was quick to fire up in a passive-aggressive kind of way when questioned about whether he could lift his game in Origin<\/a>.<\/p>\n\u201cI think the only opinion that matters is you guys, I guess. How do you think I go?\u201d Walsh asked the journo.<\/p>\n
But maybe Walsh needs to remember that it wasn\u2019t the media\u2019s decision to overlook him for Origin I.<\/p>\n
That was Billy Slater\u2019s call.<\/p>\n
And if Slater hadn\u2019t been backed into a corner by Mam\u2019s gobsmacking decision-making against the Titans last weekend, there is every chance Walsh may not have got his Origin recall this time.<\/p>\n
Walsh bites back at form questions | 00:34<\/p>\n
Then came Reynolds\u2019 defence of his former starting halves partner.<\/p>\n
While there is nothing wrong with a skipper supporting a teammate going through a tough trot, surely Reyno has been around the game long enough to know the old \u201cyou haven\u2019t played the game\u201d argument just doesn\u2019t cut it anymore.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s easy for the critics out there who haven\u2019t played rugby league to pause the screen and say he should have done this or should have done that,\u201d Reynolds said.<\/p>\n
But Cooper Cronk has played the game.<\/p>\n
And Cronk saw it like the rest of us when he told Fox League viewers there was no defence of Mam\u2019s decision to go short side and ignore a massive overlap with the match on the line: \u201cI\u2019m pretty sure he\u2019d like to have that moment again.\u201d<\/p>\n
‘Easy for critics who havent played’ | 00:46<\/p>\n
Furthermore, the Broncos are not sitting 12th on the ladder because of what the media are saying.<\/p>\n
Their title defence is on life support heading into round 15 for no bigger reason than they have consistently failed to deliver on their potential this year.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s also not the media\u2019s fault that Payne Haas dropped his bombshell earlier this season that he wanted out to join Wayne Bennett\u2019s Rabbitohs next year.<\/p>\n
Or that there was a massive blow-up between Michael Maguire and Ben Te\u2019o that sent the Broncos\u2019 former defence coach packing.<\/p>\n
Will Madge’s reputation cost him? | 01:41<\/p>\n
And let\u2019s not forget that the most telling comment in recent weeks didn\u2019t come from a journo, or a former player.<\/p>\n
It came directly from the mouth of their superstar front-rower when Haas told ABC Radio after the shock loss to the Dragons: \u201cWe are all talk at the moment. We keep on saying we are going to do all these important things on the field, but to be honest we are BS-ing each other.\u201d<\/p>\n
But that is exactly what the Broncos need to hear right now \u2014 instead of more of their own bulls**t.<\/p>\n
Because Thursday night against the Rabbitohs shapes as their biggest match since last year\u2019s grand final.<\/p>\n
Ironically, it will also be their first game back to Accor Stadium since the decider.<\/p>\n
Does Walsh deserve Maroons place? | 01:49<\/p>\n
Even though the Broncos will be without their Origin stars, the Rabbitohs will also be without Latrell Mitchell, Cam Murray, Jack Wighton, Campbell Graham and of course Jai Arrow.<\/p>\n
So there can be no excuses either way because both sides will be missing a stack of their salary cap.<\/p>\n
And while another defeat won\u2019t mathematically end the Broncos\u2019 season after five straight losses, it will all but put a line through any realistic hope of a top-four finish.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s been stated time and again that you can\u2019t win the comp from outside the top four, even if they happen to sneak into the eight.<\/p>\n
The Broncos can try and spin it any way they want.<\/p>\n
The reality is they have orchestrated their own headlines this year \u2014 and they will determine how the final chapter plays out.<\/p>\n
Souths honour Arrow with white jersey | 01:28<\/p>\n
DID PHIL GOULD EXPOSE LAURIE DALEY\u2019S UNDOING?<\/p>\n
A lot has been made of the terrible starts from NSW under Laurie Daley.<\/p>\n
After all, the scoreboard doesn\u2019t lie.<\/p>\n
In the last three Origins, the Blues have been smashed to the tune of 66-12 in the opening halves.<\/p>\n
And those numbers have fuelled the narrative that the mild-mannered Daley simply can\u2019t get his side mentally switched on from the opening whistle \u2014 in fact, he\u2019s even been accused of putting the players to sleep.<\/p>\n
But what if the opposite is true?<\/p>\n
What if Daley\u2019s biggest mistake in Origin I wasn\u2019t that he failed to fire the Blues up – but that he fired them up too much?<\/p>\n
Because I keep going back to a fascinating comment Phil Gould made after visiting the NSW dressing room before kick off in Sydney.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe most intense and physical warm-up I think I\u2019ve ever seen from any team,\u201d Gould told viewers on Channel Nine.<\/p>\n
Coming from arguably NSW\u2019s greatest coach, that wasn\u2019t some throwaway line.<\/p>\n
It was a comment that Gould would have intended to pack a punch.<\/p>\n
Yet less than an hour later, the Blues were down 20-zip at halftime.<\/p>\n
And making unforced errors you rarely see from senior players the class of Brian To\u2019o and Stephen Crichton.<\/p>\n
Blues sweating on the fitness of Moses | 02:14<\/p>\n
Looking back, maybe Gould knowingly exposed the problem \u2014 or did so inadvertently.<\/p>\n
Either way, anyone who has been around the top level of rugby league long enough will tell you there is a fine line between being emotionally ready \u2014 and being overcooked.<\/p>\n
The best teams play with aggression, but they also play with discipline.<\/p>\n
If players become too hyped, discipline can suffer.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s exactly what NSW looked like in the opening 20 minutes when a spate of unforced errors gave Queensland a mountain of possession.<\/p>\n
The irony is Daley has copped it full throttle for not being able to inspire the Blues.<\/p>\n
Yet do Gould\u2019s comments suggest he may have actually gone too far in the other direction?<\/p>\n
Daley questioned on big Olakau’atu call | 01:31<\/p>\n
We\u2019ll never know for certain if what went on in the dressing room was the problem \u2014 or if the downfall started in the 10 days in camp prior to that.<\/p>\n
Also remember that in game three last year the Blues trailed 20-0 at the break, and in game two it was 26-6.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s definitely not a coincidence.<\/p>\n
One way or another, the Blues are going to have to do something to change their pre-match preparation because they simply can\u2019t afford to keep gifting Queensland massive starts.<\/p>\n
But maybe the criticism aimed at Daley for not being able to inspire his players has been misplaced.<\/p>\n
If Gould\u2019s observations are any indication, the issue may not have been a lack of emotion.<\/p>\n
It may have been too much of it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Broncos need to stop worrying about what is being said about them \u2014 and start putting their…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":728429,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[568],"tags":[64,63,761,762,158,85],"class_list":["post-728428","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nrl","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-national-rugby-league","tag-nationalrugbyleague","tag-nrl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/728428","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=728428"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/728428\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/728429"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=728428"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=728428"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=728428"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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