Fuifui Moimoi

Yeah, I could understand why you'd rate Price and Civo (and hell, maybe even Nate Myles) ahead of Bailey based on rep performances, but Moimoi has never played Origin and when he played for New Zealand he got absolutely bashed out of the game, and was dropped immediately, so I don't quite get you there. Bailey was dominant in Origin a few years back - he may not have the same impact there anymore, but it's not like Moimoi representative resume is gleaming.

DWTA strongly. He's been immense when he's been out there.

 

Yeah, his impact at rep level has been disappointing since 2007. That said, I do believe he'd have done better if he had the playing support around him like Queensland do - we've seen that Petero and Price find it a lot easier to be effective playing when the other one is also playing - not to mention actually being given a consistent starting role.

We won in 2005 with Bailey and Ryles as our props - and they really did well statistically - but our reactionary selection policy based on short-term club football reputations and slanderous bandwagons saw us abandon that pretty quickly. I think Ryles was actually injured for Game I in 2006 but he was never brought back anyway, and Bailey was soon demoted to the bench for no good reason at all. Queensland stuck with Price and Petero anyway even despite the fact that they (along with Webcke!) had been absolutely battered out of the contest the previous couple of years by three "hacks" NSW fans today like to call Bailey, Ryles and Simpson. The treatment of Bailey and Ryles was the beginning of the end. Unsurprisingly, they've outperformed all the other NSW front row options at club level statistically (barring, occasionally, Kite) since then by a long way. This year only Douglas got close.

 

Yeah, Kite was given several chances at Origin level and was repeatedly shithouse; he was dropped for good reason. Ryles was dropped because he got injured and then got a reputation, and Bailey was dropped because the coach put him on the bench and then we lost. Bailey's been back a couple of times since but always used in bit-part roles with shit-**** partners. These were the guys who made 120-150 metres a game at Origin level up against Price, Webcke, Civo and Thorn back in 2003-2005. They're still playing, and still topping the stats charts.