At the very least, it's an interesting team from NSW. If ever you were going to make a stack of changes, a dead rubber at home would be the place to do it.
The Dylan Edwards omission is an interesting case study. Is it a matter of being behind arguably the greatest NSW fullback of all-time and the captain or is this an admission from the selectors that they only see Edwards as a club player? I could only justify the Edwards selection if I was confident he'd be the difference, and I don't think that would have been the case.
It may also shine a light into the NSW psyche. They're more fragmented than the Maroons and it leads to a lot of politics and self-interest. If you play into it and make the Blues into a Penrith side-show it can get ugly in a hurry. It's not like the Maroons were immune to that, you just have to look at 1996.
It's disappointing that they didn't use this game to extend an olive branch to Nicho Hynes. Maybe they thought the situation was still too raw and they'd be doing him a disservice. Still, I'd like to think each debut is well thought out and deserved. The Koloamatangi selection for instance is spot on and it's just a shame he missed the start of the series with injury.
However, you've got the reigning Dally M medalist who was the form player of the competition heading into the series. You'd think this would be the type of game that would do him justice and get the fans behind the team.
It's especially puzzling because he's being overlooked for Cody Walker who was unceremoniously hooked on debut and played a role in the Blues losing the unlosable series in 2020. No doubt Walker's form would have put him in the frame, but that's when the series was alive. Now that it's over is he really that much better than Hynes?
That's one reason I don't mind the Best selection. They've clearly been looking for any excuse to pick him. Burton has had a taste, he should be in the team for a long time, but he's struggling at the moment and deserves to come in with a clean slate. If you think Best is a rep quality player, you may as well give him his shot.
I'm perplexed by Saifiti are they really that short on front row forwards? Was a couple of weeks really the difference for RCG being available for a do-or-die game behind enemy lines and a dead rubber? And what about Utoikamanu? You bring him in with an eye to the future in a do or die game and then proceed to drop him when he'll have the crowd behind him?
You'd just like to think there is some plan they're working towards. Whether they're picking players who they believe are of rep calibre or players who just deserve an opportunity. It honestly just seems like Freddy has some recency bias or he'll desperately go back to what worked for him.