Kangaroos team: Who would make the Test squad if there was a game tomorrow?
Deserved Origin champions, the Maroons would also dominate Paul Crawley’s Test team. Check out who made it and have your say.
NRL
Don't miss out on the headlines from NRL. Followed categories will be added to My News.
Nathan Cleary found out the hard way seven days is a long time in State of Origin.
Last week Cleary was the deserving man of the match in Sydney and he sure deserved every accolade that went his way after it.
But if Mal Meninga was picking an Australian Test team today the tables would turn.
And Queensland should dominate.
Watch The State of Origin III Full & Mini REPLAY on Kayo with no ad-breaks during play and Fox League Commentary. New to Kayo? Get your 14-day free trial & start streaming instantly >
For mine they would have nine of the 17 including both halves in the starting team.
And Daly Cherry-Evans would not only be wearing the No 7 jumper, he should be captain.
While Cameron Munster understandably stole the spotlight on Wednesday night at Suncorp Stadium, Cherry-Evans’ leadership deserves to be recognised.
Of course there is no Test series this year but it is understood that Mal will be naming an Australian merit team.
Don’t worry, the Maroons would have plenty of others pushing for selection.
And surely Harry Grant would have to be among them.
After coming on midway through the first half, Grant showed what a wonderful talent he really is and he is going to be around at this level for a long time to come.
If you couldn’t put him in the starting team ahead of Damien Cook right now, he would be taking a spot on the bench.
Before Wednesday night’s decider I had the Blues dominating the hypothetical Test squad with only Dane Gagai, Munster and Josh Papalii as the Queenslander pencilled into the team I had jotted down.
But what was supposed to be the worst Maroons team in history has sure made a fool of the critics as well as the Blues.
Cleary didn’t have his greatest game but he wasn’t on his own.
In respect to a hypothetical Test team, injury would rule Boyd Cordner out of contention which makes Cherry-Evans a must as the skipper.
James Tedesco was outstanding in the first two games before he was knocked out last night so he keeps the fullback spot.
Josh Addo-Carr and Valentine Holmes would get the wing spots for mine with Gagai and Jack Wighton in the centres.
But the halves is where Queensland won it Wednesday night and they would have to get the nod in Mal’s team.
In the forwards the Queensland starting props of Josh Papalii and Christian Welch would be hard to beat.
Although I reckon Daniel Saifiti did enough to earn him a place just ahead of Welch in the run on side.
In the back row, Felise Kaufusi and Tyson Frizell both play right but you’d choose them in a merit team.
Jake Trbojevic is the lock.
On the bench I’d have Grant, Welch, Angus Crichton and Tino Faasuamaleaui.
That makes it nine Queenslanders to eight.
It was a fantastic game of football to finish off what has been a marathon of a season.
And it was right up with the intensity of any of the great Origin deciders.
There was big hits and brilliance, ferocity and fearlessness.
Mates from club footy turning on each other just like they used to, and the champions of today wanting to own their own moment in history.
Which Munster and Cherry-Evans have done.
Don’t forget, Cherry-Evans was man of the match in game one and he has just captained his team to arguably the greatest upset in Origin history.
CRAWLEY’S TEST MERIT TEAM
1 James Tedesco
2 Josh Addo-Carr
3 Dane Gagai
4 Wighton
5 Valentine Holmes
6 Cameron Munster
7 Daly Cherry-Evans ©
8 Daniel Saifiti
9 Damien Cook
10 Josh Papalii
11 Felise Kaufusi
12 Tyson Frizell
13 Jake Trbojevic
14 Harry Grant
15 Christian Welch
16 Angus Crichton
17 Tino Faasuamaleaui
MORE ORIGIN NEWS
State of Origin 2020: Wayne Bennett compares Cameron Munster to Alfie Langer
State of Origin 2020: Jai Arrow slammed for James Tedesco hit
Originally published as Kangaroos team: Who would make the Test squad if there was a game tomorrow?
$800k reserve grader: Inside Newcastle’s roster Knightmare
Adam O’Brien has led Newcastle to consecutive finals appearances but the Knights know they must reshape their roster to take the next step. But can he do it without losing control of the season before it begins?
Inside Gould’s rousing six-minute speech that will terrify NRL rivals
On Tuesday night, Phil Gould held an extraordinary gathering of 850 guests and Bulldogs luminaries in the palm of his hand for six minutes, revealing a mission statement that should frighten the rest of the NRL, writes DAVID RICCIO.