What Brad Fittler wants to see from Blues halves contenders
In a wide-ranging interview ahead of naming his team State of Origin team, Brad Fittler has opened up on why Nathan Cleary remains in contention to retain his halfback spot.
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Brad Fittler has a simple message for Penrith playmaker Nathan Cleary if he wants to retain his NSW No.7 jumper: go out tonight and own the result against Parramatta.
In a wide-ranging interview ahead of naming his team on Sunday night, the Blues coach was adamant he had not finalised his squad nor the contentious halves positions.
Despite the Panthers’ disastrous start to the season, Cleary remains the shock favourite to partner Luke Keary in the Blues halves.
But Fittler conceded he wanted to see the 21-year-old playmaker be “the leader of the club” at Bankwest Stadium tonight.
A big fear would be sending Keary into his Origin debut alongside a young halfback who has had his confidence shattered on the back of Penrith’s run of six straight losses.
What also can’t be ignored is that Cleary played second fiddle in last year’s series win, with James Maloney the dominant NSW playmaker.
Maloney will miss tonight’s clash through suspension, which gives Cleary the chance to show Fittler he is the man.
There is no question Keary and Cody Walker are in the best form of all contenders, while Mitchell Pearce has won the past four man-of-the-match awards for Newcastle to rocket into the frame.
But interestingly, Fittler admitted to having “big question marks” over selecting specialist five-eighths Keary and Walker as a pairing, while conceding the burden of Origin history still hangs over Pearce.
Without Fittler saying as much, it suggests Adam Reynolds is the frontrunner to take over at halfback if Cleary fails to fire tonight.
THE CONTENDERS
On form, it would seem to make no sense if Fittler stuck with Cleary given how outstanding his halves rivals have been over the opening 10 rounds.
While Cleary goes up against another Fittler favourite in Mitchell Moses tonight, Pearce goes head to head with Keary when Newcastle hosts Sydney Roosters on Friday night. Then on Saturday, South Sydney’s table-topping halves of Reynolds and Walker will get their final chance to impress against Wests Tigers and Luke Brooks.
While Cronulla’s Chad Townsend is considered an outsider at best, Townsend has won a competition and his form this year has been outstanding. His final rehearsal will be against Ben Hunt’s Dragons on Sunday.
CLEARY STILL IN FRONT
Wayne Bennett delivered a stinging assessment last weekend when he declared the Penrith halves were “nowhere near” Origin form.
“I’ll say what no one else wants to say: they cannot pick the halfback and five-eighth from last year,” Bennett said.
When Fittler was asked if he could throw Cleary into Origin given the type of form he is in, he responded: “A lot weighs on this game (against Parramatta).
“I remember last year I went out and watched (Cleary) play against St George. He came back from an ankle injury and they did really well. They beat (the Dragons) and went to the top of the ladder.
“They are now sitting at the bottom of the ladder. But Nathan isn’t doing that much different. He is still doing a lot of things I like in a footy player.
“But he is sort of not rallying his troops, which, as the leader of the club, he is going to have to learn to do. But a lot about his game I still like.”
FEARS OF KEARY/WALKER COMBO
In a recent poll in The Daily Telegraph, NSW coaching adviser Greg Alexander and Matty Johns both rated Walker the NRL’s No.1 player while Keary got their votes as next best.
While both are specialist five-eighths, Keary also showed with his Clive Churchill Medal-winning grand final performance that he can take control as chief playmaker on the big stage. There is also a growing belief Keary now plays his best football when Cooper Cronk is not alongside him for the Roosters.
LISTEN! The Panthers have gone from bad to worse, Mitchell Pearce has the Knights firing and Matty also pays tribute to Bob Hawke and Quentin Pongia. As always he is joined by Kenty and FInchy for rugby league’s best podcast.
Walker is in even better form than Keary, so why not partner them together for NSW?
Fittler said his major concern would be that Keary and Walker both play on the left side for their respective clubs.
“And you are changing the position of Luke Keary, which he pretty much showed in the grand final that he can do. So, of course you can.
“I am not sure what the result would be, but there is some big question marks there. On the other hand, they are definitely good enough.”
HISTORY BURDENS PEARCE
Pearce doesn’t have a great Origin record but you can’t ignore the fact he was up against the might of Johnathan Thurston, Cooper Cronk and Cameron Smith.
After a slow start to the season, Pearce has caught fire and is now second behind Cameron Munster on the Dally M Medal leaderboard.
On Friday night he tackles Keary and Fittler encouraged Pearce to maintain the standard against the premiership favourites he has set in recent weeks.
“Well, he is in a funny position, isn’t he?” Fittler said. “He is sort of burdened by all that (Origin) history. We say we put all that history behind, but it is sort of one of those things.
“We have also said from the start that we weigh up everything and his footy at the moment is outstanding.
“It will be interesting. Newcastle have gone pretty good but I don’t think they have played (top teams yet). The sides they have beaten (Parramatta, New Zealand, Canterbury and St George Illawarra), none of them are in the eight.”
TEAM NOT FINAL
Asked if he had finalised his team, Fittler joked: “Well, I have, three different times. You don’t want to play games with the players but this is the process you go through.
You really want to get it right and
I thought last year we mostly got it pretty right.
“We didn’t really play that great but we played incredibly tough and willing. It would be nice to try and polish that up a little bit, but I think, if anything, we got it right.
“The players we picked last year had a lot of fight for their club and when the pressure came on, they were used to it.
“That is what I want to see (this weekend) — that it is important to them and they show it.”
Originally published as What Brad Fittler wants to see from Blues halves contenders
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