Queensland...currently best sports team in Australia. 6 zip approaches.

I agree with you on a few points there CGD.
Lewis for sure is the best in the game and had a blinder the other day. Sticky cant say he's left him out because he's been injured because Jennings and Gasnier didn't play at the weekend because both are injured. Dean Young can hardly train because of some sort of injury and he's been picked. Jason King has been injured i think aswell and hasn't been any great shakes anyway this year or any other year for that matter, he's not even the best prop at the Sea Eagles and there's probably 10 props who are better than him i could name. Tolman has unbelievable stats every single week, near on 20 carries and 40 tackles a week playing 70 odd minutes and he doesn't get picked, he cant do anymore. There's not a prop in the game do what he does every week. Snowden seems to be in favour with all the selectors, getting in the Test side and Origin starter this year and last but i dont think he's all that great TBH. He's good but not that good to be demanding selection. He wouldn't make the QLD side IMO either.
Ricky Stuart is saying now that he thinks Hayne should move from FB and start playing at No.6 as he's better in that position. Anderson did it and it was a disaster although he does play like another half at times anyway.
Ben Creagh from the bench is pointless, Lewis should be starting with Gallen and Bird and someone coming from the bench who will offer some impact. Creagh wont and neither would Scott and Dean Young is only there because Gidley is injured and they want someone to come on at hooker for a bit.
It's not a bad side but it could be better and they'll change the side when they get injured players back anyway after they lose the first game. Gidley and Lewis are certain to come back in for game 2 unless NSW get a win which i cant see. Jennings doesn't deserve a place in the side either, he's only there because Matt Cooper wouldn't play, i'd rather see Josh Morris but he's been injured aswell lately.

I am waiting to see what the bookies ahve to offer....NSW need a bit of luck.....and a winning mentality. QLD should win.......but I thought the Storm would hammer the green machine at the weekend........stranger things have happened.

I would also say that a 1-1 situation with a winner takes all third game would do the TV negotiations no harm at all

Just kill it off already and play internationals instead.

WTF


Origin is friggin brilliant..........I don't care if QLD win 20 on the trot.....at some stage NSW will get it right (even if it's with a team full of tongans

)

Internationals will eventually kill it off and relegate it back to where it belongs.

If the ARL put even half the amount of promotion into International RL that they do for the SO poaching, in a few seasons the crowds and ratings would belt it.(ratings for the ANZAC test shown on a Friday up against other sports show it really isn't that far behind SOO already which has no sporting competition on a Wednesday)

Nearly every tri nations and 4 nations (outside France and Png) since 2005 have shiit on SOO from a great height and have been far more competitive.

The last ashes series was absolutely brilliant footy that went down to the wire in each game, these matches deserve to be put in their rightful place on the sporting calendar, ie, the TOP.

origin is the highest rating sport on australian tv,how can u kill that off.

By building up the other parts of the game.

yes i like the international game to grow,but it has nothing to do with origin.

It's holding it back mate.

I don't know if it's holding it back but rl needs to be aware of player burn out to it's top players.

Uate selection is a joke. The fact he is Fijian seems to have slipped by certain NSW based writers.

He isn't the first and he won't be the last.
2008 RLWC Fijian Player......what are the odds.....2013 RLWC Australian Player

A push for Naiqama will be next.

Hayne, Uate, Wes...

Just pinch the whole Fijian RL team and get it over with.

I am sick and tired of hearing Gould and Warren going on about Origin and how it takes some kind of super human player to be able withstand the riggors of the game. Its a joke this is currently a very uneven contest between a Queensland backline and a very average NSW side.

Anyone who has watched the past 3/4 series knows this is anything but the supreme contest. Good job they don't have a few Kiwis playing in it - although looking at the NSW selection policy it can only be a question of time - that might give it a bit of intensity.

It is just a game of rugby played amongst the players from the second best country in the sport not some clash of the titans - some people need to get a perspective

And that is exactly why I think SOO is taking away International Rugby Leagues rightful place at the top of the food chain.

First you attack the humble City/Country, and now Origin. I don't know how you manage to enjoy anything.

I'll never understand how anyone can be against our sports most celebrated spectacle. Origin is a huge annual boost for our game, obviously much more in Australia than anywhere else, but it gives us a pedestal to stand on top of that Aussie Rules and Union simply cannot hope to match mid-season. While it remains as popular as it is, we should push it gusto. When the time comes for the International game to take over, it will do so naturally. To attempt to artificially make it happen is madness.

That's all i'm going to say about that.

GO YOU MIGHTY BLUES!

What a piece of rubbish - did you actually read/comprehend what I wrote?

The point I was trying to make was about the perception that the players need to be of some super human nature to be able to play an Origin game, that is just hyperbole. The best players always show through which is why Queensland keep winning. It is very unlikely that any of these games will have the intensity of the Dragons v Bulldogs last week because you only get that when sides are matched - this is not the case here.

I'm all for marketing - but it has to be believable?

No Hodges and no Inglis, it could be closer than i expected. NSW have a better chance with those two missing or certainly Inglis.
1. Slater
2. Boyd
3. Neilsen
4. Tonga
5. Yow Yeh
6. Lockyer
7. Thurston
8. Scott
9. Smith
10. Petero
11. Myles
12. Thaiday
13. Harrison
14. Cronk
15. Parker
16. Lillyman
17. Hannant
18. Taylor
The backline are missing Inglis and Folau from last year and Hodges would be there if fit. Tonga isn't bad but NSW wont be afraid of him and Neilsen and will no doubt target them along with Yow Yeh.
I also think Shillington is a big loss, he was great for them last year but there still strong at prop. I was surprised Dallas Johnson didn't make it, the Cowboys have improved massively since he joined and he's been a big part of that, there joint second and have beaten the likes of Melbourne, Manly and the Broncos already this year and he played every game for 4 years before leaving for Catalans for a year. Corey Parker is good every week for the Broncos but he's not a bench player IMO, he'll get through a mountain of work but wont offer much impact from the bench, they'd have been better off with Dave Taylor who offers alot more coming off the bench and was good for them in last years series. Lillyman is back in after a few years out of the side and i haven't seen too much of him lately but he couldn't always get a game for the Warriors last year.
I think NSW have a decent chance of an upset, the QLD backline doesn't strike fear like it usually does. If NSW play to their potential and Soward kicks well then they've got a pretty decent chance IMO. It would make it a better series if they did win the first game, especially with game 2 being in Sydney. I think they've made a mistake in putting Creagh on the bench instead of Luke Lewis and picking Jason King ahead of guys like Tolman but apart from that it's not a bad side and should at least run them close.

The more I think about it, the more I can see NSW pulling off a shock win......paying $3 here (NZ) to win the series might be a tad optimistic, but $2.50 on game 1 might be worth a flutter...and $2.25 on QLD 2-1 has got to be worth a fifty.

I dont think a NSW win would be a shock.

With no Inglis, Folau or Hodges the Queensland 3/4's looks very average.

I think Lockyer is on his way out - Thurston + Slater are the danger men.

Expect NSW to be fired up to the hill and expect them to win by 10 in Origin 1.

Elias in all sorts today for comparing what Blues will do to Queensland on Wed next with the floods that decimated the Maroon state. Leading all 6pm news bulletins. Big night ahead.

Watched it last night after work, thought Jenkins from NSW was electric (just on the wrong team) really quick feet and hands.

Gallen needs the captaincy taken from him. Poor example set by your team leader. Running all over the show diving into tackles when not required, killing the NSW defensive structure.

Nostradamus could have seen the inside ball to Slater coming - sadly Gallen couldn't!!