequences whatever they may be, merely that they may have been careless in applying for visas for their overseas players.

Rugby League is never short of a scandal, and the Australian's have seen to it they are supplying more than their fair share of bad publicity. Countless players have been accused of assault, rape, disorderly behaviour and being intoxicated in a public place. In my opinion the media seem ot be having a field day with the NRL at the moment, reporting on every player that so much as sips a drop of shandy. And if, as an ex-player, you thought no one would expose the wrong doing you did during your day, you can guess again.
I honestly feel sorry for Matthew Johns. Not only has he lost his day job on Channel Nine, but he has no doubt had to relive memories and rebuild his family over events that have occured seven years ago while he was playing for Cronulla. The woman in question is no doubt cashing in on the story being sold to newspapaers. The original police investigation saw no one arrested or found guilty, so why she had to drag these events up is at this time is anyones guess. Although the timing is suspicious after Brett Stewart, Paul Gallen and others were accused of wrong doing in quick succession. Of course these stories do have consequences. I'm talking about the rumours that Coca-Cola were days away from signing a sponcership deal with the RFL to sponsor the Four Nations. League Express reported that a representative of Coca-Cola's visited Australia when a large proportion of player scandals were being unearthed and he reccommended that the multi-million pound company pull out of the deal. If I were Nigel wood at the time, I would have been furious as the RFL have done nothing wrong before the deal collapsed. Its merely Coca-Cola not wanting to tarnish their company's image by associating themselves with a sport that is in a bad light. But amazingly, I don't blame them for pulling the plug.

Now I think its time to talk about some rugby. Queensland secured their record breaking fourth straight State of Origin series win after game two in Sydney. Although in my opinion the player of the series was New South Welshman, Jarryd Hayne. For a player on the losing side, he was nothing short of sensational. A true inspiration which none of his team-mates wanted to follow. when it mattered, New South Wales were outplayed, out-enthused and showed no desire to perform at their best. Overall, NSW's performances can be compared to their captain's, Kurt Gidley. For two games he was more exposed and targeted than Katie Price's breasts on a nudest beach. And for the life of me, I cannot understand what goes on in a NSW selection commitee member's head. They chose to select both the ageing Trent Barrett and Brett Kimmorley in the halfs, while Peter Wallace and Terry Campese were there on merit what they did last season. For me, Jamie Soward can count himself unlucky not to be selected at five/eigth as he has clearly been the best number six in the NRL and as a result St George Illawarra have won the minor premiership, and are odds on to make the grand final.

But as for the NRL, fans in the UK have had a hard time of it over the past few months. Less than 24 hours before game two of State of Origin, Setanta Sports have the plug pulled on them by the administrators after the broadcaster spent millions of pounds it didn't have on football television rights. A well known internet forum almost went into melt down with fans desperatly trying to find illegal internet links that show the game. Thankfully Bigpond, an internet arm of Australian communications giant Telstra who sponsor the NRL itself, saved the day and showed a legal live feed for UK users only. And it would seem that until a UK based broadcaster is found, Bigpond will continue to show NRL matches live for UK users via the net on the following link; http://www.bigpondtv.com/nrllliveuk

More scandal involving rugby league, but this time it was the UK's turn to suffer the humiliation as Gareth Hock was found to have traces of a substance also found in cocaine in a urine sample he presented to random drug testers. Its not uncommon for rugby league players to take recreational drugs. Even the very best took them during their day, didn't they Andrew? Hock's only mistake was that he got caught and as a result he was banned for two years from playing the sport. However, I fail to understand why a young lad with a promising career in front of him would take such substances knowing he could get caught very easily. The RFL take cheating of this kind very seriously, as a result British Rugby League is one of the most scrutinous testers in the eyes of the World Anti-Doping Agency. There are people out there, not just youngsters, who would give their right arm to play Super League and yet Hock has thrown it all away with flour up his nose.

