Maroons analysis: It’s what David Fifita didn’t do that cost him his Origin jersey

David Fifita’s State of Origin sacking was a stark message to players that coach Billy Slater notices the lowlights among their highlight reels, writes ROBERT CRADDOCK.

SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA - JULY 12: David Fifita of the Maroons reacts during game three of the State of Origin series between New South Wales Blues and Queensland Maroons at Accor Stadium on July 12, 2023 in Sydney, Australia. (Photo by Mark Kolbe/Getty Images)

David Fifita’s sacking is a candid warning to all Queensland State of Origin players that, in the Billy Slater era, lowlights can be more telling than highlights.

There’s 11 forwards chosen in the Queensland’s expanded State of Origin squad and Fifita has a better highlight reel than all of them.

Extravagant runs, cute passes, steps, swerves, bobs, pivots … it’s all there. But he cannot get a gig.

Slater mentioned Fifita’s form this season is not as strong as it was last season but did not specify what the soft spots were, leaving analysts with many questions to ponder.

Does Fifita fade in and out of games too much? Should he be making more tackles? Does he run across field too often? Is he too much of a free spirit to fit into team structure? Is Origin really his sort of football?

Only the coach would know the reasons but this much is certain – Slater watches his players off the ball like an air-born hawk watches a mouse in a field.

There are many moments you will never see on the game’s endless highlight packages that he notes.

They are far away from probing cameras but that in no way reduces their importance.

David Fifita’s Origin sacking was a shock to most. Picture: Mark Kolbe/Getty Images

As a player Slater was a big moment specialist, an entertainer extraordinaire who somehow meshed together forensic research with innate flair.

As a coach he still likes the free spirits like Reece Walsh but he’s also a doctor of detail who is huge on the one percenters.

You can’t blame him for this because as the man standing at the back of the field in 31 Origin matches spanning 15 years he had the best view in the house of some of the most insanely courageous plays which not simply shaped games but careers and the Maroon legend.

We’re talking matches won by players who had the right to be out on their feet but somehow scrambled like madmen to slide a hand under the ball carrier over the line, forced a winger over the corner post or took up the suicide run into the teeth of the defence when alarm bells were ringing close to the line.

Anyone watching Fifita play the house down in the Gold Coast’s shock 36-34 victory over the Broncos on Sunday would have had him $1.01 to be chosen in the first Origin team.

David Fifita has been solid, but not spectacular, for the Maroons. Picture: Mark Kolbe/Getty Images

But, upon closer reflection, you realise that the fluffy tit-for-tat contest was as far away as you could get from a State of Origin game, particularly the first game of the series where defensive walls are cast from granite, not the oft-punctured plasticine on display at Suncorp on Sunday.

Fifita has played eight Origin games and has been sound in most of them but not barnstorming.

J’maine Hopgood, who beat Fifita for the last place on the bench, spoke on Monday about losing his father who was just 39 when he collapsed and died after volunteering to fill in in a reserve grade match.

From that point not much in his J’maine’s has been easy but he’s just kept scrapping and here he is.

He’s no superstar but he’s got the hungry look of a man who might just be very hard to squeeze out.

Originally published as Maroons analysis: It’s what David Fifita didn’t do that cost him his Origin jersey