{"id":403639,"date":"2024-06-17T01:51:20","date_gmt":"2024-06-17T01:51:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=403639"},"modified":"2024-06-17T03:06:34","modified_gmt":"2024-06-17T03:06:34","slug":"gal-snub-that-doesnt-make-sense-amid-blues-overhaul","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=403639","title":{"rendered":"Gal: Snub that doesn't make sense amid Blues overhaul"},"content":{"rendered":"

NRL great<\/strong><\/em> PAUL GALLEN<\/strong><\/em><\/a> will appear on Nine's 100% FOOTY every Monday night of the NRL season, debating rugby league's hottest topics alongside Phil Gould and James Bracey. Tune in LIVE at 7.30pm (AEST) on<\/strong><\/em> 9Now<\/strong><\/em><\/a> tonight following a bumper round 15!<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Most of the changes Michael Maguire<\/a> made to his New South Wales<\/a> team for game two didn't really surprise me.<\/p>\n

But there was one bloke I definitely thought was unlucky to be dropped, and another who was mighty unlucky not to be brought in.<\/p>\n

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Cameron McInnes was pretty good at lock during his State of Origin<\/a> debut a fortnight ago, in my opinion.<\/p>\n

I was a bit surprised to see he has made way for Connor Watson on the Blues bench<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Obviously Cameron Murray \ufeffwas going to come into the starting side after returning from injury, but I definitely thought McInnes could have been our bench utility in Melbourne.<\/p>\n

\"Matt<\/p>\n

And if not McInnes, I'm not sure why Matt Burton didn't get the job.<\/p>\n

Burton has been our 18th man for three or four games, and suddenly when we make five changes he can't get a look-in?\ufeff<\/p>\n

He could have made the perfect bench utility if that's what Madge was after.<\/p>\n

\ufeffMcInnes played halfback for the Sharks against the Storm\ufeff in round 10 and they won that game 25-18.<\/p>\n

Watch the 2024 State of Origin series exclusively live and free on Nine and<\/strong><\/em> 9Now<\/strong><\/em><\/a>.\ufeff<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

He's also played plenty of games as a starting hooker at NRL level, and can obviously play any other position in the forward pack.<\/p>\n

\ufeffThe Watson selection was a bit of a bolt from the blue.<\/p>\n

I know there were rumours around him before game one, but they were a bit ear-pricking to me given where they came from.<\/p>\n

\"Matt<\/p>\n

But obviously there was truth to them and now Madge has pulled the trigger on bringing him into the line-up.<\/p>\n

I think Watson will do a good job, don't get me wrong.<\/p>\n

And this won't be the end of McInnes at Origin level – you never know what's going to happen down the track and he is a good enough player to get back in the team.<\/p>\n

\ufeffOverall I think the Blues have picked a strong team that can win in Melbourne next week.<\/p>\n

There were inevitably going to be changes after losing game one – even if that result was largely dictated by a send-off in the seventh minute.<\/p>\n

Nicho Hynes is a bit unlucky to be dropped but to be honest Mitchell Moses \ufeffprobably would have been the halfback for game one if he wasn't injured, anyway.<\/p>\n

Moses was sensational in his return game for the Eels, although the fact Parramatta has since lost two in a row is a bit concerning.<\/p>\n

But if Moses can even just kick the way he did in that first game back from injury, it will give the Blues a big boost.<\/p>\n

And don't worry about Nicho – he's an elite player and he is strong enough to bounce back from this. It won't be the last we see of him in a NSW jumper.\ufeff<\/p>\n

James Tedesco didn't do much wrong in game one – he never does – but Dylan Edwards was always going to come back in at fullback.<\/p>\n

Edwards was unlucky to be injured before game one after being picked for his debut, so it makes sense to bring him back in now he's fit.<\/p>\n

\"'Glass<\/p>\n

And Latrell Mitchell is a big addition to the line-up following the Joseph Suaalii suspension.<\/p>\n

\ufeffI thought Latrell should have been in the team for game one<\/p>\n

It's a bit hard on him now that they've essentially issued an SOS to help salvage the series and avoid a dead rubber in Brisbane.<\/p>\n

And Latrell can certainly produce the individual brilliance that can win an Origin game – but it's up to the NSW forwards to give him the opportunity to do so.<\/p>\n

If the Blues find themselves on the back foot and coming out of trouble all night then Latrell will struggle to have an impact on the game.<\/p>\n

The likes of Brian To'o and Zac Lomax will need to do the work coming out of trouble, because that's not Latrell's game.<\/p>\n

But if the NSW forwards can win the middle and get the Blues in good attacking positions during the game, that's when we should see Latrell come into his own.<\/p>\n

This Blues team can definitely win in Melbourne and force a series decider at Suncorp Stadium.<\/p>\n

I can't wait to see what they produce.\ufeff<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

NRL great PAUL GALLEN will appear on Nine's 100% FOOTY every Monday night of the NRL season, debating rugby league's hottest topics alongside Phil Gould […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":403641,"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\/403639"}],"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=403639"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/403639\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":403644,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/403639\/revisions\/403644"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/403641"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=403639"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=403639"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=403639"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}