State of Origin Game III: Bradman Best debut signals new era for NSW after dynamic debut
The shoots of the future were on show for NSW in their stirring Origin III victory - with Bradman Best among a host of young stars to give Blues fans optimism about the future.
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Even if he never gets a game again, Bradman Best has had one hell of a State of Origin career.
A 24-10 victory over Queensland was a dream debut for the NSW debutant, and despite what anyone says, it‘s been a long time coming.
He looked like a grown man as a teenager and was marked for higher honours as long as he‘s been pulling on a rugby league jersey and brewing hate for Queenslanders at his home on NSW’s Central Coast.
As a 16-year-old he was lighting up the field against kids half his size and pace.
And on Wednesday night the 21-year-old Newcastle centre proved to anyone with doubts that he deserves a crack at the Sky Blue jumper he‘s yearned for all these years.
Two slick tries on debut, another disallowed by the skin of his teeth and wonderful support for Josh Addo-Carr on the left edge showed that maybe the kid is no one-trick pony.
“He was so good,” said NSW coach Brad Fittler.
“He’s always had that, everyone’s seen it for a long time and he’s at a club that hasn’t done well for a long time. It’s now up to him to take it to that next level and do it every week.
“You see some of the tries he scores, it‘s just wonderful.
“A lot of fans, once they absorbed the fact he was playing, they were excited, and then to go out and score a couple of tries it‘s great.”
Whether Best ever gets another shot to play for the Blues remains to be seen.
The calibre of talent ahead of him is some of the best in the game, and in reality, this could be his first and last chance to wear the NSW jersey.
Stephen Crichton, Latrell Mitchell, Tom Trbojevic and Campbell Graham are all swimming in that pool too.
But that doesn’t matter much right now.
At the very least Best gave future selectors, whomever they may be, enough to think about.
On top of two tries, he ran for 94 metres, and his combination with Cody Walker and Addo-Carr on the left edge had Valentine Holmes and Xavier Coates bamboozled.
Bests’s selection drew fair scepticism in the week leading into the dead rubber – mostly because it came like a bolt out of the blue.
There had been no chatter about the young centre, it was all about Penrith’s Izack Tago.
But then Best had a cracking game for the Knights, scoring three tries in a 66-0 rout of Canterbury, and Brad Fittler picked him to make his Origin debut along with Souths forward Keaon Koloamatagi amid seven changes for the Blues.
And he was a breath of fresh air with one of the great debutant performances.
In his first interview early in the week, Best raised eyebrows with some refreshingly honest responses that some put down to naivety.
He openly admitted that he hates Queensland, several times for effect, but then he went out there and gave it to them.
Now that’s an Origin player.
BEST OPENS UP ON ORIGIN ‘SHOCK’, CONTRACT SAGA
By Fatima Kdouh
NSW Origin rookie Bradman Best will lean on an unlikely ally in Queensland veteran Dane Gagai when he runs out to ‘flog’ the Maroons in his first Origin game next week.
Gagai, who was unceremoniously dumped by Billy Slater this year, was one of the first to congratulate his Newcastle teammate in Best after receiving the call-up for Origin III.
This masthead sat down with Best to talk about reaching out to Gagai, his controversial selection, his headline-making mid-season trip to Bali, and the latest surrounding his contract drama at the Knights.
Question: Your teammate Dane Gagai is an Origin veteran, did he have any advice for you after learning about your Blues debut?
Best: Gags (Gagi) sent me a text and said, ‘Congratulations’, and that I deserve it. I said, ‘Thanks, but I’m going to flog his Queensland side’.
It means everything to get this jersey. Growing up, I have always wanted to play for the Blues and you just hate Queensland. I dislike them all.
I don’t have any ties to them, when I put this jersey on on Wednesday, it’s all about us, about NSW.”
Q: This sounds like a chance for Gagai to sneakily exact revenge on Queensland over his controversial axing. How much will you lean on him this week?
Best: For sure, I will reach out to him. He’s obviously left a huge legacy at Origin level. I was only talking to him not long ago at club land. I always lean on him in club land. He’s been massive for me and this week will be no different.
He’s played a part in getting me this jersey, he’s always giving me advice on what it takes.
Q: Newcastle have had a number of club greats like Kurt Gidley, Adam MacDougall, Robbie O’Davis and Timana Tahu pull on the Blues jumper. What does it mean to continue that legacy?
Best: It’s crazy to follow those players. Newcastle is such a proud, supportive little town. I remember watching guys like Timana Tahu, he was one of my favourites, but you even have Joey Johns, Owen Craigie back in the day, Gids as well.
