Maroon on Blue

[Hamm.0]

The particular match ups that concern me the most are;

- Jennings/Lyon vs Hodges/Inglis

In defence Hodges is slow on the inside, preferring to run his attackers into the sidelines. I can very really see this going bad if Lyons (even though I hate this fat **** more than the average Blue, he is a miracle worker with the ball and after Wallace is by far the most dangerous player in their backline) drags Hodges towards the sidelines and switches back in for Jennings. Give a foot of space and Jennings can splinter any gap, anywhere, anytime. Inglis is going to be paramount, if he steps back up (which we ALL know he can when he wants), he is one of the better defensive centres and should be able to neutralise Lyons. Our boys just need to shut Lyons down and quick (every play). Rush him, don't let him feed Diver and McWho and it will fustrate them no end. Give them a foot of space and close the gates, even Slater won't catch Jennings with a start. Scary to think that Gidley will be sniffing around this as well.

- Gallen/Creagh/Stewart vs. Johnson/Thaiday/Harrison

Mobility is going to crush us here. I fear that this year against a hungry pack, the selection of TWO workhorses could cost us dearly. I love (and have always loved, wish he never left for Souths) Harrison and rate Johnson, but teh fact remains both blokes are mere workhorses. Ruck for 10, quick play-the-ball, and tackle lots. Thats great, unless (when) NSW get a heap of possession and are rolling us back. These boys will start to have little impact and with Farah in there as well, I can see heaps of trouble up the middle. There needs to be a game plan; maybe not both on at once, in place for the bench backrowers? Thaiday needs to make BIG impact. Something we can ridicule him for of late, but which we know he can do. He needs to make those big hits and rucks to lift pressure of his fellow backrowers.

- Weyman/Poore vs Myles/Hannant

No doubt Mal's plans are to keep Hannant fresh on the bench as long as possible. However, not only do I think he was under used in Game 3 208, I also reckon Ebony & Ivory can't maintain the minutes they did last series. Hannant will need to come in earlier. Poore is light, but gets good minutes and is going to smash people. Weyman is the key for us. He can blow up quick and with the right words and hits, our pigs could get this guy mentally...and quick! And we will need to, when you weigh up their backrow to ours.

- Bailey/Kite vs. God/Messiah

LOLZIPOPZ!!!! Nah, I got nothing. Price (blessed be his name) and Civinoceva (Praise be to him)will own EVERYTHING whilst they are on. The only thing NSW have is Bailey does get good minutes.

Thoughts on those amtch ups or are there other match ups that concern you??

P.S. Campese is going to get DESTROYED by Crocker....you wait.. it's in Mal's plans. [icon_evillaugh [icon_evillaugh

 

[Coxy]

The particular match ups that concern me the most are;

- Jennings/Lyon vs Hodges/Inglis

In defence Hodges is slow on the inside, preferring to run his attackers into the sidelines. I can very really see this going bad if Lyons (even though I hate this fat **** more than the average Blue, he is a miracle worker with the ball and after Wallace is by far the most dangerous player in their backline) drags Hodges towards the sidelines and switches back in for Jennings. Give a foot of space and Jennings can splinter any gap, anywhere, anytime. Inglis is going to be paramount, if he steps back up (which we ALL know he can when he wants), he is one of the better defensive centres and should be able to neutralise Lyons. Our boys just need to shut Lyons down and quick (every play). Rush him, don't let him feed Diver and McWho and it will fustrate them no end. Give them a foot of space and close the gates, even Slater won't catch Jennings with a start. Scary to think that Gidley will be sniffing around this as well.

When do centres play on the same side, really? I can't see Lyon drifting wide and switching inside to Jennings. To McManus maybe, or Gidley, neither of whom scare me too much with acceleration.

Now correct me if I'm wrong, but Lyon plays right for Manly, so will come up against left side Inglis; Jennings plays left for Penrith so will be direct with Hodges.

Hodges really struggled to contain Jennings against Penrith and with Folau outside him who is also not the best at reading the play in defence - mainly when to come in and when to stay out - that does worry me.

But IMO the best way to nullify Jennings is to make sure he tackles himself to a standstill. Send Thaiday, Myles, Crocker at him all night and his attack will suffer.

 

[Dave]

I think Hodges struggled with Jennings because he continually rushed up at him - if those defending on his inside slide with him I think he will be able to shut Jennings down. I also haven't seen Jennings pass all that much so can see his winger (Hayne??) being starved of a bit of ball which could be good for Qld seeing the form he is in currently. Coxy is spot on about making Jennings work hard in defence, people are wrapping his defence but from what I have seen he struggles at times with decision making - a real shame he will be defending beside Wallace who is one of the best technique tacklers in the game - I think if Jennings and Campese defended together that would be a real target area for Qld

While I think the NSW backrow is very strong I think their lack of go forward up front could blunt their effectiveness - No doubt our props will dominate theirs so Farah could be on the back foot from dummy half which will lessen the impact of Creagh and O'Donnell. Hammo I think you are selling Harrison short - he is much more than a workhorse and I actually think he could be the difference for Qld next week - while I think the Blues backrow are probably more dangerous from a ball-running perspective Harrison has a really nice slight of hand that will be extremely useful if used correctly

I think in kicks, kick returns and placing pressure on their kickers we have the edge as well - Sounds funny but I think one of the keys is Price v NSW kickers - if the great man can put the pressure on Wallace, Campese and Farah we will have Slater, Israel and Boyd getting the ball in great position. We all know what Billy and Israel can do but Boyd has been enormous on the kick return this year, I think he leads the NRL in tackle busts.

