It’s never been done before in State of Origin history, but if New South Wales want any chance in the series decider at Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane in two weeks, NSW Rugby League must make the hard call and sack hapless state head coach Laurie Daley immediately.
Blues fans knew what was coming, and yet the disaster class in Melbourne still stung on Wednesday evening when Daley again proved that he’s totally out of his depth in the Origin arena.
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After an historic get out of jail in Game One when Kalyn Ponga was sent off for a high shot on Tolu Koula, Daley went back to the same well — and, unsurprisingly, was battered pillar to post across 80 minutes as Billy Slater outclassed him tactically, and his sleepy fire-ups and sloppy planning cost New South Wales the MCG battle and likely the series.
Every Blues loyalist would have been saying the same thing: Melbourne was must-win to avoid a decider in the cauldron.
And yet, deep down, those same Blues loyalists knew Daley wouldn’t deliver.
Let’s break a few of the bigger mistakes down.
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I’ll start with Apisai Koroisa. Zero minutes, when the game was screaming for change. Reece Robson is fine (at best) but was gassed 50 minutes into the contest and hadn’t even been that good before things started to go down hill. After that he was beaten time and again in the middle.
And what about Cameron Murray off the bench. The whole NRL world was loudly crying out for him to start — NSW hopeful, QLD fearful — and Daley never even looked like touching it. Murray was excellent when he was on, but Isaah Yeo was his usual invisible at thirteen.
Then there’s the minutes in the middle of the game where he had Payne Haas, Addin Fonua-Blake, and Mitch Barnett on the bench.
It was all locks and back rowers in the centre of the park. Queensland saw it and ran rampage. Their second highest score ever.
Perhaps one of Jackson Ford, Terell May, or Alex Twal would have suited?
And finally, before we leave the pack behind, I can simply point to picking Dylan Lucas over Haumole Olakau’atu. That one is genuine stupidity, and I’d love to hear a lengthy explanation from Laurie about what he saw there that suggested he simply had to drop the Manly superstar.
Anyway, onto the backline, where Ethan Strange should have been — except that he was used as a second row replacement.
Head scratcher, that, and it’s even worse when we watched Nathan Cleary and Mitch Moses step on each others toes in attack. No shock two No.7s muddled things. Don’t even worry about their combined 17 missed tackles.
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Speaking of misses, Kotoni Staggs is a great player at NRL level, but having him and Mark Nawaqanitawase together was begging to be exploited. Selwyn Cobbo was incredible, don’t ignore that, but he doesn’t end with an Origin hat-trick if he’s against Bradman Best or Latrell Mitchell.
And on the bench, Victor Radley was used for a befuddling 29 minutes and gave away several penalties and missed two tackles.
He dropped a ball that swung momentum, too. At least he made… 46 metres.
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It’s genuinely wild that we can load up an article full of obvious errors that Laurie has made in his tactics, selections, and plans, and begs the question — why has he earned the right to even survive through to the decider that he and he alone has made sure will happen in two weeks.
I’m not sure he has, and history suggests he’ll be battered by Queensland again come July 8. Remember, his record in Origin series right now is 12 game losses in 20, and a heinous five series defeats in six.
Not quite the man to lead New South Wales. Boggling that he is.
Then, to add, there’s Gus Gould’s cheeky messages to the Blues players: “I’ve got some advice for them, stop listening to advice… stop taking advice.” It’s crafty ol’ Gus, so that could mean anything, but considering the context there’s every chance Gould was suggesting they block out the coaching noise.
I’d have advice for NSW Rugby League instead.
Sack Laurie now. Bring in assistant Boyd Cordner to see out the series.
(And those at NSWRL that brought Daley in probably need looking at, too, but that’s an issue for another day.)
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I realise that NSW players have come out defending Laurie, and that many claim he’s a great bloke — and no arguments there — but even the best bloke in the world must go if he’s failing this badly.
Hopefully it sparks something in the huge Brisbane decider. Maybe Cordner inspires them, in a way that Laurie clearly cannot.
But, even if it doesn’t, it simply can’t get any worse than Laurie.
