State of Origin Game 1

Honeysett wrote:

Yeah wasn't happy, considering I checked in and everything as well.

The ladies there were really nice though and let's be honest it was my fault but they still should tell you cut off times. I did stump them with one thing "we recommend you get here 45 minutes before your flight"..." It's 50 minutes before my flight"

They had nothing but still couldn't let me put the bag on.

Now I have to wait at the airport twiddling my thumbs for another two hours before the flight AND it's not the good plane with the TV in the seat (I don't thinkl so by the time I land I'll be ropeable.

Work on your fantasy team for 2 hours

Honeysett wrote:

SI wrote:

Fucken hell that's shit mate.

Yeah wasn't happy, considering I checked in and everything as well.

The ladies there were really nice though and let's be honest it was my fault but they still should tell you cut off times. I did stump them with one thing "we recommend you get here 45 minutes before your flight"..." It's 50 minutes before my flight"

They had nothing but still couldn't let me put the bag on.

Now I have to wait at the airport twiddling my thumbs for another two hours before the flight AND it's not the good plane with the TV in the seat (I don't thinkl so by the time I land I'll be ropeable.

Same thing happened to me from Brisbane back down to Sydney after that GF rematch in Round 4. Had an early night after the game but the next night was on the piss till 300 in the morning. Had a flight at 800 and got there with 5 minutes to spare (50 minutes before flight and check in closed 45 minutes before). The Jetstar counters were unmanned as they were literally walking away when I got there. They let me on but it's bizarre that with something so important and costly you would think they would err 5 minutes on the late side, not 5 minutes before.

Rugby league fans on twitter last night

@ 8:20 OUTRAGE my kids never get to watch origin because of our late it is
@ 10:30 OUTRAGE How dare thaiday say that when kids are watching!

Finch wrote:

Honeysett wrote:

Yeah wasn't happy, considering I checked in and everything as well.

The ladies there were really nice though and let's be honest it was my fault but they still should tell you cut off times. I did stump them with one thing "we recommend you get here 45 minutes before your flight"..." It's 50 minutes before my flight"

They had nothing but still couldn't let me put the bag on.

Now I have to wait at the airport twiddling my thumbs for another two hours before the flight AND it's not the good plane with the TV in the seat (I don't thinkl so by the time I land I'll be ropeable.

Work on your fantasy team for 2 hours

God knows he needs it

Honeysett wrote:

They used more than two syllables when they spoke so I ruled that out pretty quick.

Oh right, I thought you were going to say they only had the one head.

SI wrote:

God knows he needs it

Oh eat a dick I'm doing alright! Haha

leaguegod wrote:Tough game, not much footy played but sometimes that's origin


There shouldn't be any red controversy, the only questionable calls were all pretty standard nrl50/50 calls, it happens

Qld defended us very well in that second half and deserve it just on that

For nsw, honestly, we played alright, the pack all did their job, the right side D was solid as a rock, end of the day we lost by a penalty kick, it sucks but I don't think mass changes are needed

We tried to ball play more but while it looked dangerous early, Moylan sweep around the back become telegraphed later in the game, we needed some variety to threaten that edge

I thought arey was poor, if Pearce played like that he'd have people calling for his head, his kicking game in particular was fairly average and that is supposed to be his strength but Defs stick with him

The only change I'd make is swapping walker for a guy who might actually contribute, I feel for walker, i don't love the idea of a young player getting dropped after only getting ten minutes but it just highlights how bad the selection was in the 1st place

Good post as per usual LG.

Tend to agree about the selections and the other bloke I feel for is Moylan.
I thought the young fella got found out as expected, which then chips away at his confidence.

I think given the injuries to Dugan and Tedesco, he may have eventually played in last nights game regardless (although Coote was probably a better choice) but it would have been a different mindset coming in to replace Dugan (who should have been the first choice) rather than the pressure of being the great white hope.

I won't go on about it like I usually do but Pearce should be in for ARey if NSW are serious about winning. The most likely scenario eventuated, whereby the packs equaled each other out and as a result ARey didn't look one bit dangerous in attack.
In fact I was relieved whenever he got the ball.

The guy who should be under the most pressure is Snoz.
Shit selections, shit use of interchange and probably his worst offence is the shit message he is sending his players post match.

QLD got just as many dubious calls against them and although I hate old fat face Gouldy, he had a point after the match about the negativity oozing out of the Blues camp.
Gallen almost looked embarrassed by Daley's post match press conference and in stark contrast, Kevvie's message was pure mind games brilliance keeping a lid on things and ensuring the QLDer's focus on Game 2 and don't get ahead of themselves.

