BigBlog

After a few weeks out of the game it’s good to be back and to make my return in a sky blue NSW jersey is even better.

Having not played since before Origin 1, I was a little bit surprised and I also feel for Ben Hornby. He played well in the first game and probably didn’t deserve to lose his spot.

Having said that it’s welcome relief to be back. I was shattered missing out on the first game and as I told the media scrum on Tuesday, being selected and knowing I was in only to be ruled out through injury was devastating. I honestly would have rather not been told I was in the side.

We have had a couple of training sessions now where I have got stuck into the contact work and I can confidently say I am ready for the game next Wednesday night. I’m not worried about my cheekbone and nor should I be. The surgeon wouldn’t let me play if I wasn’t 100%.

So far Bellyache (Craig Bellamy) hasn’t given me a set role to play in the team, but I have been training as a utility should including a bit at halfback and a bit at dummy half.

It’s good to see a few of the Newcastle Knights in the team. Danny Buderus was always going to be here but for Steve Simpson and I it was a bit of a shock. I think the big fella was surprised to be named but I have a huge opinion of him and have no doubt he will get the job done once again.

Steve was super in a losing Newcastle side last weekend.

Speaking of the Knights, it’s going to be hard to be away from the club this weekend. In a way I feel bad for making my comeback in Origin and not being there, with the team struggling for wins. I have confidence in the boys who are there to be able to turn it around and get a win over the Bulldogs this weekend.

At Newcastle we simply need to get our defence back into order. We have leaked points and conceded some soft tries in recent weeks which have cost us dearly.

For those of you who are interested, the experience of being in Origin camp is a great one. You are around the best players all the time as well as one of the best coaches, in Craig Bellamy and there is a real feeling of excitement as the game draws nearer.

The mood was a bit sombre this morning with the news Jarryd Hayne was rubbed out for three weeks. Haynesy is well liked by the boys and we thought he might have been successful in getting his charge down-graded last night.

As for the game we know the Queenslanders will be fired up to inflict some damage, both physically and on the scoreboard, after their defeat in the opening game. With the returns of Darren Lockyer and Steve Price they are more than capable of doing both.

We really have to be on our game from the start and not let the crowd become a factor. I believe Willie Mason called them “screaming rednecks”. That’s Willie’s call, not mine. I think the big fella just gets fired up for big games and likes to stir the pot.

The irony is I don’t know any sort of Origin crowd but a Queensland one at Suncorp and it’s hard to go past.

Looking forward to game 2. It should be a cracker!

Gids

I haven’t been on the field but plenty of things have been happening in rugby league and also involving the Knights.

The Blues won the first State of Origin game. You beauty!

Newcastle are receiving funding to help rebuild EnergyAustralia Stadium and get new facilities there, which will improve the look of the ground and increase the capacity to 33,000 people which, when full, will be awesome.

Chris Bailey has signed a deal with Manly which is great for him as he will get a crack at the number six jersey and begin to show everyone how good he is. It’s good for him but not great for us. I can’t believe my cooking couldn’t get him to stay!

I’m happy for Bails though and expect him to continue to shine at the Sea Eagles. I’m pretty sure he is disappointed about starting on the bench this week, but Brian Smith wants to bring back Scott Dureau and see how Bails goes at lock. I reckon he will go well.

As I said Origin was great and I thought Anthony Quinn had a great game, maybe even man of the match great, although I could be biased. All the talk about Quinn pre-game was how he would be targeted by the bomb and how Queensland would hurt the Blues by targeting him - and then he brained it with a double. Top work from a good mate!

Speaking of mates who went elsewhere it’s good to see Dan Abraham playing in the NRL again at the Cowboys. Abes is a good bloke who had some rotten luck with his broken leg. He came back through the Queensland Cup with Mackay before being picked up by the Townsville outfit and he is going well and showing his talents once again.

As for me, I had my stitches out this week and am aiming to play next weekend if the doctor allows it. Otherwise the following weekend will be the return date.

For those of you who have noticed and asked, I am packing down at lock in defensive scrums so a second rower can defend in close. It allows the five-eighth to push wider and means I can get back to fullback without having to make a tackle.

Scrums are not just scrums these days and I know Brett Stewart packs down at lock sometimes when Manly are in attack. It’s just a set play when any team does it.

This weekend we have the Warriors and they have been hot and cold, like us. I expect a huge effort from the boys. We were all filthy on our defensive effort against the Tigers and I expect our defence to improve markedly over the next few weeks.

Hopefully the weekend off and a day at the races has given us a bit of a rejuvenation period to reflect on how we need to improve.

Gids

In terms of footy, weeks don’t come much tougher than the two I have endured recently.

Fracturing my cheekbone in Melbourne wasn’t a high point in my career. Having it occur the week before Origin was even worse. Simply put I was shattered when the NSW team doctor told me I couldn’t play.

I had been told to pack my bags before the Melbourne game and that after the game I was to fly to Sydney to join the NSW team. Obviously I flew to Sydney, but after I had scans revealing a depressed fracture of my cheekbone I was ruled out.

It was frustrating; I had just played through the pain in Melbourne and was feeling bulletproof. I felt like I could have played, but to do so would have been risky and in hindsight the doctor was right to rule me out.

I was not told what position I would be playing, so unfortunately I can’t shed any more light on the subject than Craig Bellamy did at the first press conference.

The reason I played on in Melbourne was because I didn’t want to let the team down. My arms and legs were still working and it wasn’t as if I had a broken jaw to stop me so I stayed out there and gave my best. On that night the team put in a huge effort and to come up short was disappointing.

