Official: Game 1 - Maroons Team

[Nashy]

1. Billy Slater
2. Darius Boyd
3. Greg Inglis
4. Justin Hodges
5. Brent Tate
6. Johnathan Thurston
7. Cooper Cronk
8. Matthew Scott
9. Cameron Smith (captain)
10. Petero Civoniceva
11. Nate Myles
12. Sam Thaiday
13. Ashley Harrison

Interchange:
14. Matt Gillett
15. David Taylor
16. Ben Hannant
17. David Shillington
18. Daly Cherry-Evans
19. Dane Nielsen




















Original Speculation Thread: http://broncoshq.com/showthread.php/20320-QLD-Team

 

[Porthoz]

Happy with that.
That awesome bench is gonna run havok amongst the NSW'kers! :rockon:

 

[Alec]

Awesome side. I feel sorry for Parker, but there are really only so many spots.

 

[jarro65]

I'm happy for both Petero and Gillett

 

[Ari Gold]

Simply epic forward pack. Other than Paul Gallen I doubt there's anyone else in the world you'd want there instead. And other than Gillett, every single player there has played Origin before (excluding reserves). In fact, I am pretty sure every starting player has played at least 3 series. Bench obviously less so but when that bench is Matt Gillet, Dave Taylor, Ben Hannant and David Shillington, who really cares?

 

[Clintos]

Great team. No surprises - just the way it needs to be.

 

[Ari Gold]

Sigh.

Good news for you is that only Civoniceva is going anywhere in the next 3 years. And then we'll just bring in Josh McGuire.

 

[Bucking Beads]

Nielsen as 19th man is a spot in decision IMO. He didn't let us down last year. Only cover for Hodges anyway.

 

[JaseC]

I would have liked to see Macguire named as 19th man, because we all know with an injury/suspension he will be in game 2/3

 

[Alec]

I would have liked to see Macguire named as 19th man, because we all know with an injury/suspension he will be in game 2/3

True, plus have him spend some time with the squad.

 

[The Brizz]

Perfect team. Really happy with the side they picked. Was thinking about our prop depth and we have some handy ones coming through if injury or form destroy our mainstays in the next few years; Lillyman, McGuire, Kasiano, Kennedy. Very happy with our stocks right now.

 

[Anonymous person]

To be honest, this year worries me.

Thaidays not performing.
Civoniceva is playing few minutes and not performing in the little time he gets.
Scott's been injured most of the year.
Boyd's been MIA all year.
Gillett's been hit and miss. Pulls off the big play, then 10 mins later gets caught out in defense like he has no idea what he's doing.

The nsw team, as much as its being ridiculed, scares me - Carney especially. I dunno, there's just something about them that when combined with our pack makes me uneasy.

 

[Son Edo]

Congrats to Tate and Gillett!

 

[rnabokov]

The question of form in this team doesn't bother me - they all lift for Origin.

What does worry me is that Stuart will instruct his forwards to target Thaiday's ribs, and Glen Stewart's job will be to stomp on Scott's foot at every opportunity.

This negative stuff about Gillett's defence is largely wrong and getting boring. His defensive lapses last week were very much a product of a poor defensive structure out wide with the winger dropped back creating acres of space for overlaps, against a side which is very good at spreading the ball out wide very quicky. As well, Matai is a very good centre. Sure, Gillett who is not a centre, could have positioned himself better, no question about that. But to judge his performance out of context is wrong. On top of that, didn't he make a virtual try saving tackle on Watmongrel?

If Gillett's defence is such a worry, so is the way Shaun Johnson made Hodges look stupid the way he ran around him for the Warriors first try. I am worried about that and I bet Carney will try and isolate Hodges all the time.

The strength of this side is it's combinations, particularly its spine, Inglis, a great forward pack, and particularly that incredibly awesome bench.

Maroons by 8

 

[dukey]

Good side. I can't see the Blues getting past them out wide, to be honest. Tate and Boyd are great defensively, not to mention Hodges and Inglis. If the Blues are going to make line breaks it's going to have to be up the guts, which is definitely possible considering how mobile our forwards are compared to the Maroons. Bird, Lewis, G Stewart, Williams and even Creagh can outmanoeuvre Scott, Hannant, Sam and Petero. But I think it really hinges on Gallen dominating up front again. He's there alone, almost; he needs to eat up the metres if our surplus of backrowers are going to have a chance to attack.

 

[Mister Wright]

What an awfully strong team. That bench has so much impact potential it's not funny. I love how we match the Blues' potency in attack, but don't sacrifice anything in defence.

 

[Big Pete]

There are plenty of question marks but here are some answers...

Slater
GI
JT
Cronk
Smith

If they perform, we win, it's that simple.

 

[ethos]

It's a strong team on paper but funny things can happen in Origin and any hint of complacency will get found out.

As I said in the other thread, the lack of footwork and agility in the pack could be an issue. Especially considering NSW are obviously going to attempt to play an up-tempo game based on speed up the middle. Still think we could have done with another more mobile forward such as Parker or McGuire. I can forsee Scott, Civ, Hannant, Taylor getting tired pretty quickly if NSW get on a roll, which will happen at some point during the match. Mal will have to work the interchanges well.

But don't mind me, I'm always uneasy heading into Origin.

Happy that they went with Gillett instead of DCE, although what's the bet that a playmaker will now go down injured?