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Stuart not waiting to start Blues revolution Chris Barrett
January 10, 2011NSW coach Ricky Stuart is only just settling into the job, but already he is casting an eye to the future.
On Friday week at Homebush Bay, Stuart will assemble 53 mostly emerging players he regards as being likely Blues representatives in coming interstate campaigns, some as soon as this year’s series. The super camp, which will run over two days, has been dubbed ‘‘Blues in Waiting’’, the Herald has learnt.
The concept has been for much of the past decade a feature of Queensland’s Origin planning, with their annual emerging player camps run by Wayne Bennett and Mal Meninga attributed by many as a catalyst in their run of five straight series wins.
Advertisement: Story continues below Stuart, appointed in November as the Blues’ first full-time coach, is not exactly taking a leaf out of the Maroons’ playbook but has made planning beyond 2011 a key priority of his role. The gathering of 53 NSW-eligible, predominantly younger stars of the NRL is the first initiative in that process, aimed at generating an ‘‘enculturation’’ of the attitude and professional approach Stuart believes is required to succeed at Origin level.
Among the players set to be called upon for the off-season session are a mix of established first-graders, senior players and those on the cusp of or having already begun their representative careers. They include: Josh Dugan, Blake Ferguson, Jarrod Croker, Alan Tongue (Canberra), Josh Morris, Aiden Tolman (Canterbury), Kade Snowden (Cronulla), Kevin Gordon (Gold Coast), Akuila Uate (Newcastle), Tim Mannah (Parramatta), Lachlan Coote (Penrith), Jamie Soward, Matt Prior (St George Illawarra), Mitchell Aubusson (Sydney Roosters) Keith Galloway, Simon Dwyer, Tim Moltzen and Andrew Fifita (Wests Tigers).
A selection of leading NYC Toyota Cup players from last season have also been invited by Stuart including 2010 under-20s player of the year Tariq Sims (North Queensland), William Hopoate (Manly), Mitch Johnson (Melbourne), Dane Chisholm, Dylan Farrell (South Sydney) and Boyd Cordner (Sydney Roosters).
The most recent coach to lead NSW to an Origin series win, in 2005, Stuart was insistent upon his acceptance of the job about instilling an ‘‘enculturation’’ - getting younger players accustomed to Origin well before they are actually called up to the fierce interstate contest. His signing on a two-year contract came after an extensive review of NSW Origin operations conducted by Brian Canavan following the 2010 series defeat.
Another task in Stuart’s full-time role is the establishment of a high-performance program, to be managed by former North Sydney fullback Wayne Portlock using NSW Institute of Sport facilities.
Coincidentally, Queensland’s emerging players will come together under the eye of Bennett and Maroons coach Meninga on the same weekend that Stuart assembles his young stars. Their 14-man squad for a three-day camp in Brisbane includes Ben Barba (Canterbury), Daniel Vidot (Canberra), Robert Lui (Wests Tigers), Martin Kennedy and Jake Friend (Sydney Roosters) and Brisbane’s NRL rookie of the year Matt Gillett.
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Im hoping they have a few more names than those -
PS No Bryce Gibbs / Heighno Mentioned
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Great to see Fifita and Dwyer listed… Well Done!
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Im hoping they have a few more names than those -
PS No Bryce Gibbs / Heighno Mentioned
there’s only about 24 players mentioned and its a squad of 53 so there will be more
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The names mentioned were emerging players. Perhaps Heighno and to Gibbs are part of his immediate plans.
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Id like to see the full list.
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The names mentioned were emerging players. Perhaps Heighno and to Gibbs are part of his immediate plans.
Alan Tongue is far from an emerging player Chris!
I’d bet the house that Gibbo & Heighno have again missed the boat!
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The names mentioned were emerging players. Perhaps Heighno and to Gibbs are part of his immediate plans.
Alan Tongue is far from an emerging player Chris!
I’d bet the house that Gibbo & Heighno have again missed the boat!
NSW needs to score points to beat QLD, they can’t simply grind the QLD backline down. Therefore they need to move away from the defensive players and go for the X-factor. Heighington definitely deserves the gig but with media darling/punching bag Paul Gallen & Luke Lewis in the frame, he’ll be relegated. Unfortunately, Gibbo’s strength is his defensive work and in reality and player playing at Origin level should have good defensive ability anyway no matter how well he attacks.
One of the better moves that NSW can make is by playing anyone other than Jarryd Hayne at fullback. He is a maestro with the ball in hand but he has no idea where he stands in the line and whenever he plays at FB a hole the size of a small suburb opens up and will be exploited by the Maroons. Hayne can still be dangerous on the wing, but only if the halves give him service and space (see game 1, 2009.)
