Opinion: NSW coach Brad Fittler’s secret meeting with referees boss | Andrew Webster
Of all the pearls of wisdom Phil Gould has imparted to Brad Fittler over the decades, we wonder if he’s told him a personal favourite: “Only the paranoid survive”.
He could barely hide his displeasure about referee Ashley Klein after the 16-10 loss to Queensland in Origin I in Sydney this month. Specifically, the Blues were worried about illegal kick pressure on halfback Nathan Cleary; Queensland hooker Harry Grant’s pass out of dummy half, which the Blues believed often strayed forward; and Maroons regularly creeping offside, especially five-eighth Cameron Munster.It’s not uncommon for coaches to approach head office highlighting areas of concern, although it is unusual to do so before the first match of an Origin series.
In other words, if NSW are to win this series, they will have to do with everything against them — in their minds at least. It’s classic siege mentality, straight out of the Queensland playbook.The Blues are usually at their best when they’re front-runners, revelling in getting points early before the likes of Tom Trboejvic and Latrell Mitchell score tries at will.
Fittler was big enough to admit after the 2020 series loss that he had been “out-coached” by Wayne Bennett and, deep down, you suspect he might feel the same about the Queensland trio of Billy Slater, Cameron Smith and Johnathan Thurston in game one.The truth is he’s picked a side capable of levelling the series.
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