Maroons great Gorden Tallis and veteran journalist Phil Rothfield have had differences over whether Queensland coach Billy Slater should make changes to his team for game three.
Speaking on Thursday night, a day after New South Wales’ comprehensive victory in the second game, the pair were in fierce disagreement over whether or not Slater made selection errors.
Following Slater’s post-match cold shoulder about the possible makeup of his team in a few weeks at Suncorp Stadium, Tallis insisted the former Storm full-back will “make the decisions that will be right for Queensland”.
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Tallis admitted Queensland were bullied, believing the team needed to “get it together”, but resisted calling for massive changes to Slater’s team.
However, The Daily Telegraph Phil Rothfield was defiant as the Queensland coach made major selection errors that cost his team the second match.
Rothfield was adamant: “if the New South Wales team was the one who received what happened last night, can you imagine the reaction of the media and the demand for changes?”
He shared the belief that the Queensland media was soft on Slater, kicking off one of NRL 360’s most passionate recent debates.
“Our colleague (Pete) Badel at the Courier Mail said they seem to be going with the flow a bit,” Rothfield said.
“Well, he’s from New South Wales. Buzz, you (NSW) throw the baby out with the bathwater all the time,” Tallis replied.
“As far as I’m concerned, Billy needs to be told what team he’s chosen,” Rothfield said.
Slater’s decision to select Kurt Capewell over David Fifita, arguably the most damaging ball-runner in the NRL, came in for particular criticism from the veteran journalist.
“Capewell was never going to offer you anything once you were behind on the scoreboard. “There was a need for a bench striker who could destroy any football team on the planet,” Rothfield said.
“David Fifita should have been on that side.”
Billy gets angry at journalist after follow-up | 00:43
However, Tallis was of the opinion that no one could have saved Queensland from their performance last night.
“Nobody would offer anything to anybody. Nobody offered anything to anybody once we were left behind,” he said.
Tallis admitted there were many shortcomings in Queensland’s preparation for Game II, although he did not single out selection as one of them.
“I’ll tell you what, they didn’t prepare for NSW to come out of the blocks like that and defend their try line. and they were outmatched,” he said.
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“They did not prepare properly. “At Origin they don’t ambush you, they just weren’t prepared for what NSW threw at them.”
Rothfield insisted Slater’s achievements meant he got a “golden pass” that freed him from criticism when he made a mistake, incurring the ire of the former Maroons captain.
“So you want us to fire Billy?” Tallis asked.
“Is that what you want?”
“I knew this loss was going to hurt you,” Rothfield joked.
“Do you want us to fire Billy?” —Tallis asked again.
“I’m criticizing him for making a mistake, Gordie. He made a mistake.”
