2008 NRL Premiership (2 Viewers)

[ledzeppelin]

NSW team is pretty hard to pick this year, and not because of an excess of good players

At this stage, I'd go with:

01. Minichiello (if not fit - Patten)
02. Hayne
03. Gasnier
04. Pomeroy (been playing as well as anyone else in this position)
05. Monaghan (has some size and has been playing well lately)
06. Anasta
07. Wallace (see Pomeroy)

08. Ryles (one stupid penalty and he's dropped for game 2)
09. Buderus (only cause Farah's been injured)
10. O'Meley
11. Laffranchi
12. Hoffman
13. Bird

14. Tupou
15. Mason
16. Gallen
17. Anyone but Kurt Gidley

 

[wuddie]

re above "selection"

1. so you'd have minichello the has-been and luke patten the never-will-be instead of brett stewart? smart.

2. pommeroy and monaghan? we have way better backs than those two. they are almost the brett finch equivalent of backs.

3. as bad as we are doing in the halfbacks, we are not that desperate yet.

4. what's wrong with kurt gidley? he is deadset the best utility in aust. who else can play fullback, 5/8 and hooker as well as he does?

maybe you thought we were talking about city vs country. i will forgive ya.

 

[Muz4PM]

Ok, on the posts above. I think that Hoffman or Ryan could be moved off the Bench in order to accomidate Gallen, who I think is a better prospect then both of them.

Centres must be Gasnier and Cooper. I have not watched a huge amount of Paramatta games this season, so this maybe a silly comment, but what about Eric Growth Jr? I thought he played alright last season and is deserving of another go.

NSW fullback must be Minichello or Stewart, I don't think Patten is as good as them. I think as I said above Orford should get the jersey for halfback, he has done well over the past years. I saw talk of putting Robbie Farah there at NSW halfback a few weeks ago in the paper. Whoever thought of that should probably reasses our halfback options.

For the Queensland team which was posted, I would probably swap Price and Webb's positions, so Webb is in the backrow and Price the front.

This may sound like a big call, but Lockyer a may not play Origin, at least in my opinion. He is starting off the bench for the Broncos, has chronic knee troubles, making him a liability for the Queensland team. I am a Broncos fan, I think Lockyer is a genius of a player, he is certainly still good enough to play origin, and for Australia, but my main qualm is his fitness, and whether he will be able to stand the tests of the extra football, training and pressure Origin puts on one's body.

 

[Muz4PM]

Orford never plays the big games when hes really needed as we saw last night and the grand final as well. bird and anasta in the halfs or anasta gidely and bird of the bench. orfords a good player but hes not a great player. minecello hasnt played enoght football to be in the origin team hes out for a few weeks now as well so stewart shoud get the fullback spot.

Fair calls.

Although, I am not so sure about Anasta ta halfback. I think Bird could pull off being five-eight, but I am not sure about Anasta at halfback. I think that you need to have a specialist half back at half back for Origin. I just don't know who at the moment. Bring back Johns? LOL.

 

[wuddie]

guys you have to STOP putting guys out of their position just so they can be in the team. like the post above, you've got 4 second rowers playing in the forward pack, where on earth are the props? then you throw in another 2 more second rowers on the bench.

i don't think bird needs to play 5/8. it is because we are short of play makers, we need someone in that specialist position. what is wrong with carney?

 

[ledzeppelin]

re above "selection"

1. so you'd have minichello the has-been and luke patten the never-will-be instead of brett stewart? smart.

2. pommeroy and monaghan? we have way better backs than those two. they are almost the brett finch equivalent of backs.

3. as bad as we are doing in the halfbacks, we are not that desperate yet.

4. what's wrong with kurt gidley? he is deadset the best utility in aust. who else can play fullback, 5/8 and hooker as well as he does?

maybe you thought we were talking about city vs country. i will forgive ya.

1. First of all, lol at Minichiello being a has-been. Stewart's great in attack, but doesn't offer that much by way of kick returns and isn't great defensively. Patten's been in terrific form for the last year or so.