My view is that if Qld can match NSW in the forwards (confident we can) we have too many weapons out wide

 

[Kimlo]

Apparently Hodges might be out and Tonga will come in for him (I thought Michaels would be next because he is named in the 25 squad).
I don't think Lyon plays against hodges anyway, I think jennings does which does worry me because Hodges struggled against him defensivley last time. The only thing that worries me is the backrow.
Hannant has been the form prop of the competition and needs to get more minutes anyway IMO.

 

[Jeba]

IMO it comes down to 2 men - Price and Petero. If they win the battle up front, Queensland wins. Now that's a lot harder task than it sounds, and obviously the support will need to come from the halves, but I can't see Lockyer and Thurston not taking advantage of great work by Price and Civoniceva.

Queensland hasn't had a better back row than NSW for years now and yet here we are on the verge of 4 series wins in a row. Crocker's club form coming into an Origin series is always irrelevant, Harrison will always get the job done, Johnson is the same as Crocker, Nate Myles was made for Origin......fucken hell, Queensland by 40.

 

[Professor47]

I know Tonga has been going great guns but surely we have better options if Hodges is injured? (hopefully in the future as well) I mean losing hodges suddenly makes our hollywood backline look a lot less dangerous imo. I would think in the future if Hodges is unavailable you would put Folau to right centre and bring in a winger. Injuries have SO much to do with origin. Shame.
Wish they would go back to the old days of one week inbetween, what is with the spread out over nine weeks? I think that is a terrible idea. Injuries stuff the team around and the players that deserve to celebrate the SERIES victory are not there.

 

[mick]

The big match-up that concerns me, quite simply, is Farah and the NSW back row -v- the entire Qld team.

They've gone for a much more mobile look than us, and I think they've done that to compliment the quick style of play with the two refs involved. Honestly, if we get sloppy around the ruck, we'll lose the game. Simple as that IMO. If we keep it tight around the ruck with good marker defense and a strong line, we'll sh*t it in.

 

[mrslong]

Complacency is what I'm afraid of more than anything. If we turn up thinking we will romp it in, we won't.
Game 3 last year our packs were toe to toe and it wasn't til the last 10 minutes that we won, last year they had no Front Rowers so the boys will need to dig a bit deeper this year. I just hope we can win in Melbourne, because I think we have buckley's of winning in Sydney with this Blew side.

 

[Coxy]

I disagree. Turn up confident. Turn up certain that if they play to the best of their ability and execute Mal's game plan, they will win, and win convincingly.

Don't turn up thinking "ooo, NSW have a good team, I hope we can win"...that's bullshit.

We've EASILY got the best team on paper. Get out there and show these young NSW chumps who's boss.

 

[mrslong]

Confidence is different to Complacency.

 

[Je$ter]

I can't remember the last time Queensland had a more mobile back row than NSW, and here we are looking at 4 in a row. As long as our forwards set the platform, we will win. Weyman and Poore are coming up against a lot more experienced players in the pack and Bailey will no doubt have scars of Origin past.

Game 1 last year proved how pivotal the front row is in a game of rugby league. Without 2 decent props, and people who can come off the bench and keep that going forward, you lose.

IF we don't go forward, it leaves the likes of Farah and Campese to cut loose, and guys like Jennings, Lyon and Creagh to work off the back of that.

I think starting Crocker, Myles and Hannant of the bench is a genius move. They all play with a certain energy and enthusiasm. Myles and Crocker are probably 2 of hte better defenders going around and Hannant is playing better footy than what he was at the Broncos.

 

[Alec]

The entire NSW team is incredibly inexpeienced. I think Lockyer played more games himself than the entire NSW team. As the game goes, and if the scores remain close, I reckon it'll suit us quite a lot.

 

[Coxy]

Agree Rock. Queensland should romp this in.
NSW will bounce back in game 2, possibly win it, but there's no excuse for QLD losing game 1. None. Absolutely none. They're specials.

 

[mrslong]

Shame about Stewart being out. Lewis adds some danger to their bench. I don't think it's as easy as you guys are making out. IT's going to be a very tough fight.

 

[broncosil]

The only way QLD won't win is if:

A) They get injuries to key players
B) They don't put enough effort it.

It's as simple as that. It's the Australian 1-10.

The starting team is NEARLY the Australian team Vs NSW. QLD have zero excuse, the team on paper has played together for ages, there is absolutely no reason why they should lose this series besides the reasons I mentioned above.

Agree. If they lose it is because of loss of players or a bad attitude. Poor attitude does happen quite often, and I do fear it happening to Qld, because it has so many times before. If they go out expecting to win, they will be in for a nasty shock.

 

[jarro65]

Origin is always about attitude.

Whoever turns up in the right frame of mind will win, regardless of who is in their team