2018 State of Origin

Discussion in 'The Cesspit: Rugby League Discussion' started by Old Mate, Jul 12, 2017.

  1. Magic AJ Parker

    Fuck me, Ben Hunt & Andrew McCullough.

    That's some fall.
     
  2. morgieb MC Burridge

    Not sure if the new spines for both sides show how spoiled we were with having 3 ATG's of roughly the same age or the shitty standard of playmakers that have come through the last 10 years. Probably both.
     
  3. Boobidy BJ Gemmell

    QLD still have a lot of high quality halves. Munster, Morgan, Milford, Hunt, DCE, Norman etc are all very good players.
     
  4. Cribbage RG Cribb

    Queensland have a lot of quality second receivers. No first receivers as good as Pearce (at club level :ninja: ) though.
     
  5. Boobidy BJ Gemmell

    NSW should definitely pick Pearce.

    I'd definitely have Hunt before Pearce at first receiver.
     
  6. Alec AD Funkotron

    I hope Brisbane gets a decent halfback so Milford can go back to his more natural role. I think he has a higher ceiling than Munster, he's finally maturing a bit as a player, picking up more skills...but he's just not suited to his current role.
     
    Cribbage likes this.
  7. Cribbage RG Cribb

    We would but he's injured. When we lose we can blame it on our star half being injured.
     
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  8. Magic AJ Parker

    It's definitely the latter although I don't know if shitty is necessarily a fair reflection.

    There just seems to be a genuine lack of dominant first receivers, we're in an era and have been for some time now where a lot of clubs play with split halves and I think that's resulted in there being a shit load of pretty decent bit part/support players but fuck all dominant organisers.

    I really don't know how Michael Morgan isn't the first halfback picked in this origin series though. That's a major fuck up on Qld's behalf IMO.
     
  9. Alec AD Funkotron

    Because he's only had like 8 good games as a halfback in his career. He's got to prove it wasn't just a purple patch for the Cowboys first.
     
  10. Magic AJ Parker

    He's only had like 8 games and good is an understatement.

    The alternative option seems to be Ben Hunt whose career can best be summed as a series of purple patches mixed with a whole lot of mediocrity in between.

    Lets face it the only reason Ben Hunt is even being talked about is because of his purple patch with the Dragons at the moment, cunt was playing reserve grade last year.

    And no Cribb I'm not watching your 20 minute video on hot hands again, I don't even know what point you were getting at the first time.
     
  11. Cribbage RG Cribb

    The point was they don't really exist, and humans look for patterns when they're not there.

    If anything it'd support the points you're making now.
     
  12. Maroon_Faithful M Faithful

    True but how is that any different to Morgan, really? They've both had purple patches and both had slumps.

    The most important thing imo, given we've lost 3/4 of our spine, is to resettle on someone who plays there every week. Hunt probably has more potential or a higher ceiling at halfback than Morgan does as well.
     
  13. Maroon_Faithful M Faithful

    Everything suffers without Smithy. Our go-forward is going to suffer. Our organisation is going to suffer. Our kicking game, our defence in the middle, our control over the tempo, and yes, our influence with referees. Just a huge loss. More than Thurston, more than Cronk and more than Lockyer.

    It's honestly only comparable to QLD losing Lewis, and NSW losing Johns. QLD lost 3 straight and 5 of the next 6 (our worst period in Origin history.) NSW post-Johns lost 8 straight and still haven't found an even remotely consistent halfback at Origin level since. Even Gould just said Smith is the greatest player he's ever seen, and he's always been a Johns supporter.

    Throw in JT and Cronk and Slater next year and yeah we've got some tough years ahead.

    Need Inglis, and Ponga, and Hunt, and Morgan to spark the next generation of QLD RL.

    lol and can we stop having our stalwarts retire when they're still the best in the world in their respective positions?
     
  14. Maroon_Faithful M Faithful

    I'm guessing these are the two teams we'll be seeing...

    QLD
    1.Slater
    2.Boyd
    3.Inglis (c)
    4.Chambers
    5.Gagai
    6.Munster
    7.Hunt
    8.Scott
    9.McCullogh
    10.Napa
    11.Cooper
    12.Kaufusi
    13.McGuire

    14.Morgan
    15.Papalii
    16.Wallace
    17.Hess/Glasby

    NSW

    1.Tedesco
    2.Addo-Carr
    3.Mitchell
    4.Aitken
    5.Ferguson
    6.Maloney
    7.Cleary
    8.Campbell-Gillard
    9.McInnes
    10.Klemmer
    11.Cordner (c)
    12.Frizella
    13.Trbojevic

    14.Cook/Peachey
    15.Vaughan
    16.De Belin
    17.Graham

    Dugan will never be picked again imo. If Cleary isn't fit or doesn't return well it'll be Maloney at 7 and Keary at 6. Woods may remain and push RCG to the bench but I'm thinking otherwise. I think like Jackson, Dugan, Peats, he's on the outer.
     
  15. Boobidy BJ Gemmell

    At the end of the day we will still be stronger than NSW in those positions.

    Ponga will most likely be the best fullback in the game by the 2019 series, and Hunt/Milford/Morgan/Munster/DCE would all be first picked in the NSW halves. The biggest concern is the middle, all the best young forwards are blues.
     
  16. Boobidy BJ Gemmell

    I think Papalii will start 13 with Arrow on the pine.
     
  17. Maroon_Faithful M Faithful

    Yeah that's certainly what I think will happen if Moose isn't available but I heard he will be.
     
  18. Magic AJ Parker

    It's different because context matters. It's more circumstance than slump IMO.

    Morgan's been pushed out of the halfback role and is playing in a team that's struggling on so many levels it's no even funny. Hunt the complete opposite, he's been dropped into a team that's sitting top of the table, he deserves some credit for that but I don't think anyone in their right mind would argue he's be an architect of that.

    Simply picking Hunt because he plays there every week is extremely short sighted, we all know Morgan will be the Cowboys halfback for the next 5 years when Thurston steps down at the end of the year.

    I think you're just trying to rationalise the decision.
     
  19. Maroon_Faithful M Faithful

    Well it depends on what you mean by architect. He’s been influential to be sure. He wasn’t dropped into a team that’s on top of the table. He’s part of a team who he’s helped get to the top of the table. By the same token Morgan is a victim of circumstance but he’s also partly to blame for said circumstance. His first month or so of footy was pus and he’s not a proven halfback at rep level so no loyalty is owed to him.

    I’m not rationalising anything. For most of the season I’ve been warning people against jumping on the Hunt bandwagon too early. I’m perfectly fine with whichever way they go but I think Hunt is the more natural halfback and Morgan is the better utility. That’s all. I think natural ability and familiarity matter more when you go from Smith to McCullough. I’m not sure why you think it’s an absolute no-brainer for Morgan to be the 7.
     
  20. Maroon_Faithful M Faithful

    At the risk of shooting my load early, Ponga is already the best fullback in the game. :p Seriously, he is.

    Yeah we're struggling for forwards. Arrow and Hess are promising. Gotta get Oates onto an edge...
     

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