It’s been the longest season in history, but it’s going to drag on for NSW as it dissects where everything went wrong when it came to deciding on the country of origin.
Against a Queensland team that has been dubbed the weakest in decades, a number of newcomers and master coach Wayne Bennett conspired to complete the most formidable surprise since Paul Vautin’s forces in 1995, and a 2-1 win last night A coarse 20-14 win in Game 3 on home turf.
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How did NSW screw it up?
FREDDYS BIG BENCH BLUNDER
The blues best player and captain, James Tedesco, was kicked out of the game after 20 minutes when he was senselessly struck in the head by an accidental knee when he slipped into a tackle and messed up NSW’s structure.
Eels full-back Clint Gutherson started at the centers before returning to his usual position in jersey 1 to cover Tedesco’s absence. However, this created a hole in the backline that the blues couldn’t fill.
Coach Brad Fittler took four strikers on the bench and left full-back Ryan Papenhuyzen out of his squad. Had the Storm star played he could have moved straight to the full-back and Gutherson could have stayed in the middle, leaving the blues backline relatively untouched.
Instead, Fittler was forced to toss Penrith’s rear rower Isaah Yeo into the unfamiliar right center slot, where his lack of pace was evident through Queensland’s left edge. Winger Josh Addo-Carr came in several times to protect his new three-quarters, leaving Queensland flanker Valentine Holmes room to hold his own outside of his husband.
That is where the Maroons looked most dangerous, even if they slaughtered certain attempts. Holmes dropped the ball twice with the line wide open after taking advantage of an overlap and a stray pass that would have ambushed him in the second half flew into contact.
Phil Gould said repeatedly that Yeo’s move to the centers was a disaster for NSW – largely because it tagged Queensland’s top full-back Dane Gagai.
“My concern about getting Yeo in the right center is that he doesn’t necessarily like playing on the right side of the field and marking Dane Gagai because Dane Gagai is on the left,” said Gould.
Yeo was out of position in the first half, forcing Nathan Cleary into a desperate interception to prevent a break. Shortly after the panther was caught again, he watched Addo-Carr save his bacon by recovering and pushing Holmes over the sidelines.
“So I don’t think Yeo should play in the middle. See how he’s really found out for his pace here when the ball comes out, ”added Gould. “He just doesn’t have the pace to keep up with (Corey) Allan.
“That really affects Addo-Carr. Had the pass been better, he (Holmes) would probably have hit. I think they need to rethink this, the blues, how they line up their back line. “
Fittler’s advisor Greg Alexander told Andrew Voss on SEN that the NSW trainer was “shaken” and admitted it was a mistake to leave Papenhuyzen out.
“There couldn’t have been a better replacement than Ryan Papenhuyzen but who knows your full-back will be injured,” he said.
“In hindsight, Ryan Papenhuyzen would have been a great pick on the bench.”
Daily telegraph Rugby league reporter Phil Rothfield described Papenhuyzen’s nudge as a huge mistake that could have cost NSW the series.
“Brad Fittler and his agent Greg Alexander must take responsibility for a selection game that was blown up when they decided on Origin,” wrote Rothfield.
“Either Ryan Papenhuyzen from Melbourne Storm or Luke Keary from the Sydney Roosters would have had to wear the number 14 jersey to make the team overall.
“The problem was having to bring Isaah Yeo, who played in the middle for Penrith all season, to the centers. It doesn’t work at this level. “
FORWARDS LEAVE CLEARY DOWN
NSW had a similar problem with Suncorp as it did in the second 40 minutes of Origin I in Adelaide. It was in its own half and unable to create ground or control the jolt as Queensland dominated the field position.
Too often the blues were one-off and while Halfback Cleary’s kick in Game 2 was majestic, he was kicking regularly from 30 yards from his own line on Wednesday nights, unable to find a seat and giving Queensland an easy start to their sets.
In order not to be pressurized, Cleary would often sit very low in front of the jerk to reach five, shaving precious yards before the kicks. This isn’t a criticism of the blues halfback, but a reality of how difficult the life of a # 7 is when playing behind a battered pack of strikers that was overwhelmed by Maroons props Josh Papalii and Christian Welch in the first half Lindsay Collins and Tino Fa’asuamaleaui in the second verse.
NSW was too predictable when it came out of its own end and couldn’t find any other way to make meters by spreading the ball wide early in the tackle and challenging the Queensland defenses.
Just like in Game 1, the Blues always seemed to rely on a penalty kick or recall of six to avoid trouble, and if that didn’t happen they lost the battle for field position and got stuck on their heels.
WHERE IN THE WORLD IS JACK WIGHTON?
Jack Wighton won the Dally M medal for best player in the NRL that year but barely touched the ball in Brisbane.
One of the most damaging ball runners in the game didn’t get a chance to dampen Origin newcomers Edrick Lee and Brenko Lee because the blues just couldn’t get him to the ball early and he never looked for it.
As five-eighth at the club level for Canberra, Wighton looked further removed from the action and made him – and with it the attack of the Blues – powerless.
Single missed tackles by Wighton and Gutherson (back at the centers despite being a full-back at the club level) resulted in two attempts in Queensland in Game 1 and cost NSW the game.
Last night, poor reading by Gutherson on defense, falling in love with a decoy, allowed Holmes to open the scoring in the fourth minute when a smart game created an overlap and showed the risk of knocking people out of position.
It wasn’t a mistake Queensland made, as Gould pointed out after the first try.
“This is the selection of players in their positions,” said Gould. “Munster out of his back to Corey Allan, who was named on the wing and plays full-back, to Valentine Holmes, who was named full-back and plays on the wing, who scores the expert finish in the corner.
“So this is Wayne Bennett’s pick, who just knew they had to play there.”
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