Brad Fittler’s choice to fit Damien Cook — a specialist hooker — into the centres was an actual head-scratcher.
New South Wales had deliberate to match Queensland’s one-two punch at hooker in Origin II when Cook was recalled. But that plan was binned three minutes into the sport when Tom Trbojevic suffered a pectoral harm.
Fittler was compelled to provide you with a plan — and rapidly.
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Move Isaah Yeo to centre and put Cameron Murray on at lock?
Plug the outlet with Liam Martin?
Shift Hudson Young?
No to the entire above. Cook ran on to be the Blues’ left centre and informed Stephen Crichton to move on over to the proper to fill Trbojevic’s gap.
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It was a transfer that not even Andrew Johns, who’s on NSW’s teaching employees, noticed coming.
“I’d say Cook will go to dummy-half and I think (Reece) Robson will go in the back row or lock and maybe Isaah Yeo might move to right centre. Isaah Yeo started his career in the centres,” Johns mentioned in Channel 9’s commentary as Cook ran onto the sector.
Cook is likely one of the most skilled hookers within the sport. He has 186 NRL video games underneath his belt — 160 of these beginning at dummy-half, 25 off the bench and one at fullback — and is a four-time Kangaroo.
The 32-year-old performed in each Origin sport from his debut in sport one of many 2018 sequence up till he was neglected for this yr’s series-opener in Adelaide.
He desperately needed a recall. He acquired one, however needed to play up to now out of place it was nearly too painful to look at.
Cook tried his guts out — nobody can deny that — but it surely was clear that he was not the reply at centre the second Valentine Holmes crossed for Queensland’s first attempt.
Daly Cherry-Evans put a kick up that Josh Addo-Carr and Xavier Coates contested for as Cook tried to get out of the best way. The ball bounced into the in-goal, whereas Cook was going through the opposite approach, and by the point he circled Holmes already had a head begin on him to floor it.
It was a brutal hit to his confidence as a makeshift centre.
Channel 9 crossed to Fittler within the coaches field. The commentator referred to the “huge disruption” that was Trbojevic’s harm, however Fittler discovered a optimistic.
“Yeah but it also shows the versatility of ‘Cookie’,” he mentioned eight minutes after the primary attempt.
“Just watching ‘Cookie’ in the centres, he’s doing a good job out there and Stephen Crichton also — he can pretty much do anything. We’re in the game.”
It was clear Addo-Carr didn’t belief his centre as he jammed in throughout Queensland’s third attempt.
Reece Walsh went straight by means of a spot between Cook and Addo-Carr within the lead-up to the Maroons’ fifth attempt.
And then within the closing seven minutes Cook discovered himself in prime place to contest for a Munster cross-field bomb. He may most likely depend on one hand what number of occasions he’s needed to soar to catch a bomb in his profession.
He acquired the ball… But then dropped it as he fell flat on his again. Jeremiah Nanai pounced on the dwell ball and scored Queensland’s closing attempt of the evening.
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“It was definitely difficult for Damien Cook out in that position,” Fox League professional Michael Ennis mentioned after the sport.
“It proved tough for ‘Cookie’ and you’ve got to feel for him. I’m not sure he’s been in that position before at NRL level, but that mindset of what it takes, I thought he tried his guts out. He did everything he could.”
Fittler revealed in his post-game press convention that he had warned Cook about doubtlessly getting used as a utility ought to something go flawed.
“I spoke to ‘Cookie’ (in the lead-up to the game) that could happen, that he could have to play centre if someone went down,” he mentioned.
“I thought he did a great job, ‘Cookie’. We had to change what we had to do out there but at the end of the day, their defence was very good.”
And he did go an ideal job — the perfect job he may probably do ready that was so insanely completely different to what he is aware of.
But was there a greater possibility?
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Centre is the place Yeo started his NRL profession. He’s performed 24 video games there.
Or there’s Murray, who performed centre as an adolescent in rugby union, has efficiently crammed in there for the Rabbitohs and, as Matt Bungard — host of ESPN’s Boom Rookies podcast — raised on Twitter, will play there if he does return to the 15-man code.
There’s query marks over Fittler’s use of Murray typically given he wasn’t used till the forty seventh minute.
Ennis was requested about that and mentioned: “I’m not sure.”
“I could only think the Cameron Murray situation was because they brought Damien Cook on and that disrupted their rotation plan and that’s why Cameron didn’t come on until the second half. That’s the only thing I can think of,” he added.
“Previously we’ve seen Cameron Murray come on at centre and do a tremendous job.”
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He raised that maybe the groin harm Murray had been carrying over the past couple of weeks was part of Fittler’s thought course of.
Take the Trbojevic harm out of it and Queensland legend Corey Parker nonetheless believes the South Sydney skipper ought to’ve been on the sector a lot earlier.
“Personally I would’ve had Cam Murray on to start the game,” he mentioned.
“He’s too good to sit on the bench for 45 minutes. If he’s not one of the best players, if not the best lock in the game — you just can’t have someone like him on the bench for that period of time.
“My opinion’s irrelevant but I thought he spent way too long on the sideline.”
Parker additionally acknowledged that Cook was “thrown into a position he hasn’t played at all” and confused he “is not the reason NSW lost the game.”
Source: www.foxsports.com.au