The Centenary test squad has been announced. It is:
Billy Slater, Greg Inglis, Mark Gasnier, Justin Hodges, Israel Folau, Darren Lockyer (capt), Johnathan Thurston, Brent Kite, Cameron Smith, Petero Civoniceva, Ryan Hoffman, Paul Gallen, Greg Bird. Interchange: Carl Webb, Anthony Tupou, Willie Mason, Kurt Gidley
A notable omission is Nathan Hindmarsh. But his form (and the Eels of course) has not been the best. A problem for the Kangaroos over the years has been a habit of rewarding long term incumbency rather than form. There are quite a few form second rowers running around and Hoffman and Gallen have been playing well. Selfishly, I’d rather Hindmarsh not worry about rep footy and concentrate on finding form and pushing the Eels up the ladder.
Slater deserves the fullback spot. It is not that the incumbent Stewart was out of form. It is just Slater has been playing blinders almost every game.
Carl Webb is a bolter on the bench but he will serve his country well.
Next Friday is City v Country at WIN Stadium (It would be nice to actually play the game west of the ranges. You know, where the country is) and throws up some intriguing battles for NSW origin half back spot. Orford is on the outer with selectors as Mitchell Pearce will line up for City as half back with his opposition being Brett Finch. Gidley is in the mix but my money is on him being a utility back for the Blues.
Hindmarsh finally gets to play for country but I doubt he will play for the Blues this year as Hoffman and Gallen will likely be the second row.
The game will be interesting for a few bolters. The Raiders’ Todd Carney gets a good chance to show he is a very capable player while the Eels Feleti Mateo could be a roughy for an Origin bench spot.
It will be an interesting game.
City: Brett Hodgson, Jarryd Hayne, Ben Pomeroy, Brett Delaney, Luke Rooney, Braith Anasta, Mitchell Pearce, Jason King, Corey Hughes, Mark O’Meley, Luke Lewis, Mark Minichiello, John Sutton.
Interchange: Bryce Gibbs, Ray Cashmere, Feleti Mateo, Peter Wallace.
Country: Brett Stewart, Joel Monaghan, Jamie Lyon, Matt Cooper, Anthony Quinn, Todd Carney, Brett Finch, Brett White, Danny Buderus (capt), Anthony Laffranchi, Nathan Hindmarsh, Andrew Ryan, Craig Fitzgibbon.
Interchange: Ben Cross, Chris Heighington, Brett Kearney, Glenn Stewart.
11 responses so far ↓
Stephen Hill // Apr 28, 2008 at 10:30 am
Corey Hughes a represenative player, were the selectors pissed?
I’m aware that Farah and Wing are injured, and Isaac Luke is just back from injury, but I would have thought Mark Riddell or that Cronulla hooker would be miles ahead of Hughes and this from a one-eyed Bulldogs supporter.
This is obviously the weakest this state has been in regards to hookers for many years. Hughes has no dummy-half distribution skills, gives away two-three penalties a game (he does however do a lot of tackling) and I would have thought was one of the weakest hookers in the competition. I guess Michael Sullivan is unlucky to be injured, as he is far superior player.
Shaun // Apr 28, 2008 at 11:10 am
Compare the NSWs’ depth in the 1-6-7-9 to QLDs and we suffer greatly.
A creative hooker is what we need for Origin not a tackling machine (which is where Buderus is heading).
mark // Apr 28, 2008 at 4:35 pm
all i can say is that i am looking forward to origin as the way the selectors have gone with city country we will win 3-0 again
Levi // Apr 28, 2008 at 7:21 pm
are the selectors serious
they surely were completely pissed or on crack to consider brett delaney, ben pomeroy, cory hughes, luke rooney and luke lewis for city selections.
Their are far superior players in these positions that rip these retards. Firstly, the centres should be chris lawrence and jarred hayne, despite the fact he isnt the greatest centre but that allows eric grothe and hasem el masari on the wings. Those two players have had origin experience and are great players.
Grothe is very quick and is a bruising ball carrier and el masri is an all-rounded and reliable winger far superior to rooney.
