State of Origin 2023: Phil Rothfield and Robert Craddock debate game 2, Johns brothers, Ben Hunt, Brad Fittler

Queenslanders are waiting with bated breath should NSW lose back-to-back Origin series. Watch as Phil Rothfield and Robert Craddock go toe-to-toe ahead of State of Origin II.

Ding, ding. Round 2.

No, not NSW v Queensland, but Phil “Buzz’’ Rothfield and Robert “Crash’’ Craddock. The veteran scribes have again come together and squared off over the key issues heading into the crucial second State of Origin game on Wednesday night.

And once again, there’s little common ground.

Buzz: Has your million-dollar hooker worked out what club he wants to play for? Fancy that story breaking on the eve of the game. My goodness … all the outside noise. The Blues would be loving it.

Crash: I actually interviewed Ben Hunt a few weeks ago in camp and was struck by how relieved he looked and seemed to be almost invisible among the Origin squad instead of the face of the great Saints debacle. He’s an understated country kid but drama seems to follow him. I’ll tip him to finish at the Titans on a two-year deal starting next year.

Ben Hunt (right) at Maroons training. Picture: Matt Roberts/Getty Images

Crash: Buzz I must praise the Blues for moving quickly to remove the root of all evil from their first loss.

Buzz: Which was?

Crash: The dark blue jumper. I think they will become a completely new entity wearing sky blue again. Buzz, honestly … what’s going on there? Players like Paul Gallen and Blocker Roach would have been competitive wearing a potato sack and happy to wear one as well. If you can’t win in dark blue I’ll give you a small tip … light blue won’t save you.

Buzz: Totally disagree with you. Every youngster in NSW grows up wanting to wear the same colours Freddy, Joey, Blocker, Tommy, Turvey and Brett Kenny wore. That dark blue jersey was a shameful cash grab. We’re almost in a recession and the NSWRL are trying to get Blues fans to buy two jerseys at $169 a pop when they can hardly afford their mortgages.

Crash: Buzz, what about the frenzy of criticism south of the border when the Blues lost the first game? There’s been bank robbers who’ve copped less than James Tedesco but then the follow-up defence of him was way over the top as well.

Buzz: We’re journos Crash, not cheerleaders. We’ve won four series in 17 years. Freddy needs to be called out for some of his selections and tactics. Lovely, lovely bloke. He does fantastic community work but Origin is about winning.

Crash: A friend of mine who has a subscription to watch cage fighting says he will cancel it if the Blues lose the series in Brisbane and will instead watch the media fallout in Sydney. He senses it will be fiercer. Will it be that bad?

Mitchell Moses and James Tedesco. Picture: Grant Trouville.

Buzz: It will be pretty heavy I would think. You know NSW has 120,000 rugby league participants. Queensland has 65,000. So we’ve got nearly double the pool of players. We fall over at the elite level that is Origin. We need to find out why. Your guys should not be winning as often as they do.

Crash: One for the rumour file. Is it true if Queensland wrap up the series they will take the third game to Homebush High School, capacity 1200, due to poor ticket sales?

Buzz: Give me a break. We’ll get 50,000 even if it’s a dead-rubber. Can I just say you seem a bit fatigued, Crash, from watching the Ashes all-night. I hope the Maroons are as well.

Crash: Funny you should mention that because watching the Ashes it struck me if the Blues are to win this game they have to produce cricket’s version of Bazball. Just go out and play with the freedom you did when you were a kid. Forget about the result. Let’s call it Fredball in honour of Freddy Fittler who played that way when he first started.

Buzz: Not a bad idea. What are your thoughts on Latrell Mitchell pulling out? I’m not that concerned. He’s been out for a few weeks now. I thought Stephen Crichton was one of our best players in Adelaide. He’s a super athlete and won’t get tired which was the risk with Latrell because of his lack of match fitness.

Crash: Latrell pulling out had a strange effect. People up here are worried because they can’t find anything to worry about. Queensland are at their best when there’s a crisis and everyone is saying they cannot win. We do paranoia very well. It all seems a bit too calm.

Buzz: I worry about our coaching engine room Crash: Freddy, Brandy and Joey. Lovely blokes but there’s always question marks around our selections, our tactics, our preparation. We’ve lost two of the last three series – and on paper we shouldn’t have.

NSW Blues coach Brad Fittler needs to win on Wednesday night. Picture: Richard Dobson

Crash: I’d like to see Joey Johns have a crack at the head coaching role. He’s got the passion and the footy smarts. Do you need much else? I’ve got a lot of respect for Brandy after joining him regularly on Fox Sports program The Back Page. I once accidentally put on his suit coat – it was quite tight on me and that reminded me what a gutsy player he was to play 16 years of first grade against blokes twice his size.

Crash: Random question. I know they are currently at war but will we ever see the Johns brothers coaching together?

Buzz: No, they don’t talk to each other, which might be a problem. They get over most of their blues but Joey is really pissed off this time. I spoke to their dad, Gary, the other day. He’s seen them have so many disagreements that he wasn’t all that worried.

Buzz: I’m pleased that mad Felise Kaufusi isn’t playing. Thank you, Billy. Our halves and ball runners will carry the footy with more enthusiasm knowing they are not going to get belted as hard and as often. He’s one of the hardest hitters I’ve ever seen. Even his legal shots hurt. He’s scarier than even Trevor Gillmeister.

Crash: Whoa there. No-one hit harder than Gilly. Kaufusi can get away with a lot more in Origin than club football where he has been shamefully reckless and is now a marked man with the refs. All the hit men go through it. Refs used to say to Gilly before a game to watch himself and he would say “I haven’t even made a tackle yet.’’

The Axe, Trevor Gillmeister. Picture: Lachie Millard

Buzz: How are the nerves north of the border. Will Bomber Badel run a marathon to get ready?

Crash: He’s just covered the Tim Tszyu fight and I promise you Buzz, Peter Badel is so fit that if he had to fight Tim he would have done a better job than the poor Mexican lad who would not have tackled a ham sandwich.

Buzz: Haha. I’m tipping NSW Crash. All the pressure is on Queensland. TAB favourites. Everyone expects them to win. Big home crowd. It’s as though we’re wasting our time even turning up. I’ve got a feeling that Mitchell Moses will play the house down.

Crash: I’ll go with Queensland but I’d be more confident if they had some semblance of a crisis around them that said they were going to lose. That’s weird. I know. But it’s a very strange beast Origin.