NRL 2014 Round 14: More Origin Nonsense

We're counting down the seconds until State of Origin 2 kicks off, and both state coaches continue to add players to their squad.  NSW coach Laurie Daley is at least adding players to cover holes in the team, while Queensland coach is calling anyone who has at least played a game of touch footy on the beach during a schoolies trip to pull on a Maroon jersey.

Loz has called Josh Dugan into the NSW team to cover for the loss of Josh Morris.  Dugan has had a grand total of two games experience in the centre position - one game against the Broncos (I think), in which he was spanked by anyone and everyone who deemed in necessary to score a try down his side of the field, and the other against Cronulla, who were fielding a third-string disabled girls team, in a game in which not only did it make Benji Marshall look good, but the human tattoo was able to cross the stripe for three tries. 

On this rationale, I should be looking at a Kangaroos jersey following my three-try effort in a game of lunchtime football at school in 1995.  Granted, one of those tries was well after the lunch bell had rung, and in another one I used an interfering soccer match as a decoy.  

Queensland have named most of Australia in their team to cover the plethora of injuries that they have, but will probably line up with the usual dickwits around - Slater, Inglis, blah blah blah.  If Mal had a clue, he'd leave Slater out of the team until he was fully fit - he is more of a passenger than Wesley Snipes in Passenger 57 when he has a niggle.  And considering that Slater is 90% niggle (the other 10% is "dickhead"), he should be left off the team for quite some time.

Round 14

Short round this week, and with most of the good players either injured, in Origin camp, being rested due to injuries from Origin or helping police with enquiries, it's one of those rounds where nobody gives a fuck.

South Sydney Rabbitoh vs Wests Tigers

Penrith Panthers vs St George Illawarra

Sydney Roosters vs Newcastle Knights

Canterbury Bulldogs vs Parramatta Eels

Gold Coast Titans vs Melbourne Storm

Game of the Round

Canberra Raiders vs The Bye

With the split round this weekend, the Raiders are coming up against no team, but on current form, I'm not considering that to be an advantage for them at all.  The lack of opposition is likely to lull the Raiders into a false sense of security, and the Bye is the kind of team to take full advantage of a disinterested team.