WATCHNG the first State of Origin match last Wednesday brought home to me what a difficult task England coach Shaun Wane has in preparing a team to face the Australians this autumn for the Ashes series.
New South Wales defeated Queensland 18-6 in Brisbane in front of a capacity crowd and the game demonstrated once again the depth of talent available to the Kangaroos coach.
The brilliance of players like Stephen Crichton, Payne Haas, Zac Lomax, Nathan Cleary and Mitchell Moses for the Blues is something to anticipate with some trepidation if they come to England with the Kangaroos.
But who will the Australian coach be?
It now looks as though it might not be Mal Meninga, who appears to be the shoo-in to coach the Perth Bears in their debut season in 2027. In order to fulfil that role, Meninga will have to relinquish his position as the Kangaroos coach.
So who will replace Meninga as the new Australian coach?
And will all those superb Origin players turn out with Australia against England?
Stephen Crichton has previously opted to play with Samoa, the country in which he was born.
Although he didn’t come on tour with Samoa last season, he may decide to play for the Samoans in the Pacific Cup this season rather than come to England with the Kangaroos.
And that reflects the fact that many players with Australian eligibility have opted to switch allegiances to Tonga and Samoa, with NSW winger Brian To’o also having opted to play for Samoa.
Furthermore, Haas and Queensland forward Tino Fa’asuamaleaui are reportedly considering switching to Samoa ahead of next year’s World Cup, although they will both probably stick with Australia for the Ashes series.
I would like to see the strongest possible Australian squad coming to England so that, if we beat them, there can be no excuses.
But it is a very big ‘if’.