State of Origin 2021: Rabbitohs fume over Adam Reynolds comments
Greg Alexander has defended NSW’s team selection for the State of Origin finale, but some of his comments have hit a raw nerve.
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Take it as fact that Wayne Bennett is anything but impressed at some curious comments NSW chief advisor Greg Alexander made about his South Sydney halves Adam Reynolds and Cody Walker.
It occurred during Alexander’s fiery defence of the selection of Mitch Moses and Jack Wighton in a heated on-air debate on NRL 360 on Thursday night.
Alexander was seething at what he claimed was an “aggressive” line of questioning from Paul Kent who was asking whether it was a mistake not to replace the injured Penrith halves Nathan Cleary and Jarome Luai with the Rabbitohs pair.
Alexander claimed Walker “had his chance last year” while in respect to Reynolds he questioned: “Adam Reynolds, I don’t know how closely you have watched South Sydney play?”
It seemed a strange thing to say given most would agree the Souths skipper has been in some pretty good form and Walker’s recent efforts have been exceptional.
But Alexander was adamant the Blues “wouldn’t change the decision” even though he conceded “there was always a chance it wouldn’t gel under game conditions”.
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One of the big criticisms in the wake of Queensland’s shock victory has been about the lack of ball Tom Trbojevic and Latrell Mitchell got on the night, given they were the Blues’ two most dangerous players in games one and two.
When pressed if selecting the Souths pair would have fixed the problems, Alexander fired back: “It might have Kenty but everything is great in hindsight.
“We’d be speculating on whether Adam Reynolds and Cody Walker would have done anything different to what those two did.
“I thought individually they both (Moses and Wighton) deserved a right to play Origin.
“We decided to go with Mitch Moses.
“Cody Walker had his chances last year.
“Adam Reynolds, I don’t know how closely you have watched South Sydney play?
“And whether you are just picking them because they are a club combination.
“As I said just a moment ago, I wouldn’t change the decision to pick Mitch Moses or to pick Jack Wighton in the halves.”
Bennett didn’t want to comment publicly when contacted but it’s fair to say he didn’t think Walker or Reynolds deserved what came across as a kick in the guts.
Bennett of course staged Queensland’s against-the-odds series victory last year but had backed NSW’s decision to go with Moses and Wighton when he was asked if his halves deserved a shot.
At that point Bennett was pretty sure Reynolds and Walker weren’t going to be picked so he didn’t see the need to try and put down Moses and Wighton.
“It’s a difficult one because they (the Blues) have won the series and won’t want to lose the third game, that’s part of your instinct,” Bennett said before the NSW team was announced.
“At the same time they might see it as an opportunity to play a couple of players there who are younger and have more time with NSW.
“That’s what I’d be doing, while you want to win the third game you need to keep an eye out for next year.
“I would be personally looking at the long-term future of NSW.”
Reynolds was asked about the comments on Friday but said he hadn’t seen the show.
Asked if he would have wanted another crack at Origin, he didn’t hesitate: “I would have loved another shot.
“It would have been nice.
“But obviously they had their reasons why they went with Moses and Jack.
“They did a good job but obviously didn’t get the result.
‘Get off his back’: Uncle Benny hits out at Moses critics
By Dean Ritchie
League legend Ben Elias has demanded critics stop making his nephew, debutant Blues halfback Mitch Moses, the scapegoat for NSW’s upset loss to Queensland.
“Get off Mitch’s back,” Elias said.
Moses’ performance in Origin III has been dissected heavily with Immortal Andrew Johns telling Channel 9 he failed to “impose” himself on the game in what was a “disjointed” Blues backline.
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Canberra’s Jack Wighton, replacing injured Jarome Luai at five-eighth, also had his detractors for the amount of running he did and failing to get enough ball the Blues’ left edge of Latrell Mitchell and Brian To’o.
Post-game, NSW coach Brad Fittler bristled at suggestions he should have chosen South Sydney’s Cody Walker and Adam Reynolds over Wighton and Moses, and Elias agreed.
“Someone always wants a scapegoat. Everyone is looking for an excuse for losing,” Elias said.
“Mitchell will cop it on the chin every day of the week – and twice on Sunday.