2. Better backs, like who? Cooper's done sweet fuck all for ages, Lyon's played only a handful of games in the centres in the last two seasons. Monaghan's a proven try-scorer, is good in the air, and solid in defence as well. You're right, Pomeroy's not good enough, I just don't really know who to put there. I suppose it'll have to be Lyon.

3. Who would you recommend? Matt Orford, the choker who doesn't have a long kicking game? Carney, who's a 5/8th? Kimmorley, who can't create tries for the Sharks against the Dragons, let alone for NSW?

4. Kurt Gidley's an above-average fullback, not really anything else. He can't play hooker, and to the best of my knowledge, never actually has. Furthermore, why should we need a substitute hooker, when Buderus is an 80 minute player? Why do we need a substitute halfback or 5/8th, when both will be on the field for 80 minutes anyway? NSW are far better off putting another forward on the bench. Bird can fill in if need be in the halves or hooker.

 

[ledzeppelin]

NSW Origin team
1 Stewart
2 growth
3 gasnier
4 cooper
5 hayne
6 bird
7 anasta - shift anasta to 7 so bird can play 6 because of the lack of decent halfs
8 laffrancci
9 bederus
10 ryan
11 mason
12 hindmarsh
13 o'donnell
------------
14 tupou
15 hoffman
16 gallen
17 gidely

1. Grothe is hopeless in defense. I doubt he'll get picked for rep football again anyway, given how he got kicked out of the Kangaroo squad last year.
2. What's Cooper done in the last season to warrant selection?
3. Anasta at half, fail
4. Laffranchi at prop, epic fail
5. Ryan at prop, epic fail. On form, doesn't deserve selection at all. Hindmarsh is borderline too.

 

[wuddie]

re above.

a player can't be good just for the first few rounds of the year and be considered for origin, unless we are that desperate for players. monaghan hasn't done anything at the chooks last year, now all of a sudden he is in origin contention? is it fair for everybody else? i'd have el masri on the wings before i'd have monaghan. anthony quinn, on the other hand, has been gun for the storms since he moved from the knights two years ago. even he is a more proven performer than monaghan.

i am not even going to argue the minichello case, quite simply because stewart is an automatic pick. if anyone else gets the fb spot before he does i will never comment on nrl again, ever.

halfback is an issue. whoever they choose, he'd better be a halfback at club level. we are so depleted in that department i've given up on justifying one particular person.

now, bird vs gidley. i think they both should be in the side. gidley should get the no.14 jumper simply because he IS the best utility in aust and you can't find anyone else more versatile than him. a lot of players are 80min players at club level. but origin is so quick and intense you just have to have someone as back up. besides, what if one of the backs are injured? that's what the utility is for.

i will take on someone's advice earlier and say bird should be a lock and be given the freedom to pass or run at will. he has proven himself at the test vs kiwis last year and if his form is intact, i have no problem with him at the forwards. but if he plays in the halves, i will have a fit.

 

[patty4848]

I agree.

At least NSW players dont constantly talk about 'spirit'. Have you heard Ben Iken?. Hes the most biasis commentator ever. All he talks about is QLD teams. Its like theres only 1 side on the field. And this so called 'spirit' him and warren always go on about is a bit of a joke. They make out as if NSW just play and the QLD have all the 'spirit' in the game. I hope NSW smash em good this year.

Ikin talks about QLD teams because he is a former broncos player and actually knows what he is talking about. And over the past couple of years, NSW JUST play and that is all. When NSW are down, they lose (mind you when they are up they also have a tendency of losing).
I agree that you can't generalise a whole team having 'spirit', but every player on the QLD side think they can win until the fulltime siren sounds. That is why they are the masters of the comeback. They do have 'spirit' and they have proven themselves. I think NSW just need to find a team and use that team consistently and stop making changes. Its a new team everytime they walk onto the field and i think that is what is letting them down.

