Panthers coach Ivan Cleary is confident superstar winger Brian To’o will bounce back from his shock axing from the NSW side for the State of Origin decider and disagrees with suggestions he was dropped because of his lack of height.
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To’o was one of several big omissions for next week’s game at Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane. It ends his run of 17-straight games for his state where he has scored 11 tries.
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But he won’t have the chance to snatch the outright try-scoring NSW record on July 8 after rookie Jack Bostock was brought in to replace him by coach Laurie Daley, who said To’o was down on confidence.
“No doubt he would be disappointed, but he’s taking it well. It’s all part of the journey and I’m looking forward to having him this week for us,” Cleary said.
“I feel like he’s been playing all right, but Laurie’s got to pick the team he thinks is going to do the job. No one’s ever guaranteed their spot, nor should they be, so that’s the way he’s gone.”
The Blues have opted for a towering backline with Bostock (194cm), Stephen Crichton (193) and Mark Nawaqanitawase (190) all considerably taller than To’o, who is listed at a generous 182cm on the Panthers website.
His shorter stature hasn’t been a major issue for his club or state in the past, although Queensland winger Jojo Fifita was able to fly above him for a try in Origin II.
“Probably the highlight that everyone’s looking at is the aerial sort of thing,” Cleary said.
“Bizza (To’o) hasn’t got any shorter, and over many, many years, that question’s always been thrown up.
“No one’s ever got it over him in the air. In game two there was one obvious try there, but there were a few other things going on there.
“Bizza is an absolute legend and a champion player, and he’ll bounce back for sure.”
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To’o has been below his best over the past month, with the metre-eating winger making several errors in the Origin opener.
But he was still able to make more metres than any other player that night to show how valuable he is to the team.
“Bizza has had an unbelievable career, and the bigger the game, the better he goes,” Cleary said.
“I guess it’s just that sort of situation with the Blues at the moment where they’re looking for answers to try to get a better performance out there. There are a lot of good players to choose from and there are a lot of good players in that team.
“That’s just the way Loz (Daley) has gone here, and I’m sure Bizza will be fine. I’m looking forward to having him playing for us this week.
“It’s great to have those guys that easily could be in that Origin team (playing for us).
“It’s sort of mixed feelings, I must say. I’m not really sure how to think of it too much. I’m definitely not standing here going ‘I’m so glad they’re playing for us’ because in my heart, I’d love them to be playing for the Blues. But you’ve got to take it how it is and we’ll gladly accept them playing for us this week.”
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Ivan Cleary speaks to reporters about To’o’s omission.Source: FOX SPORTS
To’o will be there on Friday against the Rabbitohs when the Panthers look to end their two-game losing streak.
The ladder leaders couldn’t hold on to the ball in Townsville and will field a new-look back row with Scott Sorensen and Luke Garner set to replace Liam Martin (Origin) and Isaiah Papali’i (head knock).
Injured duo Casey McLean and Mitch Kenny are expected to return after next week’s bye, with Penrith unlikely to make any moves before the June 30 deadline.
“I’ve been super happy with the season,” Cleary said.
“The last couple of weeks we’ve definitely lost our edge a bit, but we’ve had a great year and our best footy has been very good.
“I’m just looking forward to getting through the middle of this year and setting our sights for the end of the year and finding our best footy.”
Brian To’o has been dropped. (Photo by Paul Kane/Getty Images)Source: Getty Images
FORMER PANTHERS COACH SOUNDS OFF AT NSW’S ‘SACRIFICAL LAMB’
Elsewhere, Cleary’s former Penrith assistant Ben Gardiner has declared To’o the “sacrificial lamb” after expressing his shock at the star winger’s omission.
While so much of the talk has been around what Bostock brings as a better option in the air, Gardiner flipped the script by considering what the Blues miss with To’o out of the side.
He had the numbers to back it up too, questioning whether Bostock will be able to replicate To’o’s production, especially in yardage.
“I can’t believe it. I cannot believe it,” Gardiner told SEN’s Front Office with Vossy.
“Brian To’o’s made for Origin. He’s an Origin-style player. He’s been one of their best players over the last number of years.
“Let’s look at some of his information.
“188 metres per game this year, he’s in the top 10 in the comp. 59 tackle breaks, he’s in the top 10 in the comp. He’s had only had 11 errors for the whole competition. He’s played 13 games, that’s less than one error per game. 233 carries, which puts him sixth in the competition for carries.”
All of those tough carries will be need to be produced elsewhere now. The numbers do suggest that Bostock can somewhat fill the void, averaging 143 run metres although he only has 23 tackle busts.
It is hard to judge Bostock’s numbers given they have largely come at centre for the Dolphins, where metres or tackle busts aren’t as easy to come by since there aren’t as many kick return opportunities.
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But that was part of Gardiner’s argument.
“Jack Bostock (is) doing a great job at centre, but he’s not playing on the wing,” he said.
“All of a sudden, he needs to catch bombs, now all of a sudden he needs to return around and get back for the kick return.
