ORIGIN '11

Well, it's just around the corner lads. Unfortunately my Blues will head in as major underdogs again with some question marks over a few heads in the team. Here it is:

Josh Dugan
Brett Morris
Michael Jennings
Mark Gasnier
Akuila Uate
Jamie Soward
Mitchell Pearce
Jason King
Michael Ennis
Kade Snowden
Beau Scott
Greg Bird
Paul Gallen (c)

Ben Creagh
Trent Merrin
Tim Mannah
Dean Young


Some fairly average players in there I think. Jason King, Dean Young leap out immediately. Tim Mannah?? Trouble in the halves as usual, having to play against JT and Lockyer will be fucken hard. I like both Merrin and Snowden - 2 of the form props in the comp at imo. Is Josh Dugan match fit? Anyone know more about Michael Gordon's injury? That guy is the goods.

I like Jamie Soward. He's been steering the best club team in the world strongly for the last 2 years now and it's time he was in the team. Especially when the only other option is a fairly average Jarrod Mullen. People say his defence is frail, but I've heard a few of those Aussie analysts say that it isn't really true (Laurie Daley in particular) and really his biggest weakness is that he plays to deep and is too reluctant to attack the line. That said, he's the obvious choice atm and I hope he goes like the clappers.



gc.

Gordon did his ACL and is gone for the season.

also, wtf is up with NSW players making themselves unavailable for selection? Both Lyon and Cooper have basically turned their back on the jumper.

Like they were saying on the Sunday Footy Show (or maybe the Sunday Roast), you'll never see a QLDer do that :>>>>

Man he must be fucking slutted.

Re: Lyon and Cooper... Yeah not sure there. Seems very odd. I wouldn't pick Lyon anyway, but Matt Cooper is a fucken tough nugget and would be a starter in Blue for sure. Rather curious and we can only assume that it's down to some kind of ideology or personality clash.

:/

gc.

How did Jennings make it and Idris not even make the 17?

Soward is a beast and I really hope when NSW lose game one he doesnt get dropped. Maybe they picked King because they want some flair up front? You got Gallen, Bird, Ennis who all get under your skin and Kings pretty physical.

There is a rumor going round that Lillyman will make the bench for QLD and if Maloney keeps up the way hes playing he might even get a run @ 6.

QLD to win 2-1

haha didn't know Maloney was a QLDer. Like him even more now

There'd have to be a lot of injuries for him to get past Cronk, Lockyer, Thurston and Prince, no?

Hahahaha :>

I meant for NSW.

dont know why i didnt include in the NSW bit

What a faget! :>

Haha yeah I thought he was unlucky not to get a look in for the Country Origin side.

I now officially hate all NSW supporters. You are all fagets to me. :>

Should we do another pub mish this year?

BTW I thought Jennings was extremely lucky to get ahead of Idris and Robbie Farah was unlucky but was probably undone by a terrible game this weekend. Dean Young is the sort of player that would thrive in origin tho IMO. Rugged, clever, bit of a cock, a typical NSW hooker in other words.

I will be ignoring all comments about heart etc this year.

:>

gc.

NSW are going to get smoked...I bet there'll be wholesale changes for game 2. Forwards look pretty good though.

Jamie Soward is a cock, I hope he gets rattled

NSW to get killed first up then complacency to kick in and after a narrow and narrow victory in game 2 NSW turn it on and win game 3 to take the series. Queenslanders claim some BS about heart in losing. floods, and conspiracy although several weeks later while underperforming Queensland players start disappearing, Billy Moore is implicated and committed as on his defence just consists of yelling 'Queenslander' every few seconds.

In short NSW 2-1.

I'll bide my time.

Im not sure if Ive ever disliked a NSW side more. I hate Ricky Stuart and he has made dubious changes but has predictably included Gallen and Bird who have had more than enough chances, (at least he dropped Watmough who is in the same category). I dont pretend to watch the scene well enough to know what NSW guys deserve a chance ......but there must be SOMEBODY.

All in alll I think NSW will be pumped again 3-0 and 10-20 point margins, Stuart may have been coach the last time we won but I have no faith in the guy whatsoever ...def fascinated to see if I can somehow be wrong though

and Im up for the pub mission. We normally work it so its the game in NSW right...

