Maroons primed to unleash the new Tallis on Blues
Look out New South Wales, here comes the new Raging Bull.
Wayne Bennett once coached Gorden Tallis and now the supercoach believes his Dolphins tearaway, Maroons rookie Tom Gilbert, is primed for a Tallis-style shakeup of the Blues in Origin I on Wednesday night.
The suspension of Felise Kaufusi and axing of Kurt Capewell has opened the door for coach Billy Slater to unleash a youthful back-row strikeforce of Gilbert and David Fifita in the 2023 series opener at Adelaide Oval.
Bennett played a critical role in Tallis’ rise as an Origin force, handing the Raging Bull his starting debut in 1998 before anointing the back-row firebrand as his skipper for
Queensland’s epic series boilover of the Blues in 2001.
Now, two decades later, Bennett sees shades of Tallis’ takeno-prisoners style in Gilbert and has backed the Dolphins dynamo to uphold four decades of never-say-die, Maroons back-row tradition in Origin I.
“Tom exemplifies 40-odd years of Queensland backrowers,” said Bennett, who won 13 of 25 games as Queensland coach in four stints spanning 1986-2020.
“They (Queensland’s backrow servants) are invaluable, they’re the backbone of what Origin is.”
The 22-year-old underscored his maturity last year when he was handed his debut for the death-or-glory Origin decider at Suncorp Stadium.
Rather than freeze under pressure, Gilbert flourished in the biggest game of his life before 52,000 fans, throwing himself into Blues ball-runners like a man possessed to help the Maroons to a famous 22-12 victory.
Without Kaufusi and Capewell, Gilbert makes his Queensland starting debut in the No.12 jumper Tallis wore in his Test debut for Australia in 1998, reward for the relentless toil that has turned the new Dolphins franchise into a credible force.