“All of a sudden, he needs to be the guy carrying out of the backfield when 13 defenders are getting up in his face.
“This is a big change for Jack, and that’s something that Brian is excellent at. That’s his game, that’s what he does.”
Gardiner also added that if To’o was also dropped for his errors, it is worth pointing out that Mark Nawaqanitawase is an even worse culprit.
“I also wanna add in there, if this is an errors thing, which I’m not sure what Laurie’s thinking there, Mark Nawaqanitawase, he’s had 30 errors in the competition. He is number one in errors in the competition. So how does Brian To’o not make the team?” Gardiner said.
“He seems like a sacrificial lamb, which is a really strange sacrificial lamb considering all the positive work that he’s done with his team and with the Origin team over the last few years.”
Fox League analyst Cooper Cronk said on ‘Matty & Cronk’ that he would have had To’o in his team, believing the Blues may have overreacted to a small sample size of the Panthers winger being beaten in the air.
“I think Brian would have absolutely done it for NSW. He is small, yes. And Jojo Fifita jumped over him. But how many times has Brian To’o been beaten in the air? Not many times,” Cronk said.
Former Maroons coach Kevin Walters, meanwhile, called it a “very brave” call from Daley and could understand why he went in that direction.
“Brian’s been such a good player for a long period of time. He’s been an institution in that NSW side,” Walters said.
“Jack (Bostock) brings height, confidence, the Dolphins are playing well. I can understand why Laurie Daley has gone that way.”
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To’o’s runs will be hard to replicate. (Photo by Quinn Rooney/Getty Images)Source: Getty Images
KEARY ON THE ‘BIZARRE’ BLUES MOVE ‘NO ONE WILL SPEAK ABOUT’
While To’o may have been unlucky to miss out, one-time Blues five-eighth Luke Keary said he felt particularly bad for dumped NSW second rower Dylan Lucas.
Lucas was part of the Blues’ squad for Game 1 and then played big minutes in Game 2 and was largely kept quiet in attack.
He got through a mountain of work in defence but was also caught out in one poor miss on Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow that led to a try.
Either way, Keary said Lucas’ omission was “bizarre” and that the Knights gun had been “very hard done by”.
“No one will speak about it, because it will just go away … but it’s just like, what is going on? It doesn’t make any sense to any person involved in the game at all,” Keary said on The Bye Round Podcast.
“Then he’s just been shafted – yes they (Haumole Olakau’atu and Liam Martin) provide more, but I also think he was very hard done by.
“You brought a rookie in, he’s only just really just kicked off his NRL career and speaking about him as a really good back-rower in the NRL, onto the wrong side or the other side of the field to what he has ever played on.
“They played him for 80 minutes and then didn’t pick him in the next game.”
Lucas was left out. (Photo by Cameron Spencer/Getty Images)Source: Getty Images
Haumole Olakau’atu got a well-deserved call-up in Lucas’ place and while few people can argue that he should not be in the team for Game 3, the confusing messaging it sends could be an issue for the Blues according to Keary.
“Haumole played that game and they go rid of him and now they’ve brought him back and that’s the other thing – he (Daley) is gonna have to get these players back on board too,” Keary said.
“He’s obviously told Haumole why he didn’t pick him — which is fine, Laurie doesn’t have to tell any of us — but the issue is, there’s journos who have reported that they dropped him because he was lazy and things like that, which I don’t think is true.
“That means someone inside that camp has told people outside and that’s the issue. As a player, you walk back in and know subconsciously he doesn’t trust me.”
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CRONK’S ‘BLUEPRINT’ FOR BLUES UPSET
Elsewhere, Cooper Cronk has provided the “blueprint” for Daley if NSW is to pull off a Game 3 miracle and upset the Maroons in their own backyard.
Two of the biggest changes Daley has made for the decider has been recalling Olakau’atu and Penrith’s Liam Martin, giving the Blues a few new options in the second row along with Hudson Young.
The key according to Cronk, however, is that Daley needs to use his second rowers correctly and in particular he needs to use them to “attack” Cameron Munster and Sam Walker.
“I don’t think Munster and Walker have been put under enough pressure defensively,” Cronk said on ‘Matty & Cronk’.
“You’ve got Hudson Young, difficult to tackle. You’ve got (Liam) Martin on the right hand side who’s got a beautiful combination with Nathan Cleary. Then you’ve got Olakau’atu who’s going to come off the bench at some stage.
“The key for (Mitch) Moses and Cleary to deliver a victory (is that) they’ve got to use their backrowers and isolate them one-on-one with the Queensland halves.
“If they do that with more short passes and running the ball in the first 20 minutes, it will open up. You’ve got isolate the halfback with bigger backrowers.
“That’s the blueprint for NSW. Attack left and get the ball to your key playmakers to go to the other side.”
To further prove that point, Kevin Walters pointed to one number: 12.
That is how many tackles Walker made in the second game.
“That’s not enough from a NSW perspective,” Walters said.
“You’ve got to get at them as much as you can. It takes your energy and your process.”