And finally congratulations must go to Warrington for winning their first Challenge Cup since 1974. Also Huddersfield must not be overlooked, as they have looked true dark horses in Nathan Brown's first season in charge, but on the day Warrington were the better side and such is the romance of the Challenge Cup that the best team on the day wins. Bt its seems to have been a year for unexpected successes. Both St George Illawarra and Canterbury have been fighting for the NRL minor premiership all year and as two of Sydney's most well supported clubs both teams successes have seen attendances rise in the NRL despite all the bad publicity. One only hopes that these two meet in the grand final because that is sure to be an exciting climax to the NRL season, and a match not to be missed.

Queensland win Origin 2008 after a tight contest at ANZ Stadium.

Queensland made it three series wins in a row after a thrilling match which continued their dominance over New South Wales. In a game which had just about everything you would expect from an State of Origin match, it was Billy Slater’s try that separated the two sides after both sides were deadlocked at ten points apiece for a large proportion of the second half, the final score being 10-16 to the maroons.

New South Wales went into the half time break leading ten points to eight after a Matt Cooper try and two Craig Fitzgibbon penalties set the benchmark for Queensland to chase. But it was the maroons who scored first after five minutes with Israel Folau calmly collecting Anthony Quinn’s dropped ball a metre from his own line after a Thurston kick piled the pressure on the New South Welshman. Matt Cooper stretched out for his try ten minutes later, but then an amazing effort from Folau secured his second. Again, it was a copy of his first try. Thurston’s kick to Quinn was cruelly snatched away from him by Folau in mid-air, who then took a tumble but placed the ball on the ground one-handed in a style Michael Jordon would be pleased with.

Twice the game was halted for fighting, the first scrap igniting after only two minutes when Petro Civoniceva’s shoulder knocked that blues player’s head. Then in the second half, Nate Myles’ spear tackle on Ben Cross set it off again with both sets of players really letting rip into each other. But with tension’s high and the pressure starting to tell, it was Queensland who defended for their lives and left the blues scoreless in the second stanza.

And rightly so too. It was Chanel Nine commentator Paul Vautin who mentioned it, saying NSW had only scored one try in a hundred and sixty minutes of rugby. NSW didn’t up the tempo when they needed to and were left to pay the price. However, it could easily have been a different story had Scott Prince not left the field with a broken left forearm. Until that point when Queensland realised they had lost their leading player, they were dominant despite being down on points. For the remaining twenty minutes, they were flat and didn’t know really what to do in attack. But again, it was their defensive effort that kept them in it. And when Thurston began his final charge of the series, lifting the maroons’ team to a different level, there was only going to be one winner. However, the work was done off the field as well. Mal Meninga realised Anthony Quinn was a weak link in the blues defence and bombarded him with work all night. It was a terrific effort from the side that was deserving of another Origin win.

And all without Darren Lockyer.

State of Origin III: The Decider.

With the mid-season international on this side of the world taking up time on this side of the hemisphere, the final State of Origin match of 2008 has been ignored a little by me. That is, until now. Reason for this is because I feel internationals should take precedence over domestic competitions. If so, I would be commenting on the European Nations Shield and Pro Bowl. But as coverage and interest is limited, I am rather stuck.

Anyway back on topic, here are the teams for the final State of Origin decider.

NSW:

Brett Stewart,

Jarryd Hayne, Joel Monaghan, Matt Cooper, Anthony Quinn,

Braith Anasta,
Mitchell Pearce,

Willie Mason, Danny Buderus (capt), Brett White,
Craig Fitzgibbon, Ryan Hoffman,
Paul Gallen.

Kurt Gidley, Anthony Laffranchi, Ben Cross, Anthony Tupou.

QLD:

Karmichael Hunt,

Darius Boyd, Greg Inglis, Brent Tate, Israel Folau,

Johnathan Thurston,
Scott Prince,

Steve Price, Cameron Smith (capt), Petero Civoniceva,
Michael Crocker, Ashley Harrison,
Dallas Johnson.

Billy Slater, Ben Hannant, Nate Myles, Sam Thaiday.

One big change by Queensland is Ashley Harrison comes in at second row; otherwise there are no real changes to the side that thrashed NSW at Suncorp. Scott Prince will defiantly start for the maroons after Darren Lockyer was ruled out of the series indefinatly three weeks ago. For the home side I cannot recall a single change from the side beaten heavily in Brisbane. That is until I remembered Joel Monaghan will start centre in replace of, what looks like, Mark Gasnier.