Keen for The Drake again as we seemed to have a good crowd there last time!



gc.

I really hope NSW somehow luckbox the first game just to make it a challenge for QLD.

Down for The Drake

Drake is a good venue, suprisingly empty too so we can dominate

The thing I love most about Ricky Stuart is that I hate him enough to get over my natural sympathy for the underdog and hate NSW all the more.

But I'm down for another Drake mish. :> You wanna wait for the 2nd game Maestey?

And oooooo love the controversy straight away with the non inclusion of Hayne and the subsequent reaction. :>

Too many city poofs prob watching fkn soccer @ Fox's or some shit.

:>

gc.

lulz @ Mel Meninga's fuck up :>

http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/rugby-league/state-of-origin/cover-blown-on-origin-side-20110516-1epqz.html

QLD side largely picks itself...

Still - Lillyman > Dallas Johnson?

Fuck no.



gc.

Yeah, pretty fkn weird.

No Hodges or Inglis will be a *huge* relief to NSW though. Game 1 should be a cracker!

He wanted an extra prop. I thnk the correct comparison is Ashley Harrison over Dallas Johnson which I don't really agree with either. Bit short in the centres! Dane Nielsen will hardly have anyone shaking in their boots.

Inglis is hardly inspiring fear this year - definitely more relieved that Hodges is out. He's been a fkn badman.



gc.

80 MINUTES YOU FUCKING CUNTS!



gc.

Iffy performance from my beloved QLD. Only Matthew Scott was a stand out everyone else was very solid.

NSW should take a lot from the game though. Jennings played great, Ennis was good off the bench. Gasiner was shit house, none of the forwards has any punch.

Soward played average and will be dropped for game 2 - Mullen to step in? Maloney?

I would really only bring Farah (in for Young) and Idris (in fr Gasiner) as the only real changes.

The refs were crap too.

haha watching Sky News now and Ennis such a fkn dog.

Cameras have caught him going out of his way to stomp on Cooper Cronks leg.

Dick

Idris in for Gasnier definitely
Young has to go but can't think of who to bring in at present
Thought Ennis was shit actually, would way rather have Farah there

Would not drop Soward imo - nobody playing 2 wide in that game was going to succeed. They were only making 30 odd metres almost every set so fuck knows how you can expect anyone to be in the game when they're copping such a fucken battering up the middle on both sides of the ball. If anyone wants to blame JS for any of last night's performance they can fuck off...

Would still like to see Maloney there though!



gc.

I personally wouldn't drop Soward.

Him and Pierce started hitting their straps around the 60m mark and will improve if they stay together for the second game.

Stuart might have a different opinion. They had Soward becuase of his kicking game, not one of his kicks last time were good by his standard. If the coach brought you in to complete a job and you don't, he might drop ya.

Someone compared the Blues last night to the Dragons (and when you've got senior players from a great team, you would adapt their play style). Great defence but no real strike power.

Why do people keep saying their defence was good?

They did well to shut down some 5th tackle options, but the reality is we got fucking smashed up the middle and conceded a stupid amount of metres. Plus that set that led to the Slater try was limp dick crap.



gc.

mainly because they held off about 6 straight sets on their goal line and only allowed in 3 tries for basically the Australian backline

Ya exactly... They spent a ridiculous amount of time on defense; they could've been 18-0 down at half time pretty easily but kept it close with great D

I think smf means a different type of defence. Its one thing to scramble well on your line and somewhat flukely avoid conceding points, and then something completely different to be dominated in the ruck and allow the easy metres which set up the desperate goal line scrambling situations in the 1st place. Queensland dominated the collisions most of the time, and thats whats needed to be sorted out to win game 2 and 3. Not counting on more good scrambling

The way they allowed Queensland to instantly march back up upfield and score right after taking the lead was horrendous, and rather un-origin. Should have been belting them

Exactly.



gc.

Definitely the hardest thing for me to take. Not the fact that QLD scored, just the complete lac of resistance throughout that whole set at the time they should have been firrd up and making them fight for eveyr metre. Pride, heart etc.

