New Blues coach Michael Maguire‘s loyalty will be tested at the selection table on Sunday night when the NSW side for a do-or-die Origin II is named and Andrew Johns has called for a significant make-over to get his beloved state back into the series.
Speaking on Wide World of Sports’ Freddy and the Eighth, the Immortal pulled no punches with his views on what went wrong in game one and the personnel changes he believes need to be made to turn things around.
While he gave no personal view on who should be picked at fullback out of former captain James Tedesco and Panthers gun Dylan Edwards he was expecting a round 15 “shootout” to play out between them this weekend.
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However, he was strong in his opinion that both halves from game one should be axed to make way for Mitchell Moses and Cody Walker, who combined for a dead rubber victory in game three last year. Last year’s NSW coach Fittler unsurprisingly endorsed Moses and Walker as the halves for game two.
Johns also repeated his call for Latrell Mitchell to be brought into the side at left centre, while Fittler was adamant that Matt Burton be picked on the bench as a backline utility – a point that Johns appeared to agree with.
Both NSW legends want Maguire to bring Souths captain Cameron Murray straight back into the side, assuming he gets through his club return against the Broncos on Friday night unscathed.
THE MOLE: NSW team I would pick for Origin II
Johns didn’t offer an opinion on who should be dropped to accommodate for the changes in the forward rotation but he also pondered the addition of versatile hard head Mitch Barnett, who was named in jersey No.20 as a member of the extended squad for Origin I.
Fittler said that based on the changes Johns wanted to make, the likes of Isaah Yeo, captain Jake Trbojevic, Cameron McInnes and Hudson Young were vulnerable, with one or two of those players in line to join Nicho Hynes and Jarome Luai on the scrapheap.
In arguing for significant changes to be made to the spine, Johns was particularly critical of the kicking game of NSW’s playmakers in Origin I, refusing to give Hynes or Luai a pass as a result of Joseph Suaalii’s early send-off.
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“The kicking game was poor, everyone could see that,” Johns said.
“We need Moses’ kicking game. Probably the best kicking game in the competition – very close to. He’s got a really long kicking game which means he can rescue sets coming out of trouble with that long kick. Yep, Moses in for me, definitely.”
Johns then argued for Moses and Walker to resume their collaboration, even while conceding that the Rabbitohs five-eighth had struggled to find his mojo for his club side in 2024.
”If Moses is picked at seven, I would go with Cody at five-eighth,” Johns said.
“Game three last year they combined really well and Cody opens up the left side attack. Cody can get that sorted. I know he’s not going great at clubland … but especially with Latrell, if Latrell’s on the left…”
With Suaalii suspended, no one needs to be dumped from the Origin I side in order to recall Mitchell to the Origin arena and Fittler said he would be a natural inclusion due to the way Stephen Crichton fixed the Blues’ right edge when he switched sides about 10 minutes after Suaalii went off in Sydney.
“The only thing I found was interesting because Joseph’s (Suaalii) always played left but he was playing right centre (in game one),” Fittler said.
“And Stephen Crichton actually plays right for Canterbury and he was playing left centre. So Stephen just goes back to the position he was playing for Canterbury on the right and I’d put Latrell on the left.”
Johns marvelled at the “amazing” qualities of Crichton, who has been widely praised this year for his role in turning around the Bulldogs. At just 23 he has now played seven games for the Blues and has become arguably the NRL’s best centre on both sides of the ball.
“When Stephen went over to the right edge once the decision was made, he organised that edge so well, he is an amazing player,” Johns said.
“Defensively the way he organises his edge and the way he reads it, he is an outstanding player, gee he’s smart. Latrell, in.”
While Johns and Fittler’s preferred five-eighth would likely swing the decision on who should be the left centre for NSW in game two in Mitchell’s favour due to the almost telepathing connection he shares with Walker, Johns also argued that it could help to convince Maguire to stick with Tedesco at fullback, due to the success he’s had playing out the back with Walker waving his wand on the left edge.
”If you bring Cody in he unlocks Teddy. You remember in game three last year he got Teddy away a couple of times? Interesting for Madge but,” Johns said.
“It’ll be a shootout I think between Dylan and Teddy,” Johns had earlier argued.
“Teddy’s playing against the Parramatta Eels. Interesting to see what happens.”
POTENTIAL NSW SIDE FOR ORIGIN II (inclusions in bold)
1. James Tedesco 2. Brian To’o 3. Latrell Mitchell 4. Stephen Crichton 5. Zac Lomax 6. Cody Walker 7. Mitchell Moses 8. Payne Haas 9. Reece Robson 10. Jake Trbojevic (c) 11. Liam Martin 12. Angus Crichton 13. Cameron Murray 14. Cameron McInnes 15. Haumole Olakau’atu 16. Spencer Leniu 17. Matt Burton
Omissions from game one: Joseph Suaalii (suspended), Jarome Luai (axed), Nicho Hynes (axed), Isaah Yeo (axed), Hudson Young (axed)