Junee’s own Laurie Daley concedes critics have every right to question his pick-and-stick policy after another Blues State of Origin series loss, but "fatherly instincts" won't allow him to blood a slew of youngsters, such as Bryce Cartwright, in the state-versus-state clash before their time.
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Daley, the NSW coach, is under pressure to end the representative careers of veterans Paul Gallen, Robbie Farah and Greg Bird after Queensland won their 10th series from 11 attempts. With the series decided, the final home game is viewed by many luminaries as an opportunity to fast-track the next generation of Blues, including Cartwright, James Tedesco, Tom Trbojevic, Joseph Leilua, Nathan Peats and Wade Graham.
Phil Gould, the most successful NSW Origin coach, has been particularly critical of Daley's loyalty to players incapable of wresting the shield from the Maroons. While the Panthers supremo didn't name Farah and Gallen, it is believed the duo are among the "selfish" senior players he claims are holding the state back.
Daley indicated immediately after the game that he intended to stick with the squad that came up short at Suncorp Stadium, but has since softened his stance, raising hopes more rookies will be blooded. Daley admitted he was thrown into the interstate arena before he was ready to handle it, setting his career back, and he did not want other youngsters to suffer a similar fate.
"Young Bryce Cartwright is there or thereabouts, we had him in as 18th man," Daley said. "The thing for me, and I don't know if it's fatherly instincts, but some of these young guys I want to protect.
"I don't want to put them into a situation that I was in. I'd rather have them ready to go when I know they're ready rather than hoping they're ready.
"That's one of the reasons I've held young Bryce back at the moment. We think he's going to be a really good player for us, but we don't want to expose him.
"We've done it over the past 10 years when we were going through all those changes, chopping and changing. We were putting in guys for one or two games, we'd get beat and then we wouldn't see them again. They lost confidence out of doing that.”
If anyone knows about tough starts to their Origin career, it is Daley. As a teenager he made his debut at Lang Park in game one of the 1989 series where Queensland dismantled the Blues 36-6. To make things worse, Daley missed his first shot at goal from in front. He was eventually dropped for game three as Queensland swept that series 3-0.
It was part of a stop-start beginning to his time in the blue jumper. He played five out of a possible nine games before stamping his class at Origin level when he started at five-eighth in every game during NSW's three-peat between 1992 and 1994 on his way to 23 games for NSW during a 10-year stint.
NSWRL chairman George Peponis has declared Daley will see out the final year of his contract regardless of the result at ANZ Stadium in game three.