Why NSW Blues need to pick right kind of player to avoid more State of Origin misery

THERE’S a type player you want by your side in State of Origin and it’s one of the many areas where the NSW Blues are letting themselves down, writes MATTHEW JOHNS.

IT WAS a short comment which provoked a long thought.

Last Wednesday night my wife and I were sitting at home with good friends, watching the State of Origin decider.

They are from Bermuda, he is a rugby union man, but enjoys rugby league, and she hasn’t a clue what rugby league is, she was born and bred on the island and struggles to see the point of 26 blokes on a field pulverising one another.

Nonetheless she picks a team. “I’m cheering for Queensland!”

I ask why.

“Because the Blue team look like a bunch of criminals!”

Ouch!

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She continues. “Do you guys have any rules regarding tattoos?”

Simple question and a fair one. Do we have any rules about tattoos? For instance, would we pick a player who had a face tattoo? Even if he was a star, would we pick him? Should we pick him?

It’s not about the tattoos, it’s about character.

What do we look for in players? What’s more important, ability or character? Do we select the super talented ratbag over the honest grinder who has guts and integrity?

Are we doing that?

NSW need to review their operations.

No, no, no. The Blues need a good look at themselves.

It’s exactly what the All Blacks did.

The All Blacks changed their culture with a purpose — winning.

The All Blacks won the World Cup in 1987, but then failed the next four times at rugby’s biggest tournament — 16 years of disappointment, underachievement and choking under pressure.

So after the failures of the 2003 World Cup in France, they knew a different direction was needed.

Leading All Blacks players, officials and identities came together and set guidelines in place of what was expected of players on the field, but more importantly off it.

They sourced information from leaders inside and outside of sport in how they could change their culture from toxic to successful.

And that’s where the shift began.

Queensland have shown how strong their bond is time and again. Picture: Brett Costello

In 2007 they again tasted disappointment, eliminated in the semi-finals, but they knew they were on the right road and success was around the corner.

New Zealand have not only won the last two World Cups but the All Blacks brand is one of the strongest and most recognisable in world sport. Mission accomplished.

State of Origin is a lucrative business, the players receive $30,000 a game and deserve every cent.

But you’d like to think the money is just a bonus, the sole motivation is wearing the jersey, the realisation of a life long dream.

These are the players you want, players who hurt in defeat.

Did NSW have 17 of these players in the squad for Origin III?

How can NSW go about rebuilding their players’ ‘character’. Picture: Brett Costello

I tell you what would be an interesting experiment in the lead-up to the first game next year.

The coach calls a meeting of the 30 players in contention and tells them, in this series there’ll be no $30,000 appearance fee. Instead, the good news is players will receive $40,000 for a win, but the bad news is they’ll get nothing for a loss, in each of the three games.

Anyone unhappy with that, notify us that you’re unavailable for selection.

The players you want are the ones who would play for nothing.

I bet Jake Trbojevic would actually pay the NSWRL $30,000 a match to be a part of the team.

My old mate “Chief”, Paul Harragon, played with incredible passion when he pulled on a blue jersey.

When he represented the Blues for the first time in 1992, he came back to Newcastle and told all of us young players about the experience.

“It was unbelievable …. but terrifying.”

Terrifying in what way?

“I was terrified I was going to let the boys down.”

That’s the type of player that wins a series. A player who fears letting a teammate down, rarely does. That fear doesn’t allow you to walk in defence and be caught out. That fear makes you secure possession a little tighter.

I also remember Chief telling me of a talk he had with Phil Gould leading into an Origin series.

Gus compared the grit and toughness required to play Origin as holding your hand over a naked flame. Your opponent is doing the same thing, whoever pulls the hand away first loses.

What do you do?

“Well what would you do, Chief?”

“Matty, I’d rather chop my right hand off than let any of my teammates down.”

While in NSW we obsess about body types suited to Origin football, the Queenslanders pick blokes who wouldn’t pull their hand off the flame.

Gary Larson, Dallas Johnson, Trevor Gilmeister, Michael Crocker. It’s why they picked Tim Glasby.

They knew he had the right stuff under the shirt to get the job done. Character over ability.

Paul Harragon knew what was required to win Origin.

But you need footballers to win as well, which brings me to my next point.

In the late 1990s during one of my last seasons at the Newcastle Knights, I approached the club with an idea of setting up a halves academy.

A centre of excellence in the Hunter, where young playmakers would go to learn all there is to know about playing in the creative positions.

Andrew and I were incredibly fortunate to have Allan Bell at the Knights as we were coming through the grades.

He’d work with us for hours, on video, on the training paddock, developing skills, developing tactical nous and showing us the old school art of ball-playing.

Yeah, yeah, I hear ya, Joey obviously concentrated harder than I did.

Mitchell Pearce has become something of a scapegoat for NSW. (Cameron Spencer/Getty Images)

However, by the late ‘90s I could see the education process was disappearing out of junior coaching. Young halves were not being taught the principles of ball playing. Rather than teaching a young playmaker how to read a defence, they were fed a set structure.

I saw young halves becoming robotic and it’s only become worse.

I told the Knights if we set up a halves academy it would soon have a production line of superior young playmakers which would benefit the club for years.

Our major sponsor at the time, Gerry McGowan of Impulse Airlines, immediately got behind the idea and was prepared to fund the project.

Unfortunately by the season’s end I was out of the Knights and on my way to Wigan and the project just didn’t eventuate.

The NSWRL needs to set up a playmakers’ academy immediately. Halves are the lifeblood of football teams and we aren’t producing enough of them. The Queenslanders on the other hand just keep churning them out.

If we decide Mitchell Pearce is not the answer and Nathan Cleary is still too young, who do we select?

Let’s set up the Playmakers’ Academy where young players in the creative positions can go and receive specialist coaching.

I have no doubt the likes of Brad Fittler and Andrew Johns would throw themselves into the project. Developing halves who have the ability to create, especially when nothing appears on, is crucial to any team.

As a game we aren’t doing a good job of this, at least not in NSW. It’s just one of the things we need to address immediately.