Teegy
23-06-06, 09:35 PM
SMH
NSW selectors are hoping final auditions spread over three cities on Saturday night will help solve the selection puzzle that is the Blues halves combination for the State of Origin decider. The side for Wednesday week's series finale will be named on Monday morning, with most conjecture over the scrumbase combination after poor showings by Sydney Roosters teammates Brett Finch and Braith Anasta in an embarrassing Origin II loss.
Of most concern to Blues selectors has been the side's inability to score points with NSW coming up with only one try in the last three halves of Origin football despite having the likes of Mark Gasnier and Timana Tahu out wide.
Cronulla's Brett Kimmorley and Penrith playmaker Craig Gower have emerged as front-runners for the halfback job, the pair to have their credentials given a thorough examination on Saturday night against a pair of former Test No.7s.
Kimmorley will travel to Newcastle looking to take advantage of Andrew Johns's recent dip in form, while Gower will need to deliver a better effort than he did against St George Illawarra when the Panthers host Scott Prince's Wests Tigers.
Manly's Matt Orford appears to have slipped back to be running a distant third in the pecking order, but his bid hasn't been helped by a quiet night opposite Kimmorley last weekend and a suspect ankle which has him in doubt for Sunday's clash against the Broncos.
The battle for the five-eighth spot is nowhere near as fierce, a factor which may earn Anasta a reprieve, though a big performance from St George Illawarra skipper Ben Hornby opposite Queensland halfback Johnathan Thurston in Wollongong could see the utility win an Origin recall.
Melbourne's Scott Hill is also in the running for a return to the Origin arena for the first time since 2002, his big game experience sure to give his selection chances a boost.
"It's the last roll of the dice for a few people this weekend," NSW selector Bob McCarthy said.
"I've got an open mind on everything at the moment.
"I'm a bit worried that we haven't been scoring a lot of points, the last three halves we've played we've scored one try.
"With the firepower that we've got, I'd love to see what could happen there."
It was assumed Gower, first choice for the Origin opener before suffering a knee injury the day before the match, would come back into the side provided he proved he was back to full fitness.
But such has been the form of Kimmorley since his return from an ankle injury that selectors may turn to the Sharks playmaker in their hour of need.
Former NSW skipper and halfback Steve Mortimer said it was imperative selectors looked at both positions as a collective, plumping for a Kimmorley-Hill pairing based on their experience of playing alongside each other for three years at the Storm.
"Rather than pick a halfback and a five-eighth, I believe we should pick a coupling, and I think Kimmorley and Scott Hill would serve the Blues well," said Mortimer, the first man to lead a Blues side to a series win in 1984.
"Hill's form over the last two weeks, he seems to me like he'd be up for it.
"Obviously Craig Gower would come into consideration as well, but I think a Kimmorley-Hill combination would be an ideal link between the backs and the forwards."
NSW selectors are hoping final auditions spread over three cities on Saturday night will help solve the selection puzzle that is the Blues halves combination for the State of Origin decider. The side for Wednesday week's series finale will be named on Monday morning, with most conjecture over the scrumbase combination after poor showings by Sydney Roosters teammates Brett Finch and Braith Anasta in an embarrassing Origin II loss.
Of most concern to Blues selectors has been the side's inability to score points with NSW coming up with only one try in the last three halves of Origin football despite having the likes of Mark Gasnier and Timana Tahu out wide.
Cronulla's Brett Kimmorley and Penrith playmaker Craig Gower have emerged as front-runners for the halfback job, the pair to have their credentials given a thorough examination on Saturday night against a pair of former Test No.7s.
Kimmorley will travel to Newcastle looking to take advantage of Andrew Johns's recent dip in form, while Gower will need to deliver a better effort than he did against St George Illawarra when the Panthers host Scott Prince's Wests Tigers.
Manly's Matt Orford appears to have slipped back to be running a distant third in the pecking order, but his bid hasn't been helped by a quiet night opposite Kimmorley last weekend and a suspect ankle which has him in doubt for Sunday's clash against the Broncos.
The battle for the five-eighth spot is nowhere near as fierce, a factor which may earn Anasta a reprieve, though a big performance from St George Illawarra skipper Ben Hornby opposite Queensland halfback Johnathan Thurston in Wollongong could see the utility win an Origin recall.
Melbourne's Scott Hill is also in the running for a return to the Origin arena for the first time since 2002, his big game experience sure to give his selection chances a boost.
"It's the last roll of the dice for a few people this weekend," NSW selector Bob McCarthy said.
"I've got an open mind on everything at the moment.
"I'm a bit worried that we haven't been scoring a lot of points, the last three halves we've played we've scored one try.
"With the firepower that we've got, I'd love to see what could happen there."
It was assumed Gower, first choice for the Origin opener before suffering a knee injury the day before the match, would come back into the side provided he proved he was back to full fitness.
But such has been the form of Kimmorley since his return from an ankle injury that selectors may turn to the Sharks playmaker in their hour of need.
Former NSW skipper and halfback Steve Mortimer said it was imperative selectors looked at both positions as a collective, plumping for a Kimmorley-Hill pairing based on their experience of playing alongside each other for three years at the Storm.
"Rather than pick a halfback and a five-eighth, I believe we should pick a coupling, and I think Kimmorley and Scott Hill would serve the Blues well," said Mortimer, the first man to lead a Blues side to a series win in 1984.
"Hill's form over the last two weeks, he seems to me like he'd be up for it.
"Obviously Craig Gower would come into consideration as well, but I think a Kimmorley-Hill combination would be an ideal link between the backs and the forwards."