Now the hooker position…i dont know what they were thinking and we never will. I understand that farah and wing are injured but surely the likes of Mark Riddle and Dean Young who is a capable no.9
Now to the matter of luke lewis and the back row. Lewis is an absolute twig and is no seconf rower, his form doesnt represent rep footy, it represents jim beam cup form. WHO THE HELL PICKED HIM!
Anyway, ben creagh is an underated footballer and has alot of petential. He is 100 times better than lewis. also, feleti mateo should be at lock and sutton moved to the bench.
Also, peter wallace. He has directed the broncos around very well so far and deserves his chance but i also think orford is in good form and has experience to go with it. Its a tough decision but im 50/50 on both players.
Vincent // Apr 28, 2008 at 8:53 pm
This is a shambles, i don’t think that i will ever understand the selectors, year after year they choose experience over enthusiasm and talent and this year they throw in mitchell pearce ahead of mathew orford? Granted he is a great player and his combination with Anasta would be developed , however it’s not likely that Anasta will be selected and it’s only Mitchell’s second season in the Nrl, (and his first was plagued with injury). And there must be a better utlity back than peter wallace, please? But that is the least of our problems, I’m shocked at the lack of quality frontrowers that we have, not just the props but what happened to the small crafty hooker? Just because you play in the front row doesn’t mean you have to have no skill or creativity, I reckon there are some better hookers than corey hughes in the toyota cup! Again I’m confused to find that Luke Rooney is in the team after selectors have emphasised that they have focused on recent form not past ability, i thought he retired years ago, and he should have. I know this sounds harsh but past N.S.W. form has not been the best and its not that we done have the players its the players that we have chosen, so in my opinion get some new slectors and let the boys play, even if we let the general public sms their prefered teams in we would probably get a better team together than this. So if we are going to go down the youg talent path then get some GOOD young players in, one example would be Chris lawrence, how Delany was picked over this try scoring machine i don’t know but maybe thats just the tiger in me talking. It sickens me to say this but at the moment i can’t envision a better result for us than 2-1 to Qld, but i live in hope, that we get new selectors that is…
Shaun // Apr 28, 2008 at 9:10 pm
Even as a hard core Eels fan, Grothe’s form doesn’t warrant selection. We are never sure if he is going to do something great or something monumentally stupid. Hayne also is out of sorts though he was back to some form against Manly. His defence as centre is a liability. I’d pick him for Origin but as a winger where he is more dangerous.
With the NSW selectors, they have tendency to panic a little. They need to be bold with selections and reward form. Not dredge up players like Rooney even for City/Country. Take a chance even if it won’t pay off till next year.
Chris Lawrence is unlucky. I’m now a fan of his after watching Sunday’s game.
Bismark O'Measles // Apr 28, 2008 at 10:04 pm
Stephen, perhaps the selectors were Kidwell, Paea, Rodgers and Lowe … they’re well known for being pissed hahahhaha.
(I submit this as a very disappointed Bunnies fan desperate for some better news…….)
Aussie Team // Apr 29, 2008 at 3:36 pm
I think Cooper Cronk deserves a representitive spot. He has set up the most tries in the NRL so far he should be a utility back for Australia and Queensland!
Vee // May 1, 2008 at 6:48 pm
There’s only about 6 players in the test team that deserve to be there. I find it embarrassing that State of Origin is the pinnacle of rugby league, followed closely by a Grand Final win and a long way back comes a Test Match representing your country. Test selectors are idiots.
That said, there’s nothing much wrong with the city/country selections. All of them pretty much deserve their place.
Dale // May 1, 2008 at 9:38 pm
I don’t understand some N.S.W selectors decisions. While players like Amos Roberts and Luke Rooney are playing OK, they are NEVER going to be picked for a N.S.W origin jersey. If they (NRL) want the city V country game to be taken seriously then please only pick players who are actually in consideration.
Club Troppo » Missing Link Daily // Jul 22, 2008 at 4:30 am
[...] Cronin looks at the rugby league Centenary Test squad and NSW City/Country selections.22. KP: I wonder how many blatantly criminal cowardly acts [...]