On Friday I had steel plates inserted in my cheek, which wasn’t an experience I would recommend. The surgeons had to make a cut through my gums and cheek as well as one above my ear. The plates don’t bother me but the stitches inside my mouth are a pain. My face is actually still puffed up and looks a bit funny.

I will be out for about three weeks from the plates being inserted, although they will now stay in for the rest of the season.

My first goal is to be back in the NSW side for State of Origin 2, but whether that can happen or not is dependant on my injury and how quickly my cheekbone heals.

I’ll be watching the game tonight with a few of the Newcastle boys and I am hoping the Blues can get off to a good start by winning before heading up to Suncorp for game two.

I would like to see that happen not just for NSW, but also for Bedsy, who deserves a win in his last Origin series. I also think Peter Wallace will handle the pressure of Origin well. He’s a good player and has been in good form all season.

As to whether there will be any ‘spark lit’ early I couldn’t say. Most of the talk is media hype with the press guys running back and forth saying ‘so and so said this’ etc. It’s just their way of building the game and animosity level up as well as selling papers.

We have the bye this week and if last week’s performance was anything to go by that’s a good thing. We were far from happy with the way we defended in a game we could have won.

When a single player bags three tries you usually win. It wasn’t the case last weekend when Chris Bailey’s hat trick failed to get us across the line. People will say we were missing players, but they are the games which are most important to win.

Gids

We’ve righted the ledger at the Knights and once again have more wins than losses. Hopefully we can continue to keep it that way.

I’m stoked we were able to win the games before and after our bye round. Neither the Roosters nor the Titans were easy opponents and with both of them sitting above us on the ladder we have shown we can mix it with the big boys.

It was important fore us to start well against the Titans and for once we did that and made them do the chasing. It was also great to see us restrict a side to 12 points, especially a quality side like Gold Coast. I honestly can’t remember the last time we did that.

There were a few guys who performed very well for us including Ben Cross, who was huge backing up from City/Country and putting his hand up for Origin, Matt Hilder who made 57 tackles and Jarrod Mullen who had a massive game in his return from injury.

Mullo kicked well and ran the ball when it was needed, showing the skills which made him NSW halfback last year.

I think the fact we won without Bedsy or Joey for that matter might keep the critics off our back for a while and also show that we have come a long way as a team.

What I was most impressed with was the way we handled the Titans’ attack. Scott Prince has been absolutely rampant this season and to stop him from stamping himself on the game was massive for us.

I’m pretty excited to be playing in the Centenary Test on Friday night. It’s a huge occasion for me, right up there with Origin. I think when I look back on my career this game will be up there as one of the more special moments, so I hope plenty of fans can get out to the SCG on Friday night.

The camp is going well and it’s always good when you can mix with other players. I was to be rooming with Darren Lockyer, which I would have loved and I was really looking forward to playing alongside him, but unfortunately it’s not to be and I wish him well with his knee surgery.

I’m now rooming with captain Cameron Smith and it’s hard to believe he is only 24. It will probably be a bit weird being roomies then lining up against each other on the weekend, but if nothing else it might give me a chance to find out some inside info on the Storm!

It’s going to be a tough game against them and I can’t remember the last time we won at Olympic Park, but with so many of their players backing up from the test we may never get a better chance.

Gids

It’s been a good fortnight for me, culminating in my selection for the Australian team to take on the Kiwis in the Centenary test, and I couldn’t be happier.

A couple of weeks ago we took on the Roosters in Gosford and came away with a great win taking us into the bye. It was an important one for us as we had lost three games in a row and were staring down the barrel of a fourth before we came back to score what many probably describe as an upset victory. The Roosters had been playing pretty well and were favourites heading into the game.

Having said that, we never lacked confidence or the belief that we could get the win. Our slow starts are still a concern but I read the other day we are the team who score the most points in the final quarter of the game.

While being down at that period of the game isn’t a good thing, it is a positive that we have been able to score points late and indicates the squad is fit and also never gives in.

After training for most of last week, Brian Smith gave us a few days off and I went down to Katoomba with my girlfriend for the Anzac weekend. We had a great time just checking out the scenery and Jenolan Caves. I haven’t been there since I was a kid and had pretty much forgotten how good it all looks.

I came home on Sunday night and that’s when I got the call letting me know I had been picked for Australia.

I try not to get my hopes up too much no matter what is written in the papers, and this was no exception, so when I found out I had been picked I was pretty happy.

I haven’t spoken to Ricky yet about my role in the team but I suppose it will be as a utility which is the role I would have played last year had Mark Gasnier not been knocked out, allowing me to come on at fullback.

I know there is a lot of talk about the NSW halfback spot and whether I will get the nod,  but to be honest I would be happy just to be picked in the side. If it’s in the 7 jersey or the 1 jersey then great, if it’s on the bench it’s also great for me, although obviously a starting spot would be a huge achievement in my career.

This week we are taking on the front-running Titans at home. It’s a 5:30pm game so hopefully we get a huge crowd to see us take on the competition leaders. We watched some tapes today and obviously Scott Prince, Anthony Laffranchi and Preston Campbell are key players for them, and we need to stop them from dominating, especially Prince who is in serious form.

The game also marks my return to fullback as Mullo is back from injury and will be wearing the number 7.

At this stage we are preparing to play without Bedsy who will most likely need a rest after the City V Country game the night before, although he may back up if he pulls up without too many aches and pains. We are expecting Ben Cross will back up though.

It’s also good to see my housemate Chris Bailey playing well. Bails has been playing tremendous footy and I’m ready to claim the reason is my home-cooked meals.

Gids