First up, Carl Webb made 12 tackles and gained 56 metres from seven runs. I’m not sure how many minutes he played, but I saw him on the bench inside the 20 minute mark and he didn’t return until the 66th minute. If he’s retained he has to start on the bench and then try to bust the defense when they are tired. But I don’t think he’s got enough running in him to keep up with the pace. They say Steve Price did OK in his return on the weekend. Or else there is Anthony Kaufusi and others, I’m sure. I believe Brad Myers is playing well for the Titans. He played four internationals in 2001.

Secondly, there is Karmichael Hunt’s defence. He made some of the biggest hits all night and generally got wraps. He made 15 tackles but missed 10! Ouch! BTW Slater seemed to have a frustrating night but he made 243m from 20 runs, more than anyone else on the park.

Finally, some interesting stats about Scott Prince. He’s played 186 NRL games, 112 at half-back, which he only really took up when Bennett shoved him there when he was desperate for someone to replace Langer.

He’s played 43 times at five-eihth, three at fullback, once at lock and 27 times off the bench.

Just pick him!

I’ve been thinking about Greg Inglis at centre. I don’t recall him playing there before. He’s played full-back, wing and five-eighth, where he plays now at the Storm. Apparently he was meant to be marking Mark Gasnier. Defending at centre and on the wing is not the same. Why not play him at five-eighth?

It’s a priority to get that right and more important than what we do with Hunt.

I take your point about Lockyer, and about Thurston not having the forwards helping him, but the thing I’ve noticed in watching Cowboys games is that JT has an unfortunate tendency to be a very very good player when things are going his way, and a little bit silly under pressure. That will change as he matures, but the big thing Lockyer brings is experience and a cool head.

We’ll see what team selection brings. It might be good if they avoid the temptation to panic.

By the way - thanks for the thread!

Jason, Price might be back but Lockyer is a long shot. If he plays in Origin2 it will be without a match back in the NRL which is not good.

I doubt whether you could justify Hunt in the back line instead of Folau, Inglis Hodges and Tate. Slater has got to stay. I’d maybe have him on the bench as per Boland.

I’ve got some sympathy for JT. He needs the forwards going forward better if he’s going to show his stuff. Myles said the Blues won the wrestling on the ground and he’s probably right.

Des Morris, chairman of selectors said that Prince is not necessarily the answer. Bennett, who’s coached Prince, said he is an extreme team player and will fit in wherever he’s wanted, but the selectors seem to have another idea.

Good to see the blues triumph and didn’t fall for all the more niggle than usual in the tackles that QLD used to try and invite a stoush. It was a flattering scoreline for QLD, the Blues need to find a new kicker I think and Wallace played surprisingly well.

Bellamy said NSW played just about the perfect game. Everything they tried went to plan and paid off. He’s right, and he’s got to be the winningest coach around, so Qld’s chances of coming back from here are not good.

Yup.

LOL can I trun 180 degrees from yesterday?
1. You were right about Webb. He’s got to go. Pray for Steve Price to get fit.
2. The Boland plan looks alright, all of a sudden, but there are big changes in there. I think they probably have to give Prince a shot now. Could Hunt have a go in the centres?

I think they need Lockyer and Price back. They were rudderless last night.

Oddly enough in the other code there are examples the other way, eg Mackenzie at the Waratahs and Nucifora at the Brumbies.

Hope that helps, but I’m the unlikeliest fashion consultant evah.

The stats were surprisingly even with Qld actually making more metres and only completing one less set. But as Lockyer sais 13/23 in the second half was not going to win us the game, even if NSW was just as bad.

On the ref, Civoniceva said, and he’s probably right, that the ref allowed NSW markers to start a fraction early. This shut down Cameron Smith and dummy half running. Our guys started to go laterally one-out in response and were easy pickings.

