The man pictured in the pink beard surely has now played or should I say tackled his way to a Blues Jersey. That tackle on Coote is the best cover tackle I have seen since Sattler in '03. He tripped with 40m to go and should have had no hope in hell of catching a flying Coote, but some how found an extra leg and dragged him into touch. Awesome!! He also was excellent under the high ball and makes no mistakes. Mcmanus has an injury cloud over him but I think he will be dropped for the Wolfman regardless.Injuries- Bailey is out and its looks as though Watmough is in on the bench. He was excellent on Saturday night and is leading the league in tackle busts.
Lewis is out and Stewart will most likely replace him on the bench.
Gallen will be back to the starting line up with Laffranchi possibly pushed to 18th man
If Jennings or Lyons don't play then I think Matt Cooper has done enough to earn a recall. I was a massive Monaghan fan but the last 2 games I think he has struggled. He would do the job if put there but Cooper was outstanding on the weekend and is hard to look past.
Campese - How bad is he going ?? Dropped the ball cold on the last tackle, made plenty of bad plays and a terrible kicking game. His origin selection has killed his momentum. Has it gone to his head ?? If Mullen is fit then he has to be included if not then what about Barrett ? Is he too old ? Soward a chance ??
Wing is in doubt also with a hamstring injury. What decent utilities are left ?? Can Soward fill this gap or do we need someone like Hornby, Patten or for a bolter Wade Mckinnon?
Pretty much on the money George, this is what I would do
ReplyDeleteBailey OUT, White IN. Dan Hunt from the Dragons has been outstanding this year and wouldnt disgrace
Lewis OUT, Stewart IN
Either centre OUT, Cooper IN
Campese OUT, Mullen/Barrett IN-Mullen is in great form but carrying an injury. Barett is alos playing well but you would be renigging on the whole youth policy if you pick him. Would give great leadership though.
Wing OUT, Hard to replace but maybe Hornby or John Sutton if fit.
McManus OUT(regardless of fitness), Wolfman/Either Morris twin IN
It borders on wholesale changes, but I would also have Wallace out with Mullen coming into halfback and Baz to 5/8. Wallace has been very similar to Campese. Has the ability, but just isnt in form unfortunately. NSW simply dont have the luxury of picking players out of form.
ReplyDeleteBailey and kite out - Poore and Weyman start with Houston on the bench as he can cover front and backrow. Id give Dan Hunt more time although I agree he has been playing well.
ReplyDeleteLewis out - Watmough in.
If Wing is out id put Ennis on the bench.
Mc Manus out and Wolfman in.
Campese im not sure about, nor am I Wallace. If I was going to make a change it would be Barrett in for either because he is experienced in this arena. I dont think Mullen in or any other young half is the answer, we need to stick with the young guys or we would set ourselves up to loose the next few series let alone this years.
If either centre is out I think again on experience Cooper is in, I wouldnt change if both Lyon and Jennings are fit and ready to play.
Glenn Stewart or even Tom Leahroyd Lahrs would sneak in onto the bench. Lahrs again can cover back and front row. I dont think Kite has the punch in attack or defence. Kite is predominantly a legs tackler which is too our disadvantage also as it allows quick play the balls.
I forgot about Leahroy Lahrs. He is a monster and should get a chance, he has been good lately.
ReplyDeleteKurt Gidley, Jarryd Hayne, Michael Jennings, Jamie Lyon, David Williams, Trent Barrett, Peter Wallace, Brent Kite, Robbie Farah, Michael Weyman, Ben Creagh, Luke O’Donnell, Paul Gallen
ReplyDeleteInterchange: Craig Wing, Justin Poore, Glenn Stewart, Anthony Watmough
Shadow players: Tom Learoyd-Lars, Joel Monaghan, Josh Morris
They have pretty much picked the team we thought they would. I am not sure about Gallen playing. Did anyone watch him against Canberra ?? He basically played with one arm even though he scored two tries. At one stage Herbert made a break and Gallen came across for a cover tackle and just jersey grabbed him with one arm and threw him to the ground. I don't know if we can risk him at Origin level if he hasn't recovered from his shoulder injury. I am also a fan of Leahroy Lahrs and wouldn't mind seeing him getting a crack. (He also aided my tab account with the first try against the Sharks at $26/1)
If Gallen is ruled out im hoping Leahroyd Lahrs gets the call up instead of Laffranchi even though im a Titans fan he has not been playing well. However I think they both deserve to be there in front of Gallen and O'Donnell who will be giving away 90% of NSW penalties.
ReplyDeleteThe selectors have learnt nothing from Game 1. Kite still in??! FFS. We'll get done by more in Game 2. What a debacle
ReplyDelete