2013 State of Origin

It's not a fluke. It's been going on for decades. It's just hit an all time low recently. Our state RL hub, Brisbane especially the south, produces not just the best players but the best halves in the world. Halves: Wally Lewis, Mark Murray, Peter Jackson, Jason Smith, Johnathan Thurston, Cooper Cronk, Daly Cherry-Evans, and I think one could make a strong case for Cameron Smith to be included in that list.

Compare that line-up to what Sydney has produced since 1980: Brad Fittler, Terry Lamb, Des Hasler, Greg Alexander, Geoff Toovey, Jim Dymock, Matt Orford, Brent Sherwin, Craig Gower, Mitchell Pearce.

It's exactly what you would expect; a larger number, of lesser quality halves, most of whom either never played Origin or never succeeded in it. Of the genuinely successful rep players Brisbane has Lewis, Murray, Thurston and Cronk. Sydney has Fittler, Hasler and Toovey. That's pathetic for a 30 year period in a city of Sydney's size.

 

Some of it is also just bad luck that has nothing to do with development. If you ignore Thurston for a second (because tbh he is a bit of an outlier) then NSW haven't done too badly. For example, I actually think that Terry Campese and Todd Carney are as good/better than Cooper Cronk or anything that QLD has produced over the last 10 years. But it just looks like QLD are doing a better job because of a series of knee injuries, police chases and drinking sessions with Anthony Watts that have conspired against the NSWRL.

 

I wouldn't disagree with that and Thurston was almost lost from the game forever when no one wanted him. It's not as bad as it seems but still, NSW have tried and failed with quite a lot of halves over the last decade.

I think the evolution that EWS is talking about has to do with Origin. The old adage of young NSWmen dreaming of playing for Parramatta or South Sydney, whereas the young QLDer dreaming of playing for QLD, is a factor IMO.

 

Recently I suppose that is true but NSW have had them in the past. Andrew Johns was a pretty big outlier and having both Laurie Daley and Brad Fittler through the 90s and early-2000s could probably be viewed similarly.

 

That's partly true but it's much more true for NSW. On the initiative of Wayne Bennett, young QLD players were receiving genuine development and integration into the state system preparing them for higher honours, for a lot longer than what NSW have. NSW have only just recently started picking development squads.

 

Johns wasn't that much better than Langer, especially at rep level. In fact at rep level he wasn't better than Langer at all. NSW don't have anyone who is remotely as good as Thurston or Smith IMO.

 

Yeah, not at Origin level but overall Johns was better.

As for Thurston, I'd honestly put Fittler pretty close to him. I haven't seen enough of Fittler's club career to compare them but at Origin level Fittler was pretty amazing. The fact that Thurston still has quite a few years left in the tank will probably see him pass Freddy but at this stage I'd wouldn't put Thurston that far ahead. Likewise with Daley.

 

Yeah but the only time QLD were really lacking for a quality rep half was when Langer went overseas and for a short time after he retired. And it resulted in us shifting Lockyer. Then came along Thurston and the rest. That anomaly aside, QLD has never really been in the same position that NSW is in now. So I agree it is cyclical but this particular cycle seems particularly deep.

 

I was making a contemporaneous comparison. Langer and Johns played at the same time. Fittler and Daley are comparable to Thurston IMO but no current NSW half is.

 

Gotcha.