There’s limits to loyalty
FORMER Maroons forward Ashley Harrison says loyalty can only go so far and Queensland coach Kevin Walters needs to “look seriously” at his team if the Maroons are to salvage the Origin series.
Loyalty has been a buzzword for the Queensland Origin team but selectors have not always shown blind faith in their stars, including Harrison, who was dumped by thencoach Mal Meninga after the opening game of the 2013 series.
The former Titans lock bears no ill will though, understanding his time had come. Queensland is going through a period of generational change now, with Walters tipped to announce new faces in his Game Two side today in a move that will likely end the Origin careers of several longserving players.
Harrison would not suggest which players should go. But he also said selectors made the right call for Game One, giving several loyal servants the chance to show they were still up to the job.
“In terms of loyalty, I think they got that right the first game with the way they picked that side,” Harrison said.
“They had to give that team the opportunity to win Game One, I suppose, on the back of a series win.
“It turns out they got dominated and there’s definitely areas there Kevvie’s going to have to look seriously at. It’s not my place to name names and I’m not going to name names but these guys have been doing it for a while, Kevvie and the selectors, so they’ll pick the team to get it done in the second game.”
Harrison, who on Saturday was named in the Titans’ team of the decade, said he was a loyalty pick for the 2013 series but acknowledged that loyalty could only extend so far.
“I was lucky to play one Origin game, let alone 15, so I’d be the first to admit the first game I got picked that year it was on the back of loyalty,” he said.
“My form wasn’t great, I was injured, my knee was no good and I played no good in the game and we got beat.
“So I fully understood where they were coming from, I was grateful for the opportunity while I was there and I moved on.”
And with Queensland set to go through a period of change given the number of older players in the team, change was inevitable.
“We’re going through a bit of a transitional period I think with Queensland,” Harrison said.
“I think we’ve been spoiled here the last 10 years, we lose one game and some people want to jump up and down.” It’s that dark period for NSW that Harrison believes has been the catalyst for NSW’s rebirth though, with Queensland’s period of domination building within the new generation of Blues players the same “hate” the Maroons once had for their southern rivals.
“NSW have been through that and they’re coming to a stage where they’re hitting their straps in terms of the time in the saddle of being involved in Origin and seeing NSW getting beaten,” he said.
“So they’ve got that similar hate for Queensland as we had for NSW when we were coming through.”