 

[patty4848]

ok, in that case, here's my prelimenary team, subject to change,

stewart
hayne
gasnier
bird/lyon - we need someone with a bit of versatility, can tackle and play make
quinn
anasta
carney/orford - orford deserves a go, but depends whether the selectors go for youth or experience. if they pick someone out of their position at halfback, i will put the white flag up for us
fitzgibbon
mason
hindmarsh
ryles/kite
buderus - why i didn't pick farrah is that he got an injury and he hasn't done as well as bedsy so far in the season
o'meley - really deserves it, quiet performer

bench
gidley
ryan
hoffman
tupou/lafranchi (is he nsw) - both deserving players.

i reckon a good team for NSW would be:

1. Stewart
2. Hayne
3. Gasnier
4. Lyon
5. Quinn
6. Anasta
7. Pierce/Wallace
8. Bailey
9. Buderus
10. Kite
11. Watmough
12. Hoffman
13. Bird

Bench:
Tupou
Gidley
Mason
Hindmarsh


And for QLD:

1. Slater
2. Inglis
3. Folau
4. Hodges
5. Tate
6. Cronk (I think Lockyer needs to retire from SoO and focus on his knee and the Broncos) or possibly Prince
7. Thurston
8. Price (if he's injured, then maybe Hannant - He's been a force this year)
9. Smith
10. Civoniceva
11. Crocker
12. Thaiday
13. Johnson

Bench:
Hunt
Webb
Kaufusi
Carroll

There's a few changes, but i have based it on form, not on previous origin experience

 

[notaaron]

How epically bad did the tigers play today.

 

[blakegman]

How epically bad is whoever suggested Luke Patten at fullback?

Of all the great fullbacks currently around, wtf would we chose him for.

and Anasta should stay at 6. Even though i reckon hed fair ok at halfback, but better go with a specialist to be safe.

 

[Muz4PM]

How epically bad did the tigers play today.

Very.

 

[Muz4PM]

How epically bad is whoever suggested Luke Patten at fullback?

Of all the great fullbacks currently around, wtf would we chose him for.

and Anasta should stay at 6. Even though i reckon hed fair ok at halfback, but better go with a specialist to be safe.

I think infront of Patten there is at least Hornby and Minichello, maybe not in that order.

I was impressed by Gidley today. I think he would be a great utility I am unsure why someone did not think so earlier in the thread.

 

[wuddie]

I was impressed by Gidley today. I think he would be a great utility I am unsure why someone did not think so earlier in the thread.

gidley should get the no.14 jumper simply because he IS the best utility in aust and you can't find anyone else more versatile than him.

watched the knights and broncos game today, the knights defence is dreadful. karmichael is not quick, nor strong, yet he managed to score virtually untouched from the halfway line. other than that, i thought it was a close contest. ennis was remarkable, a good asset for the broncos.

 

[Muz4PM]

watched the knights and broncos game today, the knights defence is dreadful. karmichael is not quick, nor strong, yet he managed to score virtually untouched from the halfway line. other than that, i thought it was a close contest. ennis was remarkable, a good asset for the broncos.

Finally the Broncos have discovered a good hooker/half combination which has been lacking for all of these seasons. Ennis has played some great football over the past fortnight, hopefully he can stay fit.

I don't think either team's defence was any good, allowing 56 points to be run in. However, you don't win premierships in April, and there is time for both teams' defence to set.

Tigers second half was woeful. I really do not know what they were thinking. Although, a few times, Carney was found out on the fifth tackle about options, not something a prospective NSW halfback should be exhibiting. However, that try at the end was a good play.

 

[leoyh]

i think everyone thought without lockyer, the broncos would struggle but seriously, they're doing fine without the guy

 

[xclusv-aj]

i think everyone thought without lockyer, the broncos would struggle but seriously, they're doing fine without the guy

yeah they are doing okay without him, but then again that's the whole point of a team, to share the work and not leave it and rely on one person to do it all for them.

 

[Muz4PM]

mind you shaun berrigan was a very good utility hooker when brisbane won the premiership in 07, they struggled without a quality hokker last season but with pj marsh and ennis theyll be in the top 2

Yeah, I agree, but I think he was a good utility as opposed to a genuine hooker. However, he did play well, and I am happy that the Broncos have two good hookers this year.

 

[Muz4PM]

What was wrong with the Jason Taylor thing? I have not heard of what happened and to be honest, could not be stuffed looking it up. I heard it was talking to his players on the sideline? What's wrong with that?