State of Origin Selection Bashing, 2016 Edition

The New South Wales State of Origin team is deceptive this year.

At first it looks like the selectors did a reasonable job. Then you realise there are 19 players named, and as per usual, the Daily Telegraph has a leak of the actual 17.

So I made my annual visit to the Daily Telegraph online, and discovered that in knocking two players out, everything is fucked up.

The 2015 version of this column is here.

And for historical perspective, I found a 2010 version of this column, from when I administered a footy tipping competition by email.

Here are the three New South Wales selection wrongdoings for 2016.

1. The Next Darren Lockyer
...is apparently Matt Moylan. Moylan has enormous potential, and isn't a bad pick, but the closest similarity I see so far is they are both awful on television - Lockyer as a commentator, and Moylan as a far-too-frequent guest panellist on The Footy Show.

The selection of Moylan also pushes Dugan to centre. Some argue this is a better position for Dugan, as he can't really pass and provide additional creative play from fullback. But I would suggest centres also need to be able to pass. I would also suggest that Dugan is the one of the strongest runners and hardest to tackle players in the NRL, and at the centre position NSW are missing out of 150-200 metres in kick returns and early tackle count hit-ups.

The selection also means that Josh Morris will be the 19th man, meaning he doesn't play unless there is injury. Morris is the only player to consistently stop Greg Inglis from completely running riot in Origin history. Whoever plays that side at centre and wing is going to be in for a rough night.

2. Walker's On :-(
Dylan Walker is the annual Bob Fulton Manly selection.

Bob Fulton being a selector at this point is like your grandparents being on social media, except you can't block Bozo and pretend he doesn't exist in that space. His outdated views still hold weight at least fifteen years after he should've been pensioned off as a selector.

And this is how we end up with Dylan Walker, super sub.

The most egregious Bob Fulton selection is still Jamie Buhrer and his three-minute cameo in Game 1, 2012. Walker is a better player than Buhrer, but the confused thinking is the same. Here we have a player who is maybe the sixth or seventh best centre available for NSW, but has been playing five-eighth and fullback for the first ten weeks of the season. This elevates him to the NSW bench as a utility player.

The vast majority of NRL teams do not pick utility players on their bench, for good and obvious reasons.

It's just hard to see where and when Walker will be used. It's not like any of the backs will need a rest, and unlike Michael Morgan for Queensland, Walker is not going to force a substitution because he can add some spark around the ruck when the opposition forwards tire. It's basically a pick to mitigate the risk of injury in the halves, which means it's a wasted bench spot in normal circumstances.

And Greg Bird is probably better halves cover anyway

3. Forwards Thinking is Backwards
Speaking of Bird, he has been playing wide second-row for his club most of the season. So he is named at lock and looks likely to be playing in the middle of the field, with Cordner and Jackson playing wide.

The bench then has three more front-rowers/middle-players: Fifita, Klemmer and Tamou.

The only coverage for Cordner and Jackson involves asking Gallen or Bird to change roles and shift wide, which could be very disruptive. Otherwise, they are both playing eighty minutes. Cordner has been back three weeks from an injury. Jackson is inexperienced. What could possibly go wrong?

I guess the good news is that neither Cordner or Jackson will be asked to play centre in the event of an injury emergency, because Dylan Walker is ready on the bench.