This is your weekly dose of NRL truth-telling, as tipster and rugby league raconteur Nick Tedeschi tears through the good, the bad and the indefensible, with absolutely no regard for bruised egos.
The First Change That Should Be Made For Origin III Is A New Coach
The decision to rehire Laurie Daley was an objectively moronic decision by the NSWRL and one that should have immediately seen the entire board sacked and Dave Trodden driven to the Victorian border and warned that there would be dire consequences if he was to ever find himself north of the Murray. Daley was a Trodden hire. He was a Trodden re-hire. Daley and his complete and utter ineptitude cost NSW the series last year. It is about to cost the Blues another. He has now been part of making part-time coaches and full-time airheads Laurie Daley and Brad Fittler the NSW coach for 13 of the last 14 series. The one season an actual coach was hired, the Blues lifted the shield. A lesson should have been learned but the decrepit clowns of the NSWRL went back to Daley as if he had appeared in a fever dream and declared he was a changed man. Fun fact: he is not.
There are five areas that Daley has failed at spectacularly – and they pretty much cover the entire role of State of Origin head coach: preparation, inspiration, tactics, selections and interchange rotation. The fact that the Blues are down 64-28 when not having a player advantage says everything.
The first halves under Daley and the inability to adapt speak to a total lack of preparation. The Blues have been devastatingly bad starters under Daley and have shown no ability to adapt mid-game to any tactical changes. So poor has Daley been at inspiring his team – or even speaking to them clearly – that it has been a running joke among players returning to their club. He does not run training. His pre-game speeches are garbled and non-specific. No player remembers him playing and the fact is he has achieved nothing in the game since with failed attempts at commentary (who can ever forget his awful Monday Night Football run as lead analyst) and getting an NRL head coaching job.
Tactically the Daley Mark II version of attack is being a Penrith fan-boy – despite this not working at all for Brad Fittler. Playing Isaah Yeo as a link, running block after block – Billy Slater has proven time and time again that it does not work at Origin level. Despite having far superior attacking talent on paper, NSW have never looked comfortable scoring under Daley. They have topped 18 points in just five of 20 games – two of those were in losses.
His selections were laughable during his first run and have been just as poor this time around, showing no creativity and not a lot of sense. Plucking Victor Radley from obscurity. Running short on props. Playing Mitchell Moses off not playing in a month. Running a personal vendetta against Terrell May. Not understanding subtleties of the game – like playing a rugby union guy on the wing who is a truly elite finisher and perhaps the worst defensive winger in the game – that allowed the Maroons to make eight of their 10 line breaks down that channel.
In the long history of Origin – one that includes Brad Fittler playing Damien Cook at centre – Laurie Daley’s rotations in Origin II were arguably the worst. It went as follows:
- Murray for Barnett, Yeo pushing to prop in 19th minute
- Radley for Haas – leaving NSW with no actual props on the field in 27th minute
- Haas for Yeo in 48th minute after Qld had taken the lead
- Fonua-Blake for Murray, taking off one of NSW’s best after 34 minutes and adding more big bodies as the Maroons extended their lead beyond one score (55th minute).
- Yeo for Radley – the second interchange in three minutes to come directly after a try (57th minute)
- Strange for Fonua-Blake after the prop played less than 10 minutes and Strange has never played in the forwards – leading to Queensland scoring through a Strange miss two minutes later (64th minute)
- Murray for Moses – needing to protect a player who was supposedly fit to play. (71st minute)
- Barnett for Haas (75th minute)
Nearly every single change was either a waste or showed no understanding of how the game was going or how it was played. When the Blues needed big bodies to maintain their early ascendancy, he went small. Nothing serious was done to arrest Queensland’s momentum early in the second half. When points were needed and the Blues were on their heels, he went for size instead of rolling out the most creative hooker in the game in Api Koroisau, who played the entire game on the bench.
If the NSWRL is actually serious about winning the decider at Suncorp, they will take the unprecedented move to sack Daley and go beg Ivan Cleary to do something for his state and take the job.