Gal's not talking about the refs and crediting QLD a fair bit is pretty much enough for everyone to laugh at loz considering what we all know gal is capable of


Loz is obviously feeling the heat, he probably has to win the next 2 games to save his coaching career and i'm sure that makes every call that goes against us burn even more

Welshy wrote:Friz still Needs to be there for JJ or Cordner

Welshy, do you think either Jackson or cordner were poor enough to be dropped ??


because i thought they both had specific roles and both played them very well, i get the feeling you were gonna call for frizz regardless of how they played

Good win with Cronk on one leg (mind games lol..) and Morgan gone early.

Hopefully it's another slaughter at Suncorp.

Ok, my summary:

Refs: Non Issue, couple of average calls, like the Gallen head high but generally not a factor. Not good, but not result determining.

NSW
Moylan: A couple of errors which I fully expected, but to be honest I think people are being a little harsh on him. I definitely wouldn't say he looked totally out of place and he looked like one of the few who might do something special for us. I'd have liked to see him take the line on a little more early in in the game when in attack as opposed to always looking to pass, but that will come.

Ferguson: Did his job, can't really fault him. Few opportunities in attack but solid in defence and under the high ball.

Jennings: Usual origin game for him, looked threatening but never fully cut loose and didn't get the early service he needs.

Morris: Apart from the drop ball, he did his job on Inglis, so I can't fault him. Deserves to hold his spot for mine.

Mansour: Sound debut, Qld clearly didn't want to kick to him, only 1 kick return for 20 metres, as opposed to 9 for 69 for Moylan and 5 for 35 for Ferguson. Need to find a way to get him running it back more. 5 tackle busts.

Maloney: Solid effort, read Cronk backpedalling well and kept running at him to find Cordner for a try and a really good cover tackle on Gagai, but probably needed to help Reynolds with some of the long kicks as ARey really was getting pressured.

Reynolds: Long kicking game was poor for the most part, and shanked a couple of short ones, but its the first time I can remember us getting some repeat sets in Origin for a LOOOONG time, something Pearce always failed to do. Solid defensively but you gottta take the line on as an Origin half and he didn't really do that. But dude, really, you were there for one job, convert easy conversions!!!

Woods: Did his job in attack and defence and as part of a rotation that I thought did enough to get a win. He needs a haircut.

Farah: Thought his service was slower than it usually is, he seemed to be doing this little dummy thing before passing it, where usually its either a pass of the deck or a scoot from DH. Thought he kicked really well though which took pressure off on a number of occasion and forced a couple of restarts, solid as a rock defensively as always.

Tamou: Yeah, was alright in the rotation. Did his bit.

Jackson: 60metres 35 tackles in 70 minutes. Worst return in terms of metres of ALL forward. Guerra had more tackles per minute. I just don't think he is an Origin player. Sure, he did his job defensively, but I reckon there are about 20 others out there that could have done that. He'll keep his spot, and fair enough I guess, but I'm just not sure he is the guy for the future.

Cordner: Thought he was NSW best and close to best forward on ground, he won me over with that effort so he just needs to maintain it. But he isn't a future NSW captain like some are suggesting.

Gallen: Typical Gallen effort. Solid if unspectacular and gave away a penalty that led to points (even though it was a dud call) Can't wait for next year without him.

Bird: Typical Bird like effort. The one good call Daley made I think was shifting him to the bench.

Klemmer: Good effort in the rotation, would like to see him get a few more minutes. I'd actually like to see how he goes starting. The goose step was interesting and he needs to be careful as he is starting to get a high knee lift into his running style, but he is an Origin forward. No stupid mistakes from him is a step forward.

Fifita: Can't believe we subbed him on 5 minutes into the 2nd half, why not with 5 left in the first?? Clearly the forward that can break the game open for us. Just needs to get up and play the ball quickly as opposed to looking for a penalty every tackle.

That was it right, don't think I've missed anyone.

