Please enjoy this latest State of Origin highlights reel... Game 3 of 2006, as Adam Mogg inspired Queensland to a dynasty
Well folks, here we are at Round 19 and the last of the Origin rounds for 2024, as Jared Waerea-Hargeaves tries his hardest to end his career through suspension, and I'd just like to say commiserations to Jason Ryles on being sentenced to 4 years as coach of Parramatta.
One foot in that drought-infested place and you'll realise that being an assistant to Craig Bellamy, suffering constant mental torture as he rages over knock-ons, missed tries and loose passes, is actually quite a pleasant thing.
So while the Eels get a coach they can scapegoat for their awful roster age demographics, the big hammer blow of the year came for both New South Wales and Souths with Latrell Mitchell's foot injury last Thursday night, right as he was starting to really hit peak form and Souths were on the comeback trail, which just seems to be the story of Latrell's Souths tenure... that and he gets suspended too much.
Just look at the years:
2020: Tore his hamstring and missed the finals, which ended with Souths losing to Penrith in a Prelim by 4 points.
2021: Suspended for 4 games during the season, then he got another 6 games when he elbowed Joey Manu in the head in Round 24 and missed the Finals + a Grand Final that Souths lost by all of 2 points.
2022: Missed close enough to 3 months due to another hamstring injury, but this time recovered in time for the finals and played pretty well as Souths reached a Prelim Final from 7th, although this time they were no match for the Panthers.
2023: Injured his calf when Souths were sitting in 2nd on the ladder after Round 12, didn't play again until Round 22, but could do nothing to halt Souths' spectacular collapse to miss the finals after losing to the Roosters in Round 27.
2024: Gets 3 games for elbowing Shaun Johnson, comes back, hits form and gets back in the New South Wales team for the first time since 2021, then injures his foot right as Souths mount a serious comeback to sit a game outside the Top 8.
What a great shame for an outstanding talent, although that does open avenues for the likes of Bradman Best, plus that 6-year-old kid Stanley from PNG who is a massive fan of Latrell.
Another interesting piece of news also occurred yesterday...
THERE WILL BE A 14TH IMMORTAL NAMED NEXT MONTH.
That is quite something to hear, when you consider there's only been 5 ceremonies to induct Immortals since it was started in 1981, and there were only 8 players inducted between '81 and 2017, after which the ARL Commission now runs the Immortals, with the last ceremony coming back in 2018.
It's also worth noting there's only 3 Immortals that are actually still with us - King Wally Lewis, Andrew Johns and Mal Meninga.
Harder to pick than a broken nose trying to figure out who it could be... you've got several players from the 2000s Queensland team, Peter Sterling's name came up - All will be revealed in a few weeks.
Alright, now to look at the 5-game slate for Round 19:
- An interesting set-up on Thursday night as the Redcliffe Dolphins host Souths in a rare game to be played in Redcliffe, as Ben Hornby takes on the bloke who is only a couple of months away from taking his job at Redfern, a fella by the name of Wayne Bennett, while the teams off-set each other, because the loss of Latrell is counterbalanced by the Dolphins losing the Hammer going into Queensland camp.
- One of the few games not to be affected by Origin players is the Friday night game between Cronulla and the Wests Tigers at Shark Park, although the game has been affected by Nico Hynes' serious ankle injury that will see him out for a while, which could be a blessing or a curse with his severe drop in form coinciding with Cronulla's drop in form.
- The Titans take on the Eels, who will be without Mitchell Moses as he attempts to drag New South Wales to victory in Game III, so this game seems to resemble the hammer against the nail.
- The Broncos host St George-Illawarra in the Saturday night slot, a game you wouldn't want to think about twice, let alone watch twice, as both teams get riddled by Origin replacements, specifically the Dragons having to play without Hunt and Lomax, who are basically the two hemispheres of their collective brain.
- The most Origin-affected game of the Round is the Sunday afternoon game as the old sparring partners Manly and Newscastle meet at Brookvale after their superb road wins last week, and what a host of names that won't be featuring, as Jake Trbojevic and Daly Cherry-Evans captain their respective states, leaving Tom Trbojevic to captain Manly, while for the Knights Bradman Best gets the call-up to replace Latrell Mitchell, and Dane Gagai + Kalyn Ponga have both been dispatched to Queensland camp, leaving the Knights back 3 looking greener than Kermit the Frog.
And now for the Succinct NRL Tips for Round 19, and they are absolutely SUCCINCT with only 5 games this weekend...
I was a collective 5 points away from getting a perfect 8/8 for the first time all year.
Unfortunately, the Sharks didn't bother turning up in Coffs Harbour, and the Cowboys had Scott Drinkwater kick a 40-metre field goal, then forget all about him the rest of the night as they missed several shots before DCE showed who the NRL's One-Point King really is.
Round 18 Score = 6/8
Running score after Round 18 = 82/136 (60.2%)
But yes, Dolphins-Rabbits is a toss-up with the Origin players out but simply going the Dolphins due to the location, same for the Sharks, the Titans are decent enough at home, the Broncos with no confidence considering their form and lost players, and Manly should be winning considering who the Knights have lost to representative selection.
Lock of the Week
The lock that hands the key to the opposition and watches it get picked.
The Gold Coast to give the Eels a licking, so much so that Spandau Ballet will perform GOLD as a tribute!
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