{"id":314019,"date":"2023-07-06T01:39:28","date_gmt":"2023-07-06T01:39:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=314019"},"modified":"2023-07-06T01:59:25","modified_gmt":"2023-07-06T01:59:25","slug":"joey-flames-insulting-pile-on-aimed-at-blues-rookie","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=314019","title":{"rendered":"Joey flames 'insulting pile-on' aimed at Blues rookie"},"content":{"rendered":"

Blues<\/a> legend and rugby league Immortal Andrew Johns<\/a> has let rip at the "insulting" and "disrespectful pile-on" directed at Knights<\/a> centre Bradman Best since his selection for the Blues in Origin III<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Best's call-up for an Origin debut came a day after his blinding performance in the Knights' 66-0 thrashing over the Bulldogs<\/a> on Sunday afternoon.<\/p>\n

There was some talk Best's selection \u2014 itself as a result of Campbell Graham's unavailability with an ongoing battle with a sternum injury \u2014 was off the back of just that one game, and that selectors might have been better off picking Penrith's Izack Tago or Parramatta's Will Penisini.<\/p>\n

READ MORE:<\/strong> 'Rattled' Aussie in disbelief after protester ruins match<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

READ MORE:<\/strong> England legend dumped in Ashes selection shakeup<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<\/p>\n

READ MORE:<\/strong> 'Last chance': Gus puts blowtorch on NSW skipper<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

But Johns said Best had been "earmarked" as an Origin player for years, and in the picture for selection this year since game one.<\/p>\n

\"Bradman<\/p>\n

"I think it's really disrespectful, the pile-on which has been going on," Johns said on Wide World of Sports' Freddy and The Eighth<\/em><\/a>.<\/p>\n

"Bradman's been in the conversation since game one. There was a lot of conversation about Bradman when Latrell went down with that calf injury, so for people to come out and bag Bradman because he's been picked from left-field and come from nowhere is absolutely disrespectful to Bradman, and I find it insulting.\u00a0<\/p>\n

"I feel for him. He's ready. He's played in the junior system, he came through the pathways, and he'll be ready to go."<\/p>\n

Watch the 2023 State of Origin series LIVE and exclusive on Channel 9 and<\/strong><\/em> 9Now<\/strong><\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

\"Blues<\/p>\n

Best was picked at No.4 inside speedster Josh Addo-Carr.<\/p>\n

Fellow Newcastle great Danny Buderus agreed the bigger occasion would suit Best, and pointed out he had come through the Blues pathway, and had "all the tools" required to perform at Origin level.<\/p>\n

Best first made his name by scoring one of the greatest match winners ever seen at interstate level, combining with \ufeffAlbert Hopoate after the siren at Suncorp Stadium in 2017 to score a 110m try<\/a> that broke Queensland hearts in the under 16s Origin game.<\/p>\n

Fittler was the coach of that NSW team.\ufeff<\/p>\n

"You've gotta remember Freddy's worked with these players coming into this team \u2026 they've been in the system and Freddy knows what they can do and is fully confident in what Bradman can do," Johns said.<\/p>\n

"He's been waiting for this opportunity and you can see he's one of those players that just wants to play against Queensland.<\/p>\n

\"NSW<\/p>\n

"He's always wanted to tick that box and that's one of the best things about any Origin game, when you see these young players who aspire to live out their dream and they get to do it.<\/p>\n

"Bradman's super excited, he's definitely built for the occasion \u2026 and to get to experience an Origin build-up, and an Origin match is only going to be much better for it as well."<\/p>\n

The Blues will look to avoid a 3-0 series whitewash in game three at Accor Stadium next Wednesday night.<\/p>\n

For a daily dose of the best of the breaking news and exclusive content from Wide World of Sports, subscribe to our newsletter by<\/strong><\/em> clicking here<\/strong><\/em><\/a>!<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Blues legend and rugby league Immortal Andrew Johns has let rip at the "insulting" and "disrespectful pile-on" directed at Knights centre Bradman Best since his […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":314022,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/314019"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=314019"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/314019\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":314029,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/314019\/revisions\/314029"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/314022"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=314019"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=314019"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=314019"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}