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Cowboys will duel for Origin spot
Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow and Murray Taulagi are set to battle it out for the vacant wing spot in Queensland’s Origin side with their first chance on Friday night.
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North Queensland coach Todd Payten says it’s a sign of the form his players are exuding as versatile backs Murray Taulagi and Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow challenge each other for Queensland’s vacant wing spot.
The pair were reserves in the Maroons’ 16-10 victory over NSW on Wednesday and are primed to duel each other for the berth created by an injury to Melbourne’s Xavier Coates.
Taulagi has shown rapid improvement since last season with his ball running and high-flying finishing one of the reasons behind the Cowboys’ success in 2022.
He averages 138 running metres per game, has scored eight tries in 13 appearances and leads the NRL in intercepts with four.
Playing in the centres now, Tabuai-Fidow has scored four tries in his injury-affected season and averages just under 50 less running metres than his teammate.
But the ‘Hammer’ already has an Origin cap to his name, scoring on debut in Game 3 of last season’s series.
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“That’s good for us as a club. We have two guys essentially having a shoot out over the next couple of weeks fighting out for that spot,” Payten said on Thursday.
“Form will get them there and that means they’re going to have a crack for us … which is good.”
The Cowboys return home on Friday night after splitting their last two away fixtures with a loss against Penrith before a comfortable win over Gold Coast.
Payten has named an unchanged side for their clash with St George Illawarra, but could shuffle-in his returning Origin players depending on their fitness.
“I had intentions of playing them – questioning myself at the moment. …I know what they’re going to say when we’re talking today, it’s probably more how they say it and then make some calls around that,” he said.
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For the Dragons, Ben Hunt has been named in their side after a stellar appearance for the Maroons, with NSW representative Tariq Sims also named in the forwards.
Coach Anthony Griffin said Friday’s contest will be their biggest test of the season playing against the competition’s in-form outfit.
“They’re probably the form team of the competition at the moment, they’ve put five or six together and doing it very well so they’re going to be very hard to beat,” he said.
“We’ve had a couple of wins but this will be our biggest test,” he said.
By: Fraser Barton, AAP
Comments on RugbyPass
We dominated the scrums Ben Curry was all over pitch again .Surely James Harper got to be one of best English tightheads
1 Go to commentsRoos is a better option at 6 than 8 for the boks. Needs to work on his windgat though.
1 Go to commentsThe Sharks’ 2nd team maybe?
1 Go to comments‘radical’
1 Go to commentsCome back to Christchurch Robbie, please!
1 Go to commentsI think there is zero chance Sam Cane will be selected for another Test. There is simply no point except sentimentality. Razor is not sentimental- ask Wyatt Crocket. Razor is a ruthless selector
4 Go to comments> It would be best described as an elegant solution to what was potentially going to be a significant problem for new All Blacks coach Scott Robertson. It is a problem the mad population of New Zealand will have to cope with more and more as All Blacks are able to continue their careers in NZ post RWCs. It will not be a problem for coaches, who are always going to start a campaign with the captain for the next WC in mind. > Cane, despite his warrior spirit, his undoubted commitment to every team he played for and unforgettable heroics against Ireland in last year’s World Cup quarter-final, was never unanimously admired or respected within New Zealand while he was in the role. Neither was McCaw, he was considered far too passive a captain and then out of form until his last world cup where everyone opinions changed, just like they would have if Cane had won the WC. > It was never easy to see where Cane, or even if, he would fit into Robertson’s squad given the new coach will want to be building a new-look team with 2027 in mind. > Cane will win his selections on merit and come the end of the year, he’ll sign off, he hopes, with 100 caps and maybe even, at last, universal public appreciation for what was a special career. No, he won’t. Those returning from Japan have already earned the right to retain their jersey, it’s in their contract. Cane would have been playing against England if he was ready, and found it very hard to keep his place. Perform, and they keep it however. Very easy to see where Cane could have fit, very hard to see how he could have accomplished it choosing this year as his sabbatical instead of 2025, and that’s how it played out (though I assume we now know what when NZR said they were allowing him to move his sabbatical forward and return to NZ next year, they had actually agreed to simply select him for the All Blacks from overseas, without any chance he was going to play in NZ again). With a mammoth season of 15 All Black games they might as well get some value out of his years contract, though even with him being of equal character to Richie, I don’t think they should guarantee him his 100 caps. That’s not what the All Blacks should be about. He absolutely has to play winning football.
4 Go to commentswhat’s happening to Ian Peel?
1 Go to commentsAs a Crusaders fan , so disappointed , again.But I think Fergus Burke was all class for the Crusaders in his first game since October last year. Fletcher Newell , was so good at prop. Johnny McNicoll has been gold since returning from Wales. Noah Hotham brilliant , in a coming of age second season for the Crusaders.Jone Rova did really well at centre. The end of the game was tough.Sevu Reece , what a game/season in tough times.
1 Go to commentsFellas a balloon
3 Go to commentsBlues B team on display and made no race of it. By far the best team in SR with the Hurricanes barely getting past the winning post. Up the Blues 💙
7 Go to commentsWould be amazing to have Servette Genève reaching this level
3 Go to commentsThe Crusaders can't buy a win this season. Surely Penney's contract won't be renewed. There's still enough talent in the squad that they oughta be winning more.
1 Go to commentsABs captain for 23 seasons. Decent record. Surely nobody will surpass it. Legend. But alas a typo…
4 Go to commentsJust FYI Rugbypass, I for one am tired of your clickbait titles and thumbnails and will be clicking them no longer. Good day.
1 Go to commentsI think Farrell despite all of the stick he gets in the media is still one of if not the best fly half in the world. He is literally the full package. He can kick one of the best in the world, probably has the best defensive game of a fly half in the world and if he wants to he can run, take contact and find an offload to keep the pace of the attack. I dont know why he isnt spoken more about still being one of the best in the world with the likes of dupont. Farrell is the ultimate captain and team leader and is experienced- he has been in nearly any situation you can think of. I still believe due to these reasons that he is England’s best ever player and is still one of the best players in the world.
48 Go to commentsBlues are dominating up front and that’s been a long time coming. They have won the up front confrontation which is where canes, hilanders and act brumbies are also strong.
7 Go to commentsJust watched brumbies v safas game sadly not a show in he’ll thryr anywhere near quarters or semi contention. Admittedly some issues around new comers bot what stands out for me is coaching management, poor game planning and accuracy.
5 Go to commentsOne tough SOB!
16 Go to commentsI’ve put on 4/5 kilos since the beginning of the season too. Not good kilos. Bad kilos.
7 Go to comments