{"id":89641,"date":"2021-06-23T07:04:01","date_gmt":"2021-06-23T07:04:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=89641"},"modified":"2021-06-23T08:59:48","modified_gmt":"2021-06-23T08:59:48","slug":"origin-dumping-to-set-off-cranky-destroyer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=89641","title":{"rendered":"Origin dumping to set off 'cranky' destroyer"},"content":{"rendered":"

Queensland<\/a> State of Origin icon Wally Lewis has backed a "cranky" David Fifita to make a giant statement in Sunday's must-win clash after the rampaging second-rower was dumped to the bench<\/a>.<\/p>\n

After starting on the left edge and failing to have a commanding influence in the Maroons' botched series opener, Fifita has been relegated to the No.16 jumper.<\/p>\n

The young Titan's demotion to the bench has come amid a mass rejig of the Maroons' forward pack.<\/p>\n

Queensland will take to Origin II<\/a> with virtually an entirely new front row, as Christian Welch was rubbed out of the opener due to concussion just 12 minutes into the contest, and Josh Papalii<\/a> wasn't available because of a suspension. Tino Fa'asuamaleaui has also been moved from the front row to lock, while Jai Arrow has traded lock for the second row, where he'll line up with Felise Kaufusi.<\/p>\n

While Fifta arguably had the strongest impact of Queensland's forwards in Townsville, the 21-year-old former Bronco only garnered 110 metres, including 38 post-contact.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

The Maroons are desperate for Fifita to match the impact off the bench of Blues<\/a> forwards Angus Crichton, Payne Haas and Liam Martin<\/a> at Suncorp Stadium – and Lewis thinks his snubbing provides the ideal fuel.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

"It probably will (fire him up). That would have been the message coming from the coach … When we get the opportunity to put you on the field we want you to perform," Lewis said on Wide World of Sports' QLDER<\/em>.<\/p>\n

"He's proven previously that he's quite capable and one of the most powerful ball-carriers in the game and certainly one that could make things a little bit tough on the edge of the ruck for the NSW defence, particularly running at the sixes and sevens. That would be one of the hopes.<\/p>\n

"And usually, when players are put on the bench after starting a game, they get a little bit cranky about it and think, 'Well, the selectors and the coach – they're not seeing the best of me but I know I can perform better than that'. And that promises great things when he eventually gets onto the field."<\/p>\n

Fifita started on the field for the first time in his Origin career in the opening game, after taking on a bench role for his three previous appearances.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

The Maroons' forward pack was massacred by the Blues' in Origin I, with Queensland registering just 1261 metres to NSW's 1841.<\/p>\n

Queensland selector Darren Lockyer<\/a> gave an insight into the Maroons' thinking behind Fifita's slide to the bench.<\/p>\n

"There's two parts to that. One is the tactic side of things," Lockyer said.<\/p>\n

"Dave can be damaging, he's an X-factor, but maybe the energy he spends to get through the first 20 minutes dilutes his impact.<\/p>\n

"He's still a young kid … Back to the bench, he'll be disappointed with that, but it's how he reacts to that."<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/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><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Queensland State of Origin icon Wally Lewis has backed a "cranky" David Fifita to make a giant statement in Sunday's must-win clash after the rampaging […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"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\/89641"}],"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=89641"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/89641\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":89643,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/89641\/revisions\/89643"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=89641"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=89641"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=89641"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}