Side for game two:
1. Moylan (can't drop him, tough on Teddy and Dugan, perhaps Daley will put him on the bench as an extra, which I'd prefer as I didn't like only having a 3 man bench, and play either Dugan or Teddy in the 1)
2. Ferguson
3. Jennings
4. Morris (deserves to be retained I think, but he may well miss out to Dugan, bad message to send though if he is dropped)
5. Mansour
6. Maloney
7. Reynolds (Gotta stick with both halves for the series, though they weren't great, they showed some promise)
8. Woods.
9. Farah
10. Tamou
11. Jackson
12. Cordner
13. Gallen

14. Klemmer
15. Fifita
16. Bird
17. Peachey/Cartwright/Frizell/Moylan if Teddy is in the 1, just someone that will at least be a viable option at any point in the game.

Daley will dig in and pick Walker again on the basis that he thought the refs duded NSW and that is further evidence as to why he shouldn't be there.

Qld Summary: Won the game, have a far superior spine. That's the difference. Well played.

Rippin and Tearin wrote:From  a NZ perspective (without ties to any team) it really was a rubbish game to watch. I know they can't bring back the biff, and it really doesn't seem like these guys hate each other like it seemed they used to back in the good old days, but at the very least lets speed the game up: Enforce the fucken 10m and cut 1 second out of all the ground wrestling and I would think you have yourself a game that is 10 x more entertaining. Its probably not be the case, but when the game is so bloody slow it just looks like these guys are going through the motions.

Congrats QLD... AGAIN, but I can honestly say I probably won't watch game 2 - it's not worth staying up till midnight for over here on a week night when you have to get up for work.

Also, I really don't think Dailey has a leg to stand on with the sack the refs thing. The only really bad call I can remember is the Gallen "high" tackle but even that wasn't a shocker, just a mistake. However, nothing else stood out as really bad mistakes. QLD definitely got the rub of the green but thats just life in sport and the reality is if NSW were the better team they would have won that one, they had more than enough chances.

Paraphrasing this post.

Paragraph 1 - the refs did a poor job enforcing the rules
Paragraph 3 - refs didn't really do anything wrong


Personally I think origin has been reffed poorly for a few years now. The ruck is just policed so poorly that games are not free flowing at all.
Makes it hard to score tries and we get all these 6-4, 11-10 sort of scorelines. Probably keeps the viewers because the result is in doubt right down to the wire, but they aren't that exciting. I wish they'd just play a game of league that we could watch and enioy.

Doesn't help that NSW generally don't see to know how to score a try. They have had enough possession and territory to win the last 3-4 series, but are often incapable of winning a game once they are in a position to do so (that last bit was a whinge about NSW rather than the refs. but it really annoys me that this QLD team is revered as so unbeatable when all they really manage to do is beat the same crappy team every year)

But my biggest whinge is that we kill off the league season for 2 months just to play 3 games of origin. 8 rounds of poor crowds, sub standard games because everything takes a back seat to NSW vs QLD.
My care factor for origin has dropped heaps recently. I used to go to every game in NSW, and have travelled interstate for it a few times, but now all I do is sit down on the couch and watch it whilst playing on my phone.

leaguegod wrote:Rugby league fans on twitter last night

@ 8:20 OUTRAGE my kids never get to watch origin because of our late it is
@ 10:30 OUTRAGE How dare thaiday say that when kids are watching!

Yep, this is what we're faced with as a society. You can't argue with stupid.

Also, good summary Ice. Barring a potential return by Dugan (for Ferguson imo) and getting rid of Walker, I reckon you should keep the same team and hope they go better. The starting debutants all did well for their first game without being brilliant and should get better. Mansour was the best of them.

leaguegod wrote:Rugby league fans on twitter last night

@ 8:20 OUTRAGE my kids never get to watch origin because of our late it is
@ 10:30 OUTRAGE How dare thaiday say that when kids are watching!

I went to the new xmen movie Tuesday night and complained my way through 24 minutes of ads and trailers before the movie started. I told my friends "Imagine if I invited you over to my place to watch a movie and then made you sit through half an hour of ads before starting the movie. FUCK THAT."

Then they came over for origin which started 22min late due to advertising.

Has anybody considered the fact that the people complaining about the late start are probably not the same people complaining about Thaiday.

I thought James Tamou spoke well when interviewed this morning

All in all, it came down to NSW missing a goal and QLD kicking a penalty goal. There is fucking nothing STILL between the teams - both sides defence was immense for 98% of the game.

All our forwards did their jobs. Personally, I think Jackson was our worst forward and shouldn't have been there in the first place. he offers nothing in attack. Isnt skillfull enough to be a ballplayer, isnt big enough to run over anyone. He tries hard and his defence is good but ... just meh. What extra does he offer? Besides that, every other forward was good.

