Michael Hagan: Choosing Origin I is very important

Choosing your team for the first game of any State of the Origin series is very important, which is why I think Brad Fitler and Billy Slater will try their best and be with the real players.

Origin sets the tone of the I series and history tells us that if you can’t win it’s almost impossible, then you have to win backwards to get your hands on the slope at the end of three games.

With the first match in Sydney this year – and exactly so after the Queensland hosts three matches in 2021 due to the epidemic – adding to the fact that the Maroons have a new coach to lead, it should come as no surprise that the Blues are back in favor. .

But then again the bookies always favor NSW but we don’t mind being an underdog in Queensland.

I don’t think Billy will underestimate how much space he has to make on the NSW since last year and have little time to prepare everything and get in his place.

Not every NRL player is an original player and you don’t want to make the wrong choices because if you do, you may have to make wholesale changes for the next game and you’re chasing your tail.

You know how to handle weeks, occasions and if you have more than a couple of rookies it can be difficult to do because it can become a bit overwhelming.

With more than a week to prepare, this is your best time to make some adjustments to your team with players from all series. You go into the game with the benefit of at least nine days rest after your players have played the last NRL.

Queensland had trouble last year selecting players who had been reduced or failed to train well in the first match at Townsville and it ended in disaster so the Maroons could not make them. Wrong again.

If I’m wearing Billy Slater’s shoes, I want a fit and healthy team for a game that is going well.

Kill Hagan

1 Kalin Ponga
2 Mare Toulgi
3 Valentine Homes
4 Gogoi data
5 Xavier Coates
6 Cameron Munster
7 Daily Cherry-Evans
8 Josh Papali’i
9 Harry Grant
10 Criminal trial
11 Felice Kaufusi
12 Cart Capwell
13 Arrows of victory
14 Ben Hunt
15 Patrick Carrigan
16 Jeremiah Nanai
17 Moaki Fotuaika

Toulagi is in great form for the Cowboys, he has a big body who can get good yards outside the back field and he has made a smooth combination with Val Holmes on the left side of North Queensland so I want to take him ahead of Selwyn Cobbor, who is definitely an original player of the future. Shows.

Billy played with Val and Dan Gaggai for Queensland so he knew he could rely on them to get the job done. It can be a blessing and a curse – I trained some of the people in Newcastle with whom I played. It can be awkward but if you have a good relationship with them then they should not be bothered to tell the truth even if they do not want to listen.

Forwards the Maroons will go great ahead of Papali’i, Big Tino and Joy Arrow, and you’ve got Ben Hunt to cover the hooker on the bench if Harry Grant is injured or needs a spell.

The rest of the selection bench for Queensland was the complex part.

David Fifita is expected to make an early return for the Titans against the Broncos on Friday night, but he may not be suitable for the Origin. If Fifita didn’t play, I’d be more than happy to complete my interactions with Patrick Carrigan and Jeremiah Nanai with Moaki Fotuaika.

Carrigan is one of the best forwards in the Broncos this year and he has a good offload, Nanai is perfect if you try, so he can stay on the bench and Fotuaika was there, he has done this for Queensland for the last few years.

One of the secrets of Mal Manninger’s success as Maroons coach was the selection of players who started on the bench at the club level – boys who could play long minutes from week to week who would then be able to handle short stunts off the bench when the intensity and speed of play was too high.

Hagans blues

1 James Tedesco
2 Josh Ado-Car
3 Stephen Crichton
4 Cotoni Stags
5 Brian To’o
6 Jerome Louie
7 Nathan Cleary
8 feet smile
9 Damien Cook
10 Junior Paolo
11 Cameron Murray
12 Liam Martin
13 Isaiah Yeo
14 niche Hynes
15 Reagan Campbell-Gillard
16 Jake Trobozevic
17 Keaon Koloamotangi

The NSW has been so successful because they have adopted the old Queensland mentality of being loyal to those who have worked over the years.

They are in a position where their two normal centers, Lateral Mitchell and Tom Trobozevich, have to make some changes to their injured condition.

I think Stephen Crichton is a no-brainer who came for one of those places because of his relationship with the other Panthers on the team and I will go with Cotoni Stags as the right center – he will fight Valles Holmes and it will be a great fight on the edge.

Keep an eye out for Josh Ado-Carr at Origin. Not because of his lack of effort on his part to fight in Canterbury club football, he is doing a rough trot and I think it would be better for him to get the NSW jersey back and stay in it at the original level.

If Cameron Murray is fit, he should be in the second row with Liam Martin. Jr. Paolo and Payne Haas Lock with your props and Isaac Yo Hooker with Damien Cook – this is a great pack.

Nico Hynes, since he can play in many positions, I’ll be on the bench with him. He could fill the dummy-half and even play the lock with a pinch plus he could cover every spot in the backline.

Jake Trobozevic is one of their main bases so he should be on the bench to leave two spots.

I think Reagan Campbell-Gillard’s form was very good at the club level so he was ahead of Daniel Saifiti and Kiyon Kolomatangi is one of the best back-rowers in the NRL in recent years so he deserves a run.

Some players have improved on Origin and I think he is one of them. He will add some foot motion and punch to their bench.