“I thought all of NSW stood together through good and bad. We won the series and we’re blooding new players.
“One try was scored by Jack Wighton and another came from a Mitchell kick. Every time Mitchell kicked the ball, NSW had a result, a good outcome. His kicking was off the dial.
“Mitchell was unselfish with the ball, he tried to get it out wide, his defence was spot-on and his vision was very good.
“What more do you want? What more can he do?
“It’s easy to be critical. He’s a tough kid, he’s been around the block a hundred times. I’m very proud of him.
“There is no greater or more senior person in NSW – the Premier included – than the Blues coach and Brad Fittler said after the game that he was – quote, unquote — very happy with the halves.”
Moses wants to back up for Parramatta’s game against Gold Coast at Cbus Stadium on Friday, however Jakob Arthur is on standby.
“I thought Mitch defended really well. He kicked strongly but had limited attacking opportunities,” Arthur said.
“Hopefully he gained some confidence out of that. He has a game under his belt at that high level and hopefully he brings that confidence back to club football, whether it’s this weekend or next week.”
Post-game, Fittler defended his decision to pick Moses and his halves pairing.
“Mitchell Moses had the kick for the (Koroisau) try. Jack Wighton scored a try. So I‘m not sure where your argument is. I thought they were great,” Fittler said.
“I was really happy with Mitchell Moses. I thought his defence was great. They threw a lot at him.
“Mitchell‘s defence was outstanding and Jack Wighton’s. There’s always two sides to a game.”
Sore Bluesers: Why blaming the refs for loss is wrong
It gets boring bagging referees every time your team doesn’t play as well as it should.
You hear it from the losing NRL coaches every weekend without fail.
It’s good to see nothing changes in State of Origin.
Gerard Sutton was copping it from plenty of NSW fans on Wednesday night who were not happy with the amount of first half penalties and set restarts.
And the chorus was led by the great Andrew Johns who was barking his frustration during Channel 9 commentary, begging “can we just let the players decide the contest”.
For the record the penalties were 5-0 against the Blues at the break and the set restarts 5-4 in their favour.
But here the thing, what would you prefer Sutton do:
Let the defence do as they please to stop the attacking team any time they get close to scoring?
Yes, the penalties were heavily one-sided against the Blues but from what I saw Sutton certainly wasn’t out there to hammer NSW.
They just had to do a stack of defence on their own line and they pushed the boundaries too far on occasions.
But it wasn’t the reason Queensland led the game at that point.
The reason they led 8-6 at halftime was because they were marginally the better team.
Not that the Blues were bad, but they were certainly nowhere near the standard they were in the opening two games.
Latrell Mitchell and Cameron Murray were outstanding in the first half while the Maroons did a great job minimising Tom Trbojevic’s involvement.
Latrell only had limited involvement as well but every time he went near the ball he was a handful, while Murray’s work rate and the quality of it was enormous.
But it certainly showed not having Nathan Cleary’s kicking game.
We also all saw what a loss Kalyn Ponga’s absence in the first two games had been for Queensland, while Cameron Munster was far more involved.
Tino Fa’auamaleaui was brutal with and without the ball but overall there was just a far greater intensity from the Queenslanders across the park.
Then in the second half the Blues got a stack of ball and the game turned.
Jack Wighton’s try put them ahead 12-8 but I’m pretty sure it wasn’t Sutton who missed the tackle.
But Queensland just kept coming back.
Daly Cherry-Evans really stood up with his kicking game and that famous Queensland spirit sure showed why you can never count them out.
Just before Ben Hunt scored his first try Joey questioned Billy Slater during commentary about “what another set restart was for?”
Billy replied straight back that it was the Blues standing off-side.
There’s not much you can say about that except perhaps, “well done, Queensland”.
To the credit of both teams they just kept going at each other until the final whistle.
And ultimately it was won by some inspirational defence, not poor refereeing.
When we went into this series people were whinging about the NRL’s high tackle crackdown and saying it was going to ruin Origin.
Yet what this last game of the series showed is that rugby league doesn’t have to be a dirty game to be brutal and tough.
What it does require is two committed teams and a referee who is prepared to back his judgment.
The better team on the night won the game.
Fair and square.
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