The Wok and others keep stressing you need quality in the 9,7,6,1 corridor and it’s clear they concentrated attack and defence in that area. Even kicking directly to Billy Slater, who would normally make an NRL side look silly, but they sent the chasers down to consistently flatten him.

Apparently Hunt told the selectors 11 days before the match that the task was beyond him. What he did in the circumstances was remarkable. But as one of the commenters said, at fullback he normally does about 5 tackles a match and suddenly he has to do 40. You can only prepare for that by being match hardened. If they want to use him there in SOO2 they need to persuade Bennett to use him there at the Broncos. That’s unlikely, because Bennett said before he was selected that it was a dumb idea which would help the Blues.

Bellamy said NSW played just about the perfect game. Everything they tried went to plan and paid off. He’s right, and he’s got to be the winningest coach around, so Qld’s chances of coming back from here are not good.

Be grateful it was shown in Prime Time John, in previous years when Nein was owned by Eva Presser, the games would be delayed until after midnight, the reason being that “it didn’t rate”, when shown in Prime time.

Also, re the Triple J call, in previous years, the call would be beamed into WA live - I wonder if why it wasn’t broadcast in WA this year ?

Craig Fitzgibbon is a machine!!!

Not a pretty face, but great legs!

But Queensland just don’t have that chip on their shoulder anymore. Sir Joh’s regime is a distant memory, Brisbane is not a cultural wasteland and, moreover, Queensland can recognise this.

WHAAA??? Richard Green, do you have to live up here with all the damn cane toads?
Just kidding, Queenslanders. Craig Fitzgibbon is a machine!!! (but a very polite one - off the field - at that)

Anyway - off to bed. Well played NSW.

SOO is far from dead. As wpd says it’s a promoters dream and it’s all about entertainment and money. As Jason says it’s the best contest in the code. I’d say few other codes can match it.

Hunt’s tackling was amazing but they took all the gas out of him. Same with Cameron Smith. Paul Vautin called Thurston’s kicking deplorable at half time. It was a bit better in the second half but I’m afraid it’s what I’ve been seeing from him lately, including in the test against the Kiwis. Prince OTOH has been superb.

The selectors will have to make changes. One they might consider is to swap Tate and Greg Inglis. I believe Tate prefers centre and it was one reason why he left the Broncos. I haven’t seen his games with the Warriors, but having big wingers is the way to go.

The ref had a good game. He got a few things wrong. Only one I’d mention. About the 14th minute NSW had a scrum not far out from their own line. They put the ball in and Qld won. The ref pulled it up and got them to put it in again. A few minutes later they got down the other end and scored.

I didn’t see what happened. I don’t think the TV showed it. But the ABC Radio guys, all NSW, reckoned when Qld won it should have been play on. It may have been a 10 point turn around. 6 all instead of 10-0. But then again Qld were not attacking well and NSW were defending superbly. So probably not.

Anyway congratulations to NSW. It wasn’t edge of the seat stuff. After things went pear-shaped in the first few minutes they always looked in control.

whenever the Broncos or any of the other Qld teams in the competition play against a Sydney team, it’s really a “State of Origin” match (albeit without the hype or the drunken excesses).

This may - may - have held for a brief period in the 90s, when a lot of Qld talent was concentrated at the Broncos, but these days Origin is a mechanism for concentrating the best talent in the game. Take Qld - they have players from sydney clubs, the Warriors and the Storm as well as the Queensland-based sides. It’s too simplistic to now argue that the Qld-based sides make it irrelevant. It’s simply the best contest the code can offer - just ask the NZ and south pacific players clamouring to get selected in SoO.

Richard - not sure about the psychosocial speculation, but if you check this link, you’ll see that it’s now exactly 40 games apiece. You can’t ask for a more even competition than that. As for blaming Graham Murray… as a Cowboys fan, I’ve got incentives to argue he’s a bad coach, too, but I just don’t buy it. I think Qld have a lot of genuine talent - shame it wasn’t on form tonight