QLD Squad 2020

[Broncs_Fan]

So after seeing the players that were named it's pretty obvious that McGuire's axing has to do with things outside just his football.

His omission was always a bit shocking, but to see the guys picked in front of him just reinforces that it was not a football based decision.

Josh Kerr is a decent talent, but if you polled 100 Rugby League fans and asked them on face value if McGuire was the better player, or the more experienced player, or the player in better form in 2020, then 100 of them would absolutely answer yes to every one of those questions.

Molo is better than Kerr also. The Cowboys sucked this year but Molo was awesome for them. And yes, McGuire should be there too. But I would have Molo in the squad over both of them.

 

[broncsgoat]

Bennett has always had a few selection shockers in him.

I wonder what they were saying before game 1 2001 when we had pretty much a whole new team.

 

[Kooly87]

I wonder what they were saying before game 1 2001 when we had pretty much a whole new team.

I take it that in this context he meant 'shocker' as a selection/omission causing shock, which is precisely the case with McGuire this year, and as you highlighted in 2001 too.

 

[broncsgoat]

I take it that in this context he meant 'shocker' as a selection/omission causing shock, which is precisely the case with McGuire this year, and as you highlighted in 2001 too.

I took it the other way but fair enough if I misinterpreted it.

 

[Kooly87]

Quite happy with Kerr’s selection. He really went through the gears as the season progressed and he has all of the attributes required to be a mainstay for years.

He's really unlikely to get a game and I don't have a problem with him being in the squad necessarily, I just think he's an example of a guy who might well have had a good year, but it'd be hard to argue with a straight face that he had a better year than Josh McGuire.

 

[BooKhaki]

Quite happy with Kerr’s selection. He really went through the gears as the season progressed and he has all of the attributes required to be a mainstay for years.

He is a first grade bench player at best. He would be in reserve grade at most clubs. Anybody that thinks he is better than McGuire has rocks in their head.

 

[Unbreakable]

We have 8 really good middles (Papalii, Welch, Arrow, Carrigan, Tino, Fotuaika, Collins, Horsburgh), so I completely understand the decision to cut bait with McGuire, he's older than all 8 of those guys and is prone to giving away stupid penalties or getting suspended at any moment.

 

[BooKhaki]

McGuire gave away 2 penalties in 3 games last year. Made 2nd most amount of tackles for QLD, and ran for almost 100m per game.

 

[Unbreakable]

McGuire gave away 2 penalties in 3 games last year. Made 2nd most amount of tackles for QLD, and ran for almost 100m per game.

Here's the problem for McGuire, he's a very one dimensional player. He runs hard and tackles a lot, which is great, but we already have 3 guys in the squad who are younger, more disciplined and arguably better at that role - Carrigan, Fotuaika & Arrow. All 3 of those guys could comfortably play 60 minutes in Origin and make 150m / 40 tackles.

It makes far more sense to just build around those 3 guys as the cornerstones, they're all going to be in the side for the next 5-10 years, Moose won't be. From a structural point of view it makes the most sense to surround them with shorter minute / high impact players like Papalii, Tino, Collins, etc.

 

[BooKhaki]

Carrigan is also prone to making really bad defensive misses. He isn't ready for many minutes in origin.

I can understand not picking McGuire in the starting 13, but he should be included on the bench. The fact that a bloke like Kerr and also Hess made it in front of him...wow

 

[Big Pete]

I was shocked to see McGuire miss out, but I agree with Unbreakable's take. I remember when Bennett first came back to Brisbane, the first point he made is that the Broncos pack was lacking variety. They were all big minute players and anyone outside of that starting pack didn't get much of a look in. That was something he wanted to remedy so he brought in Adam Blair and James Gavet (who may have had the worst stint of any signing at the club).

Kerr is a big body forward that can bend the line and draw numbers effectively giving his halves more space to work with. He won't be a big minute player if he does get a look in but he'll do a job just like Costigan used to do off the bench.

Hess and McGuire don't even play the same position let alone the same role. Hess is a bullocking runner who can be a try scoring option provided he gets good ball which he should playing outside of DCE. He's fortunate that Fifita isn't there, but the Maroons needed options and there is a woefully short supply of strong edge runners.

Origin is always full of surprises. We can go back to Adam Mogg and Jacob Lillyman but even Ethan Lowe last year was an unlikely hero given his career was all but over before he went to Souths.

 

[Wolfie]

Carrigan is also prone to making really bad defensive misses. He isn't ready for many minutes in origin.

I can understand not picking McGuire in the starting 13, but he should be included on the bench. The fact that a bloke like Kerr and also Hess made it in front of him...wow

Carrigan isnt prone to bad defensive misses. He is excellent in defence generally. The only really poor one I can think of was the one on Holmes against the Cowboys, and im not even sure if he wasn't playing under fatigue he would have caught him anyway.

 

[Wolfie]

Molo not being there has surprised me. I think he has been one of the best front row bench players in terms of impact for the last couple of years.

 

[Fernando]

McGuire has been more than a workhorse in Origin though.

In 2017 game 2 QLD were down by 10, series about to be lost, he makes a break from his own half to setup a try and QLD go on and win after Thurston’s goal from the sideline.

Last year in the decider QLD were down by 12, series slipping away, he comes up with a try to get them back in it.

He’s tough, experienced, guaranteed to not go missing and has the capability to produce a big play. Very dumb call leaving him out imo.

 

[Big Pete]

The issue is that he doesn't offer anything that Papalii, Arrow, Carrigan and Fotuaika already bring. There is a case to be made that he should be ahead of one of those players, but there really isn't that big a gulf between him and those players.

 

[Sproj]

The issue is that he doesn't offer anything that Papalii, Arrow, Carrigan and Fotuaika already bring. There is a case to be made that he should be ahead of one of those players, but there really isn't that big a gulf between him and those players.

Neither of Carrigan or Phototaker are proven at that level though, McGuire is. There will be a massive amount of rookies in the backline as it stands and the forwards will be a better mix but having Josh in the squad wouldn't be the worst idea at the least.

 

[Big Pete]

There will be a massive amount of rookies in the backline as it stands and the forwards will be a better mix but having Josh in the squad wouldn't be the worst idea at the least.

That was my thinking as well, but it appears Bennett wants to change the culture of the team. I'd imagine it would be difficult for these younger players to make their mark when you've got a senior player like McGuire constantly trying to show them the ropes. It's a bold choice by Bennett, but I like that he isn't just in survival mode and trying to pick a paper team, he's actually got some idea and he's willing to put some elbow grease into some of these prospects.

This isn't the end of McGuire's rep career either. I see this as a personal challenge for him to work on his game in the off-season, cut the crap and get back to doing the things he's capable of. As Fernando pointed out, he's capable of producing big plays, but how often do you see it?

 

[Wolfie]

I actually think Moose has been better for NQ this year than Taumalolo.