Queensland legend Billy Moore believes Mitchell Moses has the chance to take Nathan Cleary’s Blues jersey permanently if he can make history and lead the Blues to a series victory.
Blues skipper James Tedesco has denied the theory Queensland are in the box seat to win game two easily to clinch back-to-back series victories.
And NSW are confident they handled Reece Walsh in game one and will put even more pressure on him at Suncorp Stadium after his infamous comments.
LEGEND TIPS MOSES TO SURPASS CLEARY IF NSW WIN
Queensland legend Billy Moore believes Mitchell Moses has the chance to take Nathan Cleary’s Blues jersey permanently if he can make history and lead the Blues to a series victory.
No Blues team has ever kept a series alive in Queensland from 1-0 down and gone on to win the series and Moses will be looking to break that curse in the final two games of the 2023 series.
Moore thought the Blues might have gone for a combination of Adam Reynolds and Cody Walker given the task ahead of them, but has no doubts Moses was the man to replace Nathan Cleary if NSW stuck with Jarome Luai at five-eighth.
“Mitchell Moses is a very good footballer,” Moore said on The Fox League Podcast.
“What he possesses is a lot of confidence, a great long kicking game and he has got out and out speed.
“He makes a break and I don’t think we are going to catch him.
“I would have thought they might have gone down the South Sydney model with Reynolds and Cody Walker.
“But obviously Freddy came out and said, look we lost our halfback let’s not throw the baby out with the bath water, let’s just drop another halfback in there.
“And I think if you are not going to change the five-eighth then Mitchell Moses is probably the better pick than Adam Reynolds in there. For me Reynolds going in would mean you pick Walker.
“But if you are going to stick with Luai then Mitchell Moses is probably the best pairing they have got there.”
While the odds are against Moses and the Blues of going on to win the series, Moore believes if NSW make history then Cleary will be chasing Moses to get his jersey back.
“It is a huge ask. He only played one game of Origin after he broke his back, but what I love in sport is opportunity.
“This his chance. Now for Mitchell Moses to stay on and become a permanent No.7 for NSW he has to lead them to victory not only at Suncorp but then the game in Sydney.
“If NSW win this series 2-1 there is absolutely no reason why Mitchell Moses is not going to be talked about as the great No.7 for NSW, so this is his chance.
“If he wants another crack he needs to come to Queensland and do it. No one has ever done it before.
“If he can achieve that his lifelong dream will come to fruition and he will be the No.7 who says to Nathan Cleary you have got to catch me now.”
TEDDY REBUKES BLUES EASY BEATS THEORY
Blues skipper James Tedesco has denied the theory Queensland are in the box seat to win game two easily to clinch back-to-back series victories.
Queensland are favourites to win at home and seal a series win on Wednesday night, but Tedesco believes the sides are much closer than everyone is saying.
“It’s going to be a completely different game, but we know we weren’t far off but we missed the mark on a few things,” Tedesco said.
“So we will take those lessons and learn from them, and be really nice and clear in what we need to do to execute this game.
“But yeah, it is going to be a whole different game. It’s good to take some confidence, we felt like we were winning for most of that game.
“But it comes down to moments and it comes down to the last five minutes in almost every Origin game so we have to be clear on an 80 minute performance.”
Tedesco also copped some criticism over his own performance in game one, but is confident he can put that behind him and get back to his best in game two.
“It all started last week with my preparation really, not just getting to the game and hoping for the best. It is all about doing everything during the week to get my body right, to get my mind right,” Tedesco said.
“To be clear and go out and play some footy for 80 minutes. We know it is going to be a completely different game to what it was in Game I.
“We know (there is going to be) a lot of things against us, especially at their home (ground).
“But for me it is just about being clear about how I can get my best footy on the night.”
BLUES PUT MAROONS ROOKIE BACK IN HIS BOX
NSW are confident they handled Reece Walsh in game one and will put even more pressure on him at Suncorp Stadium after his infamous comments.
NSW clearly targeted Walsh in his Origin debut, prompting the bullish youngster to fire back at the whole southern state after Queensland’s win.
“They were always going to come (for me). They think they are better than everyone down there in blue,” Walsh told The Courier Mail.
“They think they own the game.”
However, Blues skipper James Tedesco believes the Blues shut down Walsh well in Adelaide and will look to make life even harder on him in Brisbane.
“I felt like we limited his opportunities but when he gets time and space, that’s when his best footy comes to life so we’ve just got to limit his time and space,” Tedesco said.
“Getting that line speed, putting more pressure on him because if you give him time to run that’s when he’s very dangerous.
“I think that’s sort of the key for all their spine, if you give them time and space… they are going to play some footy on you.
“So we need to be better in pressuring those guys and giving them less time on the ball.”
BLUES’ FORWARDS DUO CLEARED TO PLAY
NSW duo Liam Martin and Cameron Murray have passed fit and will play in the Blues’ must-win Game II at Suncorp Stadium on Wednesday.
The pair were racing the clock inside Blues camp alongside Latrell Mitchell, who scratched himself last Thursday.
Martin, due to concussion protocols, wasn’t allowed to do contact until the captain’s run on Tuesday, while Murray (groin) only ran at 100 per cent on Sunday.
“They’re 100 per cent, the boys that had to go through rehab,” Blues assistant coach Greg Alexander confirmed on SEN.
“Liam has ticked every box of the return to play protocols.
“Cam Murray has ticked every box.
“He was a long way ahead of Latrell (Mitchell) early last week when we came into camp.
“Cam was running at 80 per cent at the start of last week so he’s had about a week of training and rehabbing. He’s a professional Cam Murray and he’s got himself ready to go.”
QLD MULLING PACK CHANGE
Queensland coach Billy Slater is considering starting game 2 with Reuben Cotter on the right edge as the Maroons look to defy recent history and wrap up the series on home soil.
