wuddie said:
love the hate, but if luke lewis is so good, why hasn't he played origin since god knows when, or why isn't he playing for aust? reason, gidley is the best utility on this land, and he only played a poor game on wedn as did the whole team.
roosters played well last night, obviously with a few players desperate to get the origin thrashing behind them. penrith had the potential, but they tried to go wide way too early.
newcastle on good odds to beat the cowboys, i got $20 on them.
well thats a bit of a bad argument isn't it? simply because he isn't playing for australia doesn't make him a bad player - see matt bowen, alan tongue etc etc who are all good players that selectors often overlook.
matter of the fact is, in the last two appearences, gidley has been nothing but average, or below average, for the NSW blues. he clearly isn't comfortable as a half or a hooker and shouldn't be playing there. for that matter, neither should steve simpson. for mine he has never looked at home in a nsw jumper. if anasta was given a few games to determine his worth as an origin player, or lack thereof, so should the newcastle players.
on the other hand, luke lewis can cover almost double the positions that kidley can (lock, wing, centre, second row, halfback, five-eight) and is a noted defender. he is the 18th man for NSW and deserves his shot, even if it is over simpson rather than kidley (who is, i suspect, the darling of the channel 9 team).