Crash Tackle: Perth shows more State of Origin passion than Brisbane

Robert “Crash” Craddock looks at the NRL’s big talking points, including a Suncorp Stadium concern, contender for bargain buy of the year and more.

There are still plenty of seats available for Origin I at Suncorp Stadium. Picture: AAP

Every week, The Courier-Mail’s chief sportswriter Robert Craddock looks at the big talking points coming out of the NRL.

OFFSIDE

HAS PERTH STOLEN ORIGIN PASSION?

Queensland fans have been outstripped in the State of Origin passion stakes by — wait for it — Perth.

While the 60,000-seat Optus Stadium has been sold out for Origin II, there are still plenty of seats available for Origin I at Suncorp Stadium on Wednesday.

More than 30,000 seats for the Perth game were sold in a rush a year ago while the QRL has been forced to offer a two for one deal for platinum ($255) and gold ($190) seating, proving they are either asking too much or the demand for Origin is not what it was.

Maybe it’s both.

Either way, it’s doing no harm to Perth’s chances of beating Brisbane for the right to host the next NRL expansion team.

There are still plenty of seats available for Origin I at Suncorp Stadium. Picture: AAP

THE TRUTH HURTS

We have given Wayne Bennett plenty of bouquets for his coaching of Souths this season — now for the brickbat.

Coaches talk about their mistrust of the media but what about the other way around?

It is hard to imagine a more bald-faced lie than that Bennett made about James Roberts joining the Bunnies.

“We haven’t approached him and James won’t be coming to South Sydney, this year or next year,” Bennett said last month.

Then, of course, they signed him.

SPLUTTERING JET

Roberts will no doubt be instantly rejuvenated by his switch to Souths but it will be interesting to see how he fares long term.

Without doubt, Bennett got more out of Roberts than current Broncos coach Anthony Seibold but that involved being more tolerant of his excesses, including times when he drifted off the rails late last season.

Will Roberts’ South Sydney teammates be as tolerant of this as Bennett is?

Will the notoriously wayward Roberts conform to the famed “Rabbitohs way”? Will Dane Gagai accept being shunted from his favoured right centre spot to the wing despite being an Australian player while Roberts’ last game was for Wynnum-Manly?

James Roberts joins the Rabbitohs after turning out for Wynnum-Manly. Picture: AAP

MID-SEASON SLUMBER

There is something not right about the NRL competition going to sleep for six weeks during State of Origin.

Weak teams, average matches, tepid interest. It’s a dangerously long time for any competition to lose its snap and crackle. At least two of the three Origins need to be closer together and if one is on a stand alone weekend, so be it.

WILD IDEA

The ARL commission does not get everything right but the decision to scrap the concept of the Wildcard Weekend is on the mark.

The idea was to have a playoff between the sides which finish seventh and 10th on the ladder for an additional spot in the finals.

But it would have only rewarded mediocrity and watered down the intensity and integrity of the competition. When it comes to finals, eight is more than enough teams.

ONSIDE

TICKER APLENTY

Queensland will win the State of Origin series in a canter if they can show the courage of assistant team manager Gavin Allen.

This week last year, The Courier-Mail published a story about how Broncos premiership player and Origin warhorse Allen was absent from Origin I after being kept alive by an artificial heart as he battled a hereditary heart condition. He has since had a successful transplant and is back on deck with the Maroons, re-emerging in that low fuss, country boy way of his which made him so popular as a player.

HOLY MOSES

Some State of Origin newcomers join the fray like bashful lambs.

Others come with more confidence after being varnished by life’s abrasive forces.

Maroons hierarchy, including assistant coach Justin Hodges, have been impressed by the willingness of Moses Mbye to speak up at team meetings at his first Origin camp.

Maroons rookie Moses Mbye has impressed in his first Origin camp. Picture: AAP

GETTING THE MESSAGE

Observers of the Queensland schoolboys’ trials in Roma in recent weeks believe the behaviour crackdown in rugby league is hitting the mark. On and off the field, reports on the standard of behaviour and play in general were most encouraging.

NSW talent scouts even suggested how they enjoyed the fact that Queensland’s best talent were less structured in the way they played than their counterparts from south of the border.

BARGAIN BUY

Some million-dollar players perform as if they are on a fifth of that amount and sometimes you get cut price champions who go the other way.

The enchantingly-named Canberra fullback Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad, who has Maori, Cook Island and Norwegian blood, could barely get a game for the Warriors but has been one of the great bargain buys of the year, playing with incredible zest and impact for the Raiders.

Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad makes a break for the Raiders. Picture: AAP

CHERRY CHEER

Daly Cherry-Evans will never be the most popular Maroons captain due to his controversial retreat from his deal with the Titans.

But he has handled his first week as Queensland skipper with a sense of easy calmness, speaking well and radiating the vibe that he is ready for the supreme challenge of leading a Maroons side despite no match play in the past month.