NSW must reconsider strategy if Nathan Cleary selection fails

No one wants to see Nathan Cleary fail. But you can’t help but worry Blues No. 7 has been thrown a hospital pass in the countdown to Wednesday night, writes PAUL CRAWLEY.

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Don’t blame Nathan Cleary if NSW don’t win the opening State of Origin at Suncorp Stadium. Blame the selection process that put him there.

No one wants to see the Blues No. 7 fail. But you can’t help but worry Cleary has been thrown a hospital pass in the countdown to Wednesday night.

If the battle of Origin halfbacks was a popularity contest, Cleary would win hands down.

The Penrith youngster is one of the NRL’s most likeable players, while for years Daly Cherry-Evans has been one of the most maligned.

But while Queensland has fallen back in love with the player even his own teammates didn’t want not so long ago, NSW fans continue to debate if Cleary even deserves to be in the team ahead of the likes of Mitchell Pearce and Adam Reynolds.

Cleary’s form up to now hasn’t convinced about his selection. Image: Brett Costello

And it is fair enough considering Cleary even revealed this week how he has been writing messages to himself every night before he goes to bed to keep him in a positive frame of mind.

This admission is an insight into Cleary’s mindset right now. This is a young man fighting for a reason to believe in himself because he knows he is down on form.

And even though Blues coach Brad Fittler says he has absolute faith that the under-fire playmaker can go out and turn that form around on the game’s biggest stage, despite Cleary being halfback in a club team positioned near the bottom of the NRL ladder, how can NSW fans truly have faith in the process?

It is as if the scars of the past continue to haunt the Blues.

Pearce has suffered more than most in State of Origin. Image: Cameron Spencer/Getty Images

Back when Pearce was initially picked to make his Origin debut, at the age of 19 in 2008, NSW had been through a conga line of halfbacks since the retirement of Andrew Johns. And the one thing the Blues didn’t want to do was burn another young hope.

So they continued to pick Pearce year after year, even when it was clearly never going to work against the greatest Queensland team assembled — playmakers the calibre of Darren Lockyer, Johnathan Thurston and Cooper Cronk, not to mention Cameron Smith and Billy Slater.

Pearce played his Origin career on a hiding to nothing.

But at 30, and now in the best form of his career, Pearce never really stood a chance of being selected this time, regardless of the fact the Newcastle captain had produced five consecutive man-of-the-match performances going into last Sunday night’s announcement.

Should NSW have imported the South Sydney partnership? Image: Cameron Spencer/Getty Images

The Blues’ brains trust had their minds made up, and the only thing that could have changed their decision would have been if Cleary had produced a shocker last week against Parramatta.

Under huge pressure, Cleary went out and played a solid game in what was a stinker of a match. But was it still really enough to justify his selection?

The fact Pearce conceded to carrying a groin injury after Newcastle’s 38-12 flogging of the Sydney Roosters that would have prevented him from training most of this week probably saved everyone from the embarrassment of not seeing Pearce picked.

Reynolds was the other player overlooked, even though he is also playing outstanding football in a South Sydney team that has lost only one game all season.

Now Cleary must face immense pressure when he’s already struggling. Picture: AAP

Yes, Reynolds suffered a leg injury against Wests Tigers, but it was also clear by last Sunday morning it would not have prevented him from backing up.

What would have made further sense was that Reynolds would have been partnered alongside his club halves partner Cody Walker after the concussion that knocked Luke Keary out of contention. Rabbitohs teammate Damien Cook is also the hooker.

Make no mistake, if NSW come unstuck next week, we all know who will own the result.

And it won’t be the 21-year-old halfback because Cleary did not pick himself.