Slater’s side are set to start the match as red-hot favourites against a NSW side missing Nathan Cleary, Latrell Mitchell and Api Koroisau.
Cotter was named on the bench for the series opener in Adelaide but ended up starting in the middle before he was quickly shifted to the edge after Tom Gilbert had his season ended by a shoulder injury.
The Cowboys dynamo claimed man of the match honours for his efforts in game one, which is why Slater may thrust him into the starting side in the middle or in the back row.
Cotter’s versatility is one of his biggest strengths and that’s crucial in Origin where coaches have to adapt on the run with injuries, head knocks and sin bins wreaking havoc as they did in Adelaide.
Both Queensland wingers came off injured, Gilbert left the field early, David Fifita was sent for a head injury assessment, while Tom Flegler spent 10 minutes in the sin bin which forced Slater to shift players into unfamiliar positions.
It’s why someone like Cotter is so valuable and could start at Suncorp Stadium.
“That’s an option for us,” Slater said.
“He’s quite versatile. I’ve seen him play a little bit of dummy-half, too.
“Given our last four games, we need those contingencies and we need those backup plans. We lost two wingers in game one and we lost two back-rowers in game one so we had Ben Hunt and David Fifita playing in the centres for a period of time.
“I’ve come to learn that you need a backup plan and that you need to think of everything.”
The talk is that Cotter could start on the right edge in place of Cowboys teammate Jeremiah Nanai who missed the series opener through suspension and has played just one game since Round 9.
That was against the Storm where he scored a try off the bench and did more than enough to convince Slater that he was ready for a recall.
“Jeremiah plays on that right edge and he’s in some great touch,” his coach said.
“He obviously had some time off, but the game he came back for, he had a lot of energy in his footy so we’ve got a few options there.”
- Martin Gabor, NCA Newswire
BLUES SHAKE-UP NEEDED
The NRL 360 panel have debated where things have gone wrong for New South Wales as they face an incredible 14th series defeat in 18 years.
Phil Rothfield said it’s time to find out why the Blues struggle at the highest level despite having almost double the participation numbers in rugby league.
“There are 120,000 rugby league participants in New South Wales and there are 65,000 in Queensland, so we have twice the potential talent pool as Queensland. We develop 16s, 18s, 20s, really good football sides but once we reach this Origin level - four times in the last 18 years we’ve won,” Rothfield said.
“What I’m saying is it’s time to find out why. I could understand it when Smith, Cronk, Slater, Thurston and those fellas, I could cope with it and understand it but there’s no way we should be losing three of the past four series.”
Braith Anasta then state the elephant in the room and Brent Read threw out a left-field suggestion for who should be the Blues next coach.
“We’ve always had the talent pool, it’s what we do with that talent. I think we all know, and Freddy and Brandy would know this too, if they lose this gam
e it’s very unlikely they’re there next year,” Anasta said.
“You replace someone when there is need for change. I’ve spat the stats out, we should be doing a lot better in State of Origin and we’re not so you look at the coaching and look at the preparation and the selections and high performance. I’ve said someone like Ricky Stuart would be good or Danny Buderus to do it with Joey,” Rothfield responded.
Read then interjected: “Mick Ennis has got coaching experience, he loves the Blues. I don’t mind the other idea. I think he’d do a great job.”
“I think he’d be up for it,” Anasta responded before Rothfield said “I think he’d be a sensational assistant”.
FREDDY’S MIXING IT UP
New South Wales coach Brad Fittler is weighing up switching his two hookers’ roles for Origin II — but that’s not the only tactical move he’s set to make.
The Sydney Morning Herald reports is expected to switch wingers Brian To’o and Josh Addo-Carr.Fittler
To’o will swap from the left to the right — where he is most comfortable — and vice versa for Addo-Carr, who has been playing on the left all year at club level.
It does mean, however that To’o will move away from his Penrith teammates Stephen Crichton and Jarome Luai, who play on NSW’s left edge.
But it’s for good reason. Pint-sized To’o won’t have to come up against towering Queensland winger Xavier Coates after the move.
According to the Herald, the Blues trialled the switch in Sunday’s training session.
It comes after Queensland skipper Daly Cherry-Evans revealed his intention to use Coates’ aerial skills in Wednesday’s game at Suncorp Stadium by directing the ball to his wing.
“It’s probably naturally a part of my game anyway, I’m going to work with the wingers,” he told reporters on Monday.
“The fact that we’ve got someone like Xavier in the side, I’ll probably be a bit more conscious of it at that part of the field.”
MAROONS LEGEND’S BIG CALL
Gorden Tallis has declared “it will be one of New South Wales’ greatest victories” if the Blues were to win Game II at Suncorp Stadium on Wednesday.
The Maroons will start warm favourites to take out the series in Game II on the back of a number of injury queries for the Blues, headlined by the absence of Latrell Mitchell.
That, coupled with the question marks surrounding a few of Brad Fittler’s selection decisions, most notably the dropping of Nicho Hynes, and the Blues’ backs are well and truly against the wall leading into a must-win Game II.
This lack of pressure, could play into the Blues favour, according to Tallis.
“I think it will be one of New South Wales’ greatest victories. That’s if they win,” Tallis said Monday on NRL360.
“Their backs are against the walls. The pressure is off New South Wales with the Maroons favourites and they will have this do-or-die attitude when they go out there.
“To have that mental freedom might help.”
Veteran journalist Phil Rothfield added that New South Wales somehow can’t get over the Origin hump, despite boasting “twice” as many opportunities to develop talent than Queensland.
“There are 120,000 rugby league participants in New South Wales and 65,000 in Queensland, so we have twice the potential talent pool as (the Maroons),” Rothfield said