The question is who will win? Queensland don’t like ANZ Stadium’s conditions on a Wednesday night with the moisture of the surface and coldness compared to being at home. However they by far have the better side, so mix the two together and you’ll have an exciting contest. Really it all depends how Mal Meninga’s side adapt to the conditions in Sydney, and end their dismal record at the Olympic Stadium.

Unfortunately, I will be on holiday the day of the game. So once I get back, the DVD will be on and this blog updated ASAP. Enjoy the game, and if you have my mobile number don’t bother texting me the score.

Focusing on Australia.

When I set this blog up, I intended it to cover all aspects of Rugby League. That includes foreign domestic competitions whenever any news should wind its way into my ears. But so far I have been increasingly taking any news from foreign competitions with a pinch of salt before turning the page in the League Express and start worrying about other things. This is especially true in the case of the NRL this year. So as Setanta Sports finally decide to show three regular season games for the first time this year in the build up to State of Origin II, I think its time I did a brief round up of how things are looking down under, starting with State of Origin II.

So it seems the Queensland selectors took my first piece of advice, drop Karmichael Hunt. Hunt has been selected to come off the bench for the maroons, probably to replace Billy Slater who somehow manages to keep the full back jersey. Steve Price meanwhile, is in for Carl Webb and a shuffle in the three-quarters means Darius Boyd is replacing Justin Hodges. But the big news is Darren Lockyer will play at five-eighth, however there is currently doubt over the fitness of Johnathan Thurston. Scott Prince has been drafted in as, what Mal Meninga calls “a safety net”.

South of the border, New South Wales were no doubt gutted to hear Jarryd Hayne will miss the second match and probably the series. Hayne received a three-match ban on Wednesday, which means he will have no chance of proving himself for selection in the lead up to the final match. Melbourne winger Steve Turner has been brought in to replace the Parramatta three-quarter. However the good news neutralises the bad, as Mark Gasnier was cleared to play centre for the blues after a hamstring scare. In the forwards, Craig Fitzgibbon starts at prop while Steve Simpson and Kurt Gidley will be benchwarmers for the second match. But after all of that I cannot see a blues victory, as the combination of Lockyer and Thurston will split the blues defence like an office paper shredder.

On the field, Sydney Roosters have had an impressive season after missing out on the play offs for the past two seasons. Brad Fittler showed last year his capabilities to be a coach guiding the Sydney side to a rather improved run of form compared to Chris Anderson’s. He has carried this on and managed to guide them to third place after seven games. Melbourne and Manly continue to dominate the head of the league ladder as well, just as they did last year but with more competition. Gold Coast have been the surprise form team this year in only their second season. Just missing out of the play offs in 2007, at one stage of the season they were leading the pack until a badly timed loss to Cronulla dropped them into joint second. Cronulla themselves were another side going strong in the early rounds of the competition, but never improved on early success slipping down a little before catching up with four other sides on sixteen points. Before the season started North Queensland were my tip for Grand Final glory. This seems to have been a mis-judgement as they are second to bottom above South Sydney, who are once again facing the wooden spoon after reaching the play offs last year for the first time since 1989.

Off-field its not good news for the Sydney clubs. NSW government has imposed new taxes, which are starting to cripple the leagues club’s income. Added to the factor of other laws such as a smoking ban and other similarities that are affecting British pubs in this country. League clubs are such a major source of income for Sydney based clubs due to the high amount of competition for supporters, as there are many different teams and sports going on in Sydney. Apart from the nine NRL clubs, there is the AFL’s Sydney Swans, Super 14’s New South Wales Waratahs, Sydney FC participating in the A-League and the New South Wales Blues in cricket. Although the last two are played in the Australian summer, it is still a burden on spectator’s pockets. So what do the Aussies do? Relocate a few Sydney sides? No. Do you not remember the ambitious idea Super League had in 1997? The three expansion clubs didn’t go down too well in Perth, Adelaide and Auckland. Melbourne came after the Super League War and, with league official’s brain in gear after successful attendances in State of Origin matches played at the MCG. But apart from stints eleven years ago, the ARL hasn’t really tried to expand the sport further apart than the eastern states. If the NRL were to relocate, the ARL has to start playing State of Origin matches in Perth, Adelaide and Darwin first, before setting up a club to locate there on a regular basis. But this is a complex idea for the stability of NRL clubs, whoever and wherever they may be. Not necessarily a solution.

