The overused and often trite definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.
In the New South Wales camp, despite staring down the gullet of the Blues’ 10th loss in 11 years, selectors Laurie Daley and Bob Fulton continue to push blind loyalty above all when it comes to team selection.
In reality, the pair are only being loyal to losing.
They have been loyal to Dylan Walker, a player who had no right being selected as the bench utility for game one and a player the coach simply had no plan for and no idea how to use. He played nine minutes where he looked like a lost puppy trying to find his owners.
They have been loyal to Matt Moylan, a player who would not have been picked in the series opener had James Tedesco not fractured his shoulder blade in the weeks prior. Tedesco was ahead of Moylan by any judge’s card. The Tigers fullback is arguably the best player available to the Blues, yet has been overlooked for a player who only got a run because of injury and was only fair at best when given that opportunity. Tedesco is the only player in the NRL with at least nine tries and nine assists – despite missing three matches.
They have been loyal to Josh Morris despite Morris averaging a paltry 60.6 metres an outing in 14 Origin showings. He is played on the right side in Origin despite being a left centre for Canterbury. Last game, Morris stifled all Blues momentum when he dropped a simple tap.
They have been loyal to Blake Ferguson, who is so out of form for the Sydney Roosters he has committed nine handling errors in his last five games. His team is anchored in second-last on the premiership ladder.
In terms of pure numbers, New South Wales have the luxury of more options, of greater choice, of significant flexibility. Yet they use none of these advantages because the Blues powerbrokers are obsessed with replicating a Queensland culture that was born out of necessity, not want.
The notion of Maroon loyalty is a myth. They pick the best available side to them nearly every time, while the Blues continually do otherwise.
Under Daley and Fulton, it is almost as if New South Wales’ do not play to win, instead playing not to lose. It is a conservative approach that undermines New South Wales’ chances before they even step on the field. The Blues go into nearly every match handicapped by their own selection panel.
The selectors are so scared of Greg Inglis that Morris is regularly picked to negate him. No consideration is given to Inglis’ dramatic decline in form or the out-there prospect of naming a Blues centre who can actually score a try. They are so fearful of repeating the Jarrod Mullen fiasco that they have stuck with players like Mitchell Pearce far longer than they should have.
NSW’s selection panel have continually gone to the well on notions like ‘wingers need to be big’, ‘the bench always needs a backline utility’, and ‘the halves need a one-dimensional defensive protector’.
In 10 games under Laurie Daley, the Blues have been held to two tries or fewer on nine occasions, averaging just 10.2 points a match. The Maroons have posted 26-plus in three matches over that time – all in Brisbane – yet the Blues go to Suncorp with the series on the line following the same conservative, defence-first blueprint that has failed time and time again.
If Daley and Fulton don’t start prizing winning above all, the time for a change of leadership and a change of direction may be nigh. The Blues cannot afford another year where their advantages are dismissed for a misguided value system that gives New South Wales no chance, and no future.