There are plenty of Newcastle greats that have gone on to do big things for NSW, I’m hoping I can follow their footsteps and create my own legacy.
Q: Your selection shocked a lot of people, did you know you were in the frame for a call-up?
Best: It was a bit of a shock to me, to be honest. I wasn’t expecting it at all. Freddy rang me on Sunday morning and gave me the news. It hit me all at once.
I was over the moon. Freddy just basically said that I’m ready. He’s been watching over the past few years and he coached me in the junior in the under 16s. It’s cool now he’s the person that gave me this opportunity. That gave me a lot of confidence.
Q: The Blues have opted to go with fullbacks Latrell Mitchell and Tom Trbojevic at centre recently, and it’s left specialist centres like yourself waiting for an injury to get an opportunity. Do you see yourself as just a placeholder?
Best: Those guys are incredible players but this is a massive opportunity. I can’t wait to get out there and hopefully cement a spot for a while for sure.
Freddy has given me this opportunity, one you always dream about. Now I get to live out my dream. Now I’m here, I won’t let this opportunity slip through my fingers.
Q: Your selection was a contentious one. There was talk guys like Kotoni Staggs and Izack Tago should have been ahead of you on the pecking order. What did you make of that?
Best: Yeah, I did hear all that but haven’t taken it on. I don’t really listen to what people are saying in the media.
But I do know that I’ve got a point to prove come Wednesday night now. I’m just going to keep training hard and hopefully show Wednesday night why I should be here.
Q: You got the call-up after scoring a hattrick in Newcastle 66-0 win on the weekend against Canterbury, but it’s fair to say the Knights’ form so far has been disappointing. Do you feel lucky to get your debut?
Best: We’ve been patchy and inconsistent, there’s no denying that. But you have to take your opportunities, and I’m grateful to be here. And yeah, I guess you can say there’s an element of luck involved.
Q: The Blues have long been criticised for ‘not getting Origin’, and not having the same passion for the jumper as the Maroons. What’s your take on that?
Best: I love the Blues and this state… and I hate the Maroons. I know all the boys here are real passionate about this state and feel the same way.
We’re playing for so much more than just ourselves, we’re playing for our families, our state, everyone that is getting up at 4am and going to work. This jumper is for all of us.
We’re going to replicate that passion on Wednesday night.
I know everyone says this game is a dead rubber, but we’ll be in front of a stadium packed with Blues. We’re not going to let our state down.
Q: The series is over for the Blues. Where do you think things went wrong for the side this year?
Best: I think boys created opportunities in the first two games, there were positives to take out of it. Maybe there were lapses of concentration that let them down. But I can’t wait to come in and provide a bit of energy and aggressive type of game and hopefully that fits into the plan.
Q: You made headlines when you travelled to Bali during the bye, right after the Knights had been thrashed by the Eels. The Knights happen to have a bye this week, if you weren’t in Coogee for Blues camp, were there any other trips planned?
Best: Nah, nah… I’d be training. No more holidays, no more trips away for me.
The boys are training away, they’re training three days this week. It’s a working week.
I got my arm sleeve tattoo done all the around to my shoulder, cheap and quick in Bali. That’s one of the reasons why I went over there. This one was two back-to-back days, just get it done. I enjoyed my time over there. I came back refreshed and ready to go and I think I have been playing good footy since.
Q: There’s a few clubs on the bye this week, any advice for players planning a trip to Bali?
Best: I’d just tell all those boys to keep it off the social media and they’ll be right.
Q: There was speculation Newcastle would be willing to let you leave to another club next season, one year early, to relieve some salary cap pressure with your salary set to jump to $700,000. Is there any truth to it?
Best: There was a bit of media that caused drama behind the scenes but I don’t read into it too much. I spoke to my manager asking if there was any truth to it.
But then the club brought me in and said ‘no mate, we want you here. We want you to be a one club man’.
I did see the stories, but it didn’t bother me. I love the club, I love the town and I’ve come through the juniors. If it works out that I stay there my entire career, I’ll be pretty proud to do so.
Q: Coach Adam O’Brien dropped you last year after you missed the team bus during an away trip in Brisbane. How much of a wake-up call was that for you?
Best: That’s probably where it started. That was when I said, ‘All right, it’s not good enough’. I expect more of myself. I had a few honest conversations with the coach and Peter Parr and myself.
That was at the back-end of the year so I knew the off-season was rolling around.
