Risky selection policy coaching box failure costs Blues in State of Origin opener | Nick Tedeschi
ew South Wales coach Brad Fittler admitted he gambled prior to the Origin series opener in selecting Tevita Pangai Junior. He lost with that selection. He lost with other selection calls. He lost with the use of the interchange bench. And he lost the game.
The decision to select Pangai came out of nowhere. By full-time in Adelaide, he had 92 metres in his 29 minutes but an ill-advised offload put New South Wales on the back foot while he also conceded a penalty. Hudson Young started, yet the skilful edge forward and genuine game winner was taken off after 31 minutes and was not seen again.But the most damaging move was also the most predictable – naming Nicho Hynes on the bench. The worry that Fittler would not know how to use the Dally M medal winner proved justified and in the end it cost the Blues a series-opening win. Hynes was not used as a backup rake or as a middle forward but was thrown on with no clear role with 12 minutes to play.
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