New South Wales head coach Phil Gould has criticized Brad Fittler’s Blues for being too “predictable” in his initial loss to Queensland.
Despite coming to Origin I as favorites, the home team was amazed by a lively Maroons set that ended with 16-10 winners thanks to a good performance in the second half.
Fittler selected six Panthers stars in his game on one side, with Brian To’o, Jarome Luai, Nathan Cleary, Liam Martin, Isaah Yeo and Stephen Crichton representing the shield holders, and Gould said the game of the Blues had become “a little too much”. Pantherised “as a result.
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“You’re not playing club football, you’re playing the best in the world, you’re playing Origin, you need a little more than that,” he told the Wide World of Sports podcast Six Tackles With Gus.
Phil Gould believes the Blues’ game became too “pantherised” in the first loss to the Maroons (Getty)
“You need a little more in your game and your strategy than just a club football mentality because they are good combinations and a good structure. You need a couple of little tricks that come out of a problem, you need someone to do it be a little different “.
Gould said the absence of 2021 stars Latrell Mitchell and Tom Trbojevic, both out due to injury, hurt the Blues.
“They are two players who can make something happen out of nowhere. They can make players get lost, they can find downloads, they can go up to any area of the field, they can be there in a support race, and we just needed it. little bit”.
Gould criticized the Blues for being too “predictable”, saying the overly structured attack game had hampered Cleary’s ability to influence the game as he had in previous Origin series.
“I think NSW came up with exactly what Queensland expected,” he said.
“When you play against the best in this environment and you have these one-off opportunities, you have to come up with something more than good structure and good form and that sort of thing.
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“Cleary plays a predictable role in his football, so they were able to put pressure on him, realizing that he had killed them with kicks in other Origins before.
“Cleary was more exposed in what he was doing and where he was catching the ball and how he was catching the ball was predictable and this is where Queensland was able to close it.
“I just thought NSW attacked them with more club strategy, a club football style. The longer the game, the more confident Queensland’s defense could be.”
Although Cameron Munster was named the man of the match, Gould praised Harry Grant, who was influential in the second half with the 14th Maroons jersey.
“Harry Grant was the difference for me because he was the X factor,” he said.
Harry Grant enjoyed a good start in the opening of Origin after leaving the bench with the number 14 shirt (Getty)
“I said before the game that it was the only strategic move that either team had available. It was what we were looking for to get into the game and when it would happen.
“It was in the 20th minute that Billy threw him into the game and things changed from that moment on. Every two or three sets of six, he only found that run and sometimes two runs to put NSW behind.
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“It created more space for Munster, it created more space for (Daly) Cherry-Evans and Ponga and they played with more free spirit than New South Wales.
“Queensland was a little more (unpredictable) just by the nature of their players. Harry Grant is unpredictable, Munster is completely unpredictable, Kalyn Ponga has two or three options every time he carries the ball.
“I always felt like something was more likely to happen in Queensland, and that was reflected in the stress levels of both teams.”
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