None of this will be heeded though. Ennis will get the gig again over Farah because he can fire a pass quickly out of dummy half, Hayne will get the gig at fullback, Gidley will play at half because they won’t have the balls to bench him and take the captaincy off him. Carney will probably be overlooked for more “experience.”
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Personally I wouldn’t go with Heighington in the NSW side, he is almost 30 and he doesn’t have the agression of Gallen, Bird or Watmough, or the skills that Lewis has. Hino has been a great club player for years, and that’s probably all he’ll get too, because there are better players in front of him. Gibbs has a much better chance, but will be competing with Weyman, Poore, Mannah, Snowden, Grant, Galloway and Lahrs for a spot, so he will need to fire on all cylinders if he wants a gig next year.
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Personally I wouldn’t go with Heighington in the NSW side, he is almost 30 and he doesn’t have the agression of Gallen, Bird or Watmough, or the skills that Lewis has. Hino has been a great club player for years, and that’s probably all he’ll get too, because there are better players in front of him. Gibbs has a much better chance, but will be competing with Weyman, Poore, Mannah, Snowden, Grant, Galloway and Lahrs for a spot, so he will need to fire on all cylinders if he wants a gig next year.
How about Tongue then?? I’m not saying Heighno should definitely get a shot - but he deserves being named in an extended squad of possibles ahead of Tongue (great club player he may be)!
As for Watmough’s aggression - it doesn’t help his turnstyle defence!!
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@Cultured Bogan:
None of this will be heeded though. Ennis will get the gig again over Farah because he can fire a pass quickly out of dummy half, Hayne will get the gig at fullback, Gidley will play at half because they won’t have the balls to bench him and take the captaincy off him. Carney will probably be overlooked for more “experience.”
Im not so sure CB.
Pending injury and debilitating form Slump.
if Robbie is going well like in 2010 - I think he will get the chance to redeem himself.
Pearce and Carney to he the Halves, Hayne @ 1 and Gids @ 14.That’s a solid and young Team spine to build on for the next few years.
The QLD Dominance is nearing its end.
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Personally I wouldn’t go with Heighington in the NSW side, he is almost 30 and he doesn’t have the agression of Gallen, Bird or Watmough, or the skills that Lewis has. Hino has been a great club player for years, and that’s probably all he’ll get too, because there are better players in front of him. Gibbs has a much better chance, but will be competing with Weyman, Poore, Mannah, Snowden, Grant, Galloway and Lahrs for a spot, so he will need to fire on all cylinders if he wants a gig next year.
How about Tongue then?? I’m not saying Heighno should definitely get a shot - but he deserves being named in an extended squad of possibles ahead of Tongue (great club player he may be)!
As for Watmough’s aggression - it doesn’t help his turnstyle defence!!
Agreed… You’d definately put Heighington ahead of Tongue. When I read his name I wet myself laughing… The guy who should be picked ahead of both Tongue and Heighington is Mark Minichello. If he was a Queenslander, he’s of played 14 Games by now…
Good Luck…
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@Cultured Bogan:
None of this will be heeded though. Ennis will get the gig again over Farah because he can fire a pass quickly out of dummy half, Hayne will get the gig at fullback, Gidley will play at half because they won’t have the balls to bench him and take the captaincy off him. Carney will probably be overlooked for more “experience.”
Im not so sure CB.
Pending injury and debilitating form Slump.
if Robbie is going well like in 2010 - I think he will get the chance to redeem himself.
Pearce and Carney to he the Halves, Hayne @ 1 and Gids @ 14.That’s a solid and young Team spine to build on for the next few years.
The QLD Dominance is nearing its end.
I hope you’re wrong about the QLD dominance coming to an end, however I would like to see NSW be plenty more competitive.
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and to borrow from our other thread “SOO - If picked now” http://www.weststigersforum.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=5837" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
1- Hayne
2- Morris
3-Jennings
4- Lawrence
5- Gorden
6- Carney
7- Pearce8-Snowden
9- Farah
10-Weyman
11-Hindmarsh
12-Gallen
13-Bird14-Tim Mannah
15-Galloway
16-Lewis
17-Gidley -
Sorry spartan - but if we revert to Hindmarsh (who offers nothing in attack at this stage of his career) we deserve another series loss!!
Even in defence he is no longer a dominant tackler - while his tackle counts are boosted by his third-man-in habit!!
He may have been a great player once - but that time is long gone & I wouldn’t pick him in the Tigers 17 - let alone NSW!!
I agree with Watto that a hard-running back-rower like Minichiello fits the bill! he has come of age at the Titans under the tutelage of Carty, Bull & Boof!