Nine Origin Coverage A Plonker-Fest From Top To Bottom
The NRL is currently in the final end of its negotiations for the next television deal. If production quality is anything to go by, Nine will be somewhere below the Home Shopping Network and You for rights. Its State of Origin coverage is a complete and utter joke, about as unprofessional a production as one could hope for. Between the cringeworthy parochialism of its so-called analysts, the refusal to discuss any actual news and a complete absence of critical in-game news, the first try of the game was all but missed thanks to an ad. That was not nearly as bad as the carry on from the analysts pre-and-post game where little more was offered outside of “yay we won” or “boo we lost”. You could put two three-year-olds from Kenya together and they’d offer more insight. Nine will hopefully be a remnant sooner rather than later, its embarrassing lack of competence and professionalism a stain on the game that is supposed to be broadcast to one of its biggest audiences. From the commentary to the graphics to the analysis to the production decisions, everything about Nine’s broadcast was a urine stain on the fly of the game.
Butler Cannot Do Origin III
Chris Butler has long been known for just making up rules on the run and that is exactly what happened when he dismissed Queensland’s challenge of a clear Hudson Young shoulder charge that was clearly worse and more traditional than the one which Kalyn Ponga was sent off for. No penalty. Complete disgrace.
Up The North
Great Britain is set to have its first Northern and first Rugby League-loving Prime Minister since Harold Wilson in 1976 with popular Manchester mayor Andy Burnham winning a by-election that is set to launch a challenge to incumbent PM Keir Starmer, a soccer dope with a soft spot for the union game. Burnham is pure league, a former president of the RFL and board member of Leigh Centurions. The Greatest Game of All now has men leading Australia and PNG and it set to take Great Britain. One would hope his first policy is to outlaw union.
The Willie M Team of the Week
This week’s team of dopes and drongoes:
- Scott Drinkwater (NQ)
- Jason Saab (Man)
- Izack Tago (Pen)
- Valentine Holmes (Dra)
- Sunia Turuva (Tig)
- Luke Brooks (Man)
- Ethan Sanders (Can)
- Liam Henry (Pen)
- Owen Pattie (Can)
- Joe Tapine (Can)
- Jaeman Salmon (Bul)
- Isaiah Papalii (Pen)
- Jayden Brailey (Can)
———————————————- - Morgan Smithies (Can)
- Simione Laiafi (Man)
- Josese Lanyon (Tig)
- Cody Hopwood (New)
————————————————
Coach: Todd Payten (NQ)
Referee Gradings
This week’s gradings:
- Gerard Sutton (C+)
- Ziggy Przeklasa-Adamski (D-)
- Peter Gough (C-)
- Adam Gee (C)
- Grant Atkins (D+)
- Todd Smith (C+)
- Ashley Klein (D)
The 2026 Field Goal Update – 17
It was an absolutely fantastic weekend for the field goal with three field goals slotted. Young Titan prodigy Zane Harrison kicked the first of his NRL career to give the Titans an unlikely victory. Stephen Crichton kicked the Bulldogs to victory in golden point making his three match-winning field goals in Manchester, Las Vegas and Sydney Daly Cherry-Evans, the most prolific active field goal kicker, kicking his 30th in a 19-point Roosters win. He became the first player since Jason Taylor in 1998 to reach 30 career drop goals.
Fun Fact #1
Laurie Daley has lost the first half of the last three Origins 66-12.
Fun Fact #2
Terrell May has played zero Origins under Daley while Victor Radley has played two.
Fun Fact #3
Laurie Daley is 0-4 in State of Origin deciders.
Rumour Mill
Herbie Farnworth’s expected move to the Roosters is shortening in price. Jack Howarth is expected to be moved on from the Storm with the Dragons and Cowboys the most likely destination, aside from Perth and PNG. Angus Crichton has likely played his last game in the NRL.
The Coaching Crosshairs
North Queensland announced over the weekend that the ridiculous decision to extend Todd Payen had been made – and the club responded with an inept 42-20 loss to the Warriors in New Zealand. Payten took over in 2021. The Cowboys have made the finals twice in five complete seasons. They are at best a coin flip to make it this season. His re-signing is exactly what is wrong with how most clubs are run: settling for the mediocrity you know rather than risk change.
Moronic Coaching Decision of the Week
The decision to leave out Haumole Olakau’atu for Dylan Lucas went as everyone bar Laurie Daley expected – particularly with Lucas pushed to his unpreferred right. He played 80 minutes. He had eight runs for 53 metres with zero tackle breaks. Olakau’atu went for 9.2m per run in Origin I. Lucas went for 6.6m. That says it all.
Watch It
Neil Baker was one of the greatest kickers the game has known, plying his trade for Canterbury, Souths and Penrith from 1981-89. He notably kicked 45 field goals and finished with 806 career points. This was perhaps his finest kick, booting it 85 metres from his own 15 metres off a standing start.