Fifita looked great with the ball but fuck me his play the balls are slow, and he gets put on his back so much. Its frustrating to watch. He should just try and get a quick play the ball every now and then instead of fighting or milking a penalty. He looked dangerous with the ball a bit tho. They didnt lose us that game.

The halves - they lost us the game. Maloney cost us a try, but he also set one up so thats fine. Reynolds long kicking game was terrible - it was no different to pearce's. He needs to learn to take a few steps back and give himself more time. Or they need to go to maloney or moylan or farah needs to do one or 2 himself to take some of the focus or attention away from reynolds. There were so many times that reynolds JUST got caught as he kicked the ball or he was under so much pressure he got a shit kick away.... then you look at the other team and cronk and thurston and even smith have so much time to put their long kicks in.
Reynolds did get a couple away tho which was good, and got more repeat sets last night than pearce has in his entire origin career (I made that up, but I reckon its right). The repeat sets were great, something we have missed for years. Maloney was ok too. Johns was right though, they play too structured - going side to side.
There was not a single inside ball and not a single good switch of play - and in the wet like that, thats how you play. Up the middle, changing angles. They are never going to get around the QLD team so they need to go up the middle with some changes of angles. That is one area where we missed Dugan and Hayne - inside ball up the middle. I couldnt believe they didnt do it when walker came on.

The outside backs werre all good, moylan looked fine besides a few dropped balls. I would prob replace morris with dugan if dugan is fit, just for dugans speed and hole running, plus he can switch with moylan a little.

Our bench was great - except for walker.
I just dont understand it. He wasnt brought on to be an x factor. He came on and literally played lock. Made a handful of tackles and did 1 hitup. I dont understand why they werent doing the slater play with him - outside inside - or just inside balls and stuff.... its crazy.

Game 2 - should be a dry track so we need to be a bit more creative.
If Tedesco is fit, he is a must pick - whether its at fullback or 14. Bringing him off the bench and actually using him properly could be a masterstroke.

Carty is the other guy I would be picking - personally it would be for Jackson - but I dont think that will happen. Its more likely to be for Fifita. Carty's creativity could have broken that game right open last night.

Was an entertaining tough game - not much actual footy played but it was still good. Far out its still close tho and a few small tweaks could win NSW the game. For game 2 I would go with
1. Moylan
2. Fergo
3. Morris (Dugan if fit)
4. Jennings
5. Mansour
6. Maloney
7. Reynolds
8. Gallen/Tamou
9. Farah
10. Woods
11. Cordner
12. G. Bird/Carty
13. Tamou/Gallen

14. Tedesco
15. Carty/G. Bird
16. Klemmer
17. Fifita

I dont see it happening, but GEEEEEEZZZZZ walker should not be picked in the next game and we need a spark off the bench.

Also, I say this every year about origin - I FUCKING HATE how differently they ref it to regular weekend footy. HATE IT.

The refs didnt really make and howler calls - the calls they made certainly didnt cost NSW the game or gift QLD the game.

Its the calls they didnt make that was infurating me. Blokes laying in the ruck, blokes holding on too long, high shots - calling 1 or 2 but no others. If that was a regular club game there would have been a 20-25 penalty count. only fucking 8 penalties in the game my arse. I HATE how they just put the whistle away.
Guys not square at marker, so much offside especially on the try line and last tackles. As someone who watches most games each weekend, I fucking HATE the way they ref it. Its like the refs are told - dont blow many penalties because we want people who dont usually watch League to enjoy the free flowing nature of the game - but by not blowing penalties it slows down the ruck, it lets blokes creep offisde etc and it ends up making it look like a shit wwe submission match.

NSW couldnt BUY a penalty in the last half of the game.
Also - what about the Walker playing the ball on cam smith debacle. I mean, yeah, walker obviously did it on purpose - but it doesnt change the fact that Smith was still laying in the fucking ruck. If smith isnt there there is no knock on, thats normally a penalty - with the defender going "Where am I suppose to go?" and the ref saying "sorry but you were still in the ruck". And people think Cam smith has no influence over the refs Lol.

Also - with the morris no try - guerra came in and put his foot under the ball to stop the try - who was saying to me the other week that that is illegal - regarding the inglis/farah one???????? Shouldnt it have been a penalty then if you arent allowed to use your foot to stop a try?

Daley is just putting pressure on the refs for the next game.
How often did mal put pressure on them before games? Fucking every series.

The ref's are killing origin. Slow as fuck play the balls and a 10m thats closer to 7.