Yeah this. Defence starts from tackle 1 and QLD were allowed easy metres the whole game. Conversely, NSW were constantly strangled in the middle of the park which is why Soward was not allowed the time and opportunity to exercise his long kicking game.

I forgot about this thread.



So what you're saying Jono... Is that NSW had no pride or heart? :>

QUEENSLANDEEEEERRRRR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

NSW LOL

Bring in Hopate who is leaving the game this year so they cant mould him for the future. Dugan played average in game one and they give him an extra day to maybe make the team. No Farah? Playing Hayne out of position? No Brett Stewart?

& then you move your best forward this year to prop. wtf

QLD by 26

& Gidley!?

Jesus, NSW are going to get thrashed for years

Gallen pretty much plays like a prop anyway so no big change there, but the lack of props on the bench would be a bit worrying.

lol at the turnaround on playing Hayne out of position from Stuart. Fucking clueless and quite insane imo.

btw is it this Wednesday or next? Always forget how long between games

Next Wed I think.

lol NSW lol

even worse, rumor has it Dugan won't play and Mini will fill @ fullback.

are these cunts serious? put a 31 year old who hasnt played orgin in years and keep Hayne and Hopate out of position?

embarrassing

Are you guys thick? Hayne is obviously not going to be playing out of position, Ricky thinks he is a wing and not a fullback.

Ricky said he was a five eighth, unless this is one of those *Re-Action* jokes that only *Re-Action* gets.

Wednesday week fullas, three weeks between games.

Hayne is not being "played out of position" as such. He's been selected as a wing to cover the injured Brett Morris. There's a difference. Paul Gallen will go fine up front, his stats are as good as most props in the NRL already.

Drake?

I'm down. I'm on call again tho which is a right bastard. :-/

It's next week though yeah?



gc.

Ja! Next week.

Could be keen.

Jono has to keep his voice down though.



gc.

Once I'm drunk all bets are off.

Haha. How to tell when Jono enters the drunkzone...

Keen.

Unfortunately lacking in beer funding tonight lads. Weekend's antics biting me hard etc.

Home viewing required.



gc.

Im out too, doing stupid hours right now so Im too rooted for pub steez.... Shame cos we are gonna crush you cunts tonight!@1

Heh. I've been awake since midnight, so I might be flakey too.

Gallen MOM and I would like to apologise for doubting the selection of Minichiello... Uate was immense, and of course Luke Lewis... Bring on Lang Park.

Too many mistakes from Queensland. I expect them to sort out their shit by the next game and dominate completely.

Really? Couldn't be just that the Blues played better... That would be crazy!

All the stats were nearly equal. Blues made their share of mistakes too... Trying to find stats online but can't seem to.

Roll:

gc.

Absolutely immense performance from Paul Gallen. One of the best Origin games I've ever seen.



gc.

This.

QLD got out origined last night.

The crowd was the main reason I think NSW won. Along with a great debut from Hopate, a excellent return to the jumper from Mini (who I thought would flop) and the best performance I've ever seen a NSW forward give

Towards the end of the game they showed the handling errors and Queensland had made twice as many as NSW. 8-4 I think ...and that was before Inglis failed to regather that ball and run down the field as well. Adding to that, Queensland made errors when on attack several times which meant NSW hardly got put under sustained pressure on their goal line. I expect that will change in the final game.

That's still buggar all handling errors really, it points more to how good NSW were at competing their sets than QLD being poor.

No Jono, obviously NSW didn't play well, it's all about Queensland!



gc.

Looks like QLD had 7 handling errors INCLUDING Inglis knock down and the end.



They were just outplayed. Although that table is not 100% correct given the Soward missed the early (stupid) penalty goal.



gc.

Yeah NSW triumph despite a complete lack of pride and heart.

And talent... Don't forget talent!

Also, better stats here: http://www.sportal.com.au/League-MatchCentre/24/5773

Errors: NSW 4 - 7 QLD
Pens: NSW 4 - 5 QLD

Hardly lop sided, especially considering QLD were superior in line breaks.



gc.

Fuck, I knew I shouldn't have gone to bed after first half.

NSW played a better game last night. They prevented Lockyer and Thurston from playing their kicking game and that unsettled QLD. I think it was one of the best SOO games we have had in years. Gallen was a fucken machine.