Blues underperform as Maroons collapse beneath them.

Wednesday saw the first game of this years State of Origin series, as well as the last representative game Billy Slater will play for a long while. But Slater was not the only culprit having a shocker, as an out of position Karmichael Hunt showed why he won’t be following the same career path as Darren Lockyer. With the Brisbane five-eighth injured, Scott Prince was duly overlooked by selectors as Hunt was considered too good to lose. With other positions occupied he was thrown the No6 jersey and, I assume, was told to hope for the best.

However, this wasn’t the selector’s only mistake, according to Phil Gould on Channel Nine. Don’t ask me what difference it makes but debutant Israel Folau should have played on the opposite wing to the one he played. Personally, and as a hard-grafting forward myself, I fail to see the difference between left and right especially as a debutant with little cohesion and social interaction with his centres. But who am I to question a former Origin coach’s opinion?

On the other side of the pitch however, Peter Wallace showed his capabilities as an Origin player with a very good performance in the scrum half role. He and Greg Bird linked up effortlessly to combine and provide quality ball to either side of the park, with Bird adding the extra quality of a personal stunning defensive effort. Another debutant who made an impact was Anthony Quinn, who also scored the game’s first two tries as well as denying Brent Tate a try in the corner late in the second half. Credit must also go to coach Craig Bellamy, who planned a tactical win against many of his Melbourne players playing for the maroons.

So what now for game two? Well if I were a Queensland selector I would get Darren Lockyer on the park no matter how fit he is. He combines well with Thurston and has done for a long time. Its no wonder they are both Australia’s first choice five eighth and halfback. If Lockyer is unavailable they must go for Scott Prince at five eighth before they go 2-0 down in the series. I would also keep Karmichael Hunt in at fullback with Slater being dropped or left in Melbourne.

As for NSW, I honestly wouldn’t change a thing. But if all the above happens, Queensland will, on paper at least, crush NSW.

The greatest rivalry in world sport is heating up.

The two State of Origin teams announced their squads today and the surprise news is that full back Karmichael Hunt is to begin the first game at five-eighth (stand off). Peter Wallace, Broncos youngster, was also called up to play in the scrum half role for New South Wales after Kurt Gidley’s injury ruled him out. Staying with the Blues camp, Craig Fitzgibbon returns to the Origin cauldron after an absence of two years on the interchange bench while Israel Folau remains in the position he played for Australia against New Zealand last weekend on the wing outside Justin Hodges. Newbie Jarryd Hayne, who scored one of the finest Origin tries I have ever seen last year, is back on the NSW wing up against Folau playing outside Mark Gasnier. Johnathan Thurston will partner Hunt at scrum half while Greg Bird will partner Wallace at five-eighth. The full backs will be Billy Slater for the maroons and Brett Stewart for the Blues.

The full teams are listed below.

Queensland

Billy Slater

Brent Tate

Greg Inglis

Justin Hodges

Israel Folau

Karmichael Hunt

Johnathan Thurston

Carl Webb

Cameron Smith (c)

Petro Civoniceva

Michael Crocker

Sam Thaiday

Dallas Johnson

PJ Marsh

Ben Hannant

Nate Myles

Jacob Lillyman

New South Wales

Brett Stewart

Jarryd Hayne

Mark Gasnier

Matt Cooper

Anthony Quinn

Greg Bird

Peter Wallace

Brett White

Danny Buderus (c)

Ben Cross

Ryan Hoffman

Willie Mason

Paul Gallen

Anthony Laffranchi

Anthony Tupou

Craig Fitzgibbon

Ben Hornby