Phil Gould has pinpointed what he believes is a chink in the Blues backline on the cusp of the State of Origin opener, detecting the centre-wing pairings as “an area where New South Wales could crack”.
As Gould crystal-balled Kotoni Staggs teaming up with Daniel Tupou and Jack Wighton combining with Brian To’o at Stadium Australia on Wednesday night, the greatest NSW coach in Origin history showed little confidence in their chemistry.
“My concern comes a little bit with the lack of combination in centres and wingers having played together and their defensive reads: Kotoni Staggs on debut, probably alongside Daniel Tupou, and Brian To’o alongside Jack Wighton on the left,” Gould told Nine’s 100% Footy.
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“They haven’t played football together, those blokes, and they’re going to have some really big decisions to make in defence in important times during the game if Queensland can push the ball out wide.
“Once you get Kalyn Ponga working with (Cameron) Munster and Daly Cherry-Evans, they can certainly threaten you out wide, and the likes of Valentine Holmes and Dane Gagai can be very threatening out on those edges.”
NSW coach Brad Fittler was forced to unveil new centres following Latrell Mitchell’s hamstring blow and Tom Trbojevic’s shoulder injury.
He could have bolstered an already Panthers-dominant run-on side in naming Stephen Crichton in the centres, but he instead rewarded Broncos beast Staggs and Raiders weapon Wighton. Clint Gutherson and Wighton were Fittler’s centres in the 2020 series.
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“I worry a little bit about the defensive experience in Kotoni Staggs playing alongside Daniel Tupou and in Jack Wighton playing alongside Brian To’o,” Gould said.
“I think that’s an area Queensland can expose. They’re going to have to win the battle in the middle to get the ball to the edges with time and space, but it’s potentially an area where NSW could crack in a vital stage in the game.”
Although Gould doubts Staggs’ capacity in defence, he earmarked the 23-year-old as a lethal member of Fittler’s attack.
“My view in Origin is that you generally need people that can force linebreaks or missed tackles out of nothing individually. It’s not necessarily a structure or a play that’s going to get you out of the backfield,” Gould said.
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“Latrell Mitchell and that sort of thing – they can make things happen by themselves.
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“There’s not a lot of that in the NSW forward pack. There’s not fellas that are very steppy or able to push through tackles or look for one-armed offloads, which has been there in recent years. There are limitations to their attack… we don’t have a lot of linebreakers in our team. Kotoni Staggs can do it on his own, but there’s not a lot of genuine linebreakers in our team.
“They’re going to have to finesse with passes and structure – and that can be a little bit dangerous in Origin football.”
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