Inglis is getting some unwarrented stick from douch bags. The guy did more meters, more tackle breaks, line breaks and offloads than any of the other centers on both sides. Bar his two handling errors he was really involved considering he had had one game since the ANZAC test.

Slater cracks me up, is there ever a pressure game where he doesn't fuckup?

Nice one for religion fucking btw, Hopoate def looking the goods.

I hope someone pile drives Ennis into the ground, either SOO or when he plays for his faggot team, I fucken hate that cunt.

http://livescores.smh.com.au/matches/nrl/match9985.html much better stats on the game.

NSW played superbly last night, especially Gallen. Fuck that guys is a beast!

Game 3 should be a cracker!

That's why he's in the team. For a bit of fire and niggle. Farah is a better player but doesn't have the fortitude for Origin. You can see Ennis loves the slap and tickle and the big game atmosphere.



gc.

Wow so much better!



gc.

Was Ennis the guy last night that was just eyeballing Sam Thaiday and screaming in his face during some push and shove?

Oath, I don't disagree with what he is going, just want someone to smash him

Yeah, and I think Bird (?) as well.



gc.

Fucken hell, listen to you guys!


Great game, closer contest than it's been in a while. Very entertaining. Too many errors by the reds and they seemed to turn off towards the end there.

NSW turned up and stayed the whole match, simple as that. There's no way they were going to let themselves lose this one.

So what you're saying is Queensland lacked heart?

Heh, the tension!

Was a great game, what a try from Hopoate! That was an amazing feat to achieve that.

I don't know about Queensland in this series, in the first game they seemed to be cruising for most of the game, only picking up when they had to and in last nights game they seemed flustered and disjointed. Props to NSW for being hungrier and the gameplan of putting pressure on Lockyer all game worked really well. With no time to play, he was made to look pretty ordinary for most of the game.

Bring on game 3!!

Hopoate out for up to 6 weeks.

Obviously Joseph Smith and his golden tablets weren't protecting him from the heavens above.



gc.

Was Hopoate senior a mormon too? I guess there must be a passage in the golden tablets somewhere saying its fine to shove your thumb up another mans bottom

Golden tablets were protecting him from spending any more time with the origin camp heathens and their drunken ways :>

Thurston out for Game III (all signs point to yes) for making contact with a ref.

the video looks bad but don't know if he lined the ref up.

going to be an epic game 3!

Conspiracy theory!

Well someone had to say it.

Good result considering Soward's poor kicking game was my thoughts after having finally watched it on Sunday. Blues could've smashed it had they run the ball rather than missing a penalty attempt from 40m and handing the ball back 20 minutes in as QLD's big boys were looking thoroughly rinsed for so early in the game. Next one will be well worth a nose.

Haha this was Sooty's Lockyer-retirement related call too

WHAT THE FUCK!?!

Just seen Thurston incident now -- it's such bullshit

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jAE43etQLRY

What's bullshit?

He smashed the ref. No malice, but as afaik the rule says that if the player makes no attempt to avoid he can be charged. He might not deserve suspension, but I completely agree with a hearing at least.



gc.

I see refs getting knocked over several times a season and this is the first time I've read/heard about a player going to the judiciary for it. I might be wrong about that so obv take back outburst if it's the norm for players to get cited for it...

It's happened a couple of times this season but this is the heaviest penalty they've tried for.

It would be hard to prove he did it intentionally or could have avoided him but then again it will be hard to prove the contrary too.

It's a new adaptation of the rule too to protect the refs. It's not just about whether it's deliberate, it's whether you made an attempt to avoid (apparently). So on that basis he at least needs to be charged - I actually think JT's reaction was more of one that he saw the ref in his field of view in the last minute, but didn't give a toss so just crashed anyway. He wasn't exactly surprised...



gc.

Hardly enough close up evidane to suggest that he wasn't suprised. I think its BS and just a way for the NSW faggots to try and win the last game so that SOO is not such a joke ...

Cleared... Just like I said really. A hearing was necessary according to the current interpretation of the law, but clearly no malice so everyone can quit their whinging and get on with the job.



gc.

So apparently Calender Girls has a downstairs bikini bar where they show sport...