Talent can only take you so far and the rest is hard work. That’s sort of the way I was looking at it.
Why unlocking Murray is key to NSW victory
South Sydney lock Cameron Murray is the key man in the new NRL club combination NSW coach Brad Fittler is banking on to save his job.
After warming the bench for the first two games, Fittler has pulled the trigger to start Murray at No.13 ahead of Penrith’s Isaah Yeo.
Much of that decision comes down to Penrith’s waning influence on the Blues’ attack, with Nathan Cleary out injured and Jarome Luai axed, and the emergence of the Souths effect.
Fittler will start four Rabbitohs – Murray, Cody Walker, Damien Cook and Keaon Koloamatangi – on Wednesday night, compared to none in game one.
“I think with Cody coming into five-eighth … Cameron Murray, Damien Cook and Cody work so well together (for South Sydney). I don’t know how big of a part it played in Cameron starting at 13 but it played a part,” Blues selector Greg Alexander said.
On the face of it, Murray and Yeo are both ball-playing locks for their NRL sides.
But the forwards are used very differently by their respective coaches.
Yeo is a third playmaker, making decisions in attack, marshalling traffic and calling numbers.
Most clubs don’t have the luxury of a lock like Yeo, so few, if any, will run the same shapes as Penrith.
It’s a different story for Murray and Souths.
Murray is key to the Rabbitohs’ attacking shape but he isn’t a chief decision maker with that role falling on Walker, and even Cook and Latrell Mitchell at the back.
That leaves Murray to do what he does best, use his footwork, which is problematic for opposition defences, speed, his offloading and support play.
It’s a style that is easier for the Blues’ non Rabbitohs players to understand.
Fittler has lost four of the past five Origin games relying on team combinations. But the South Sydney skipper believes the Rabbitohs connection can save NSW from a clean sweep.
“It will be handy having Cody there running out of shape, Keaon on the edge, Damien at hooker … it’s going to help knowing that we’ve had a couple years building those combinations so we don’t have to start from scratch and do it in a week,” Murray said.
“We’ve got some time to build combinations around the existing ones we’ve got at Souths.”
WHOLESALE PACK CHANGES
The injection of back-rower Keaon Koloamatangi into the starting side marked of an overhaul of the Blues pack.
Not a single player that started in Origin’s I and II will start at Accor Stadium on Wednesday night.
And the only forced change was Brisbane prop Payne Haas, who is out with an ankle injury.
Tevita Pangai Jnr, Hudson Young, Tyson Frizell, Junior Paulo, Stefano Utoikamanu have all been dropped.
Manly veteran and workhorse Jake Trbojevic and Parramatta’s Reagan Campbell-Gillard have been called-in for Haas and Paulo.
Fittler’s bench for Origin III will only feature two forwards, in Yeo and Jacob Saifiti, raising concerns over the Blues having enough muscle to match it with Queensland.
Alexander conceded the Maroons pack had gotten the better of the Blues in the first two games but knocked back suggestions the bench was ‘light on for forwards’.
“No, because we’ve got two middles there in Yeo and Saifiti, so we’re pretty happy with that. “We’ve also got two middles that can control the play in Murray and Yeo.
“Murray can play on an edge too. We think Keaon and Martin, they are 80 minute players. And Keaon has played in the middle too if that’s necessary.
“Martin has played in the middle already this series.”
Cook is also confident Campbell-Gillard, Trbojevic and Jacob Saifiti can create enough go forward.
“He’s (Haas) been outstanding. The amount of work he gets through is unbelievable,” Cook said.
“Reggie and Saifiti coming in, who have been in this arena … they play differently, they are a bit of a different style of forward, they’ll play shorter stints than Payne would do.
“But they’ll be nice and powerful, laying a good platform for us to play off the back of. I think we‘ll be all right there.”
CODY TO COOK UP LETHAL COMBINATION
Fox League expert Matthew Johns once described Walker’s combination with Cook as the most lethal pairing in the game, and long called for the Bunnies duo to be the centrepiece of the Blues’ attack.
For years now, Cook’s darts from dummy-half runs, that are perfectly anticipated by Walker have helped shred opposition defences.
But the combinations Walker has with his South Sydney teammates might not be the greatest advantage the five-eighth’s injection will have on the Blues.
“He always turns up with an attitude to get better and compete, he wants to win every time he is out there on the field. It’s a good pedigree for us here at NSW, the type of players we need are the ones that are going to compete hard and fight for a win,” Murray said.
“On the back of the skill he shows, which is elite, he’s also got that winner’s attitude.”
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