Rugby League Coaching Manuals

Once again NSW have made plenty of changes in an effort to stop the Queensland machine.

NSW selector Bob Fulton recently went to some lengths to explain that the selectors raise ideas with the coach but are mainly there to support him and give him the team he wants.

His explanation was in response to a query about Manly prop Brent Kite who was selected for Australia early last year but a few weeks later couldn't make the NSW Origin team.

Apparently, it was a case of the Australian coach at the time, R icky Stuart, being happy to have Kite in the team, but NSW coach Craig Bellamy not keen on him at all.

Bellamy's starting props last year were Melbourne's Brett White and the lanky back-rower Craig Fitzgibbon.

Bellamy must have changed his mind this year about Kite, given he was selected in the first two Origin teams but has now been dropped. Josh Perry, his clubmate, is the preferred starter for the third match.

Now, if it's true that the selectors are only there to give the coach the players he wants to carry out the game plan, Bellamy's fluctuating opinion on Kite alone must have the selectors' heads spinning.

At which point the question springs to mind, why have selectors at all if the coach gets exactly what he wants?

Well, apart from the fact that a selection panel could present some valuable ideas, the best reason is that there's a certain degree of anonymity about who chose whom when you have a panel of selectors.

In a private conversation with St George Illawarra coach Wayne Bennett about that very issue, he said that he agreed with the concept of selectors for several reasons, not the least being the uncomfortable situation it would present for a sole selector facing players in his own club if in fact they knew he was sole selector.

His job at club level is to encourage his players to believe they are better than the opposition they face but the cold facts would reveal that if they weren't picked, he didn't really believe what he was preaching.

Bellamy would have had a potentially awkward moment with the arrival of Brett Kimmorley in camp.

Kimmorley knows he wasn't wanted originally but has banged the selection door down with form that has forced his selection on them.

Kimmorley's continued improvement at the Bulldogs this season has been a triumph. He has always been a busy defender and tireless chaser of his own kicks but from the time Ricky Stuart indicated he wouldn't be required at the Sharks, his attacking game took off.

Hooker Robbie Farah may have paid the ultimate price for carrying injured ribs into Game Two.

His substandard performance may have put an end to his representative career. He has opened the door for Michael Ennis - there wasn't much between them but Ennis now has the opportunity to make the NSW No. 9 jumper his own.

Having the oldest halves in NSW history, with Kimmorley, 32 and Trent Barrett, 31, shouldn't be an issue. Neither of them plays old.

Perry has been preferred over Kite. I think it's more for what he can do than for what he's done.

Perry has the power and explosive speed to be a real problem for the Queensland defence. Motivation can be an issue with him but Origin should fix that.

Penrith's attacking wizard Michael Jennings is back at left centre but this time, with experienced halves, he stands a chance of getting the ball when he's got some room to move.

Terry Campese at five-eighth in game one in Melbourne had several opportunities to get Jennings away, particularly in the second half, but didn't appear to be demanding the ball. All Jennings' runs were made from dummy half when play closed in on top of him over on the left side.

Manly's Anthony Watmough has earned his place in the starting line-up with an aggressive contribution when he came on from the bench in game two.