QUEENSLAND’S next breed of State of Origin stars have the perfect opportunity to show their potential as future Maroons in this year’s NRL finals series, says coach Mal Meninga.
This year’s Origin series may be long gone, but that does not mean Big Mal has stopped working for the Maroon cause, as he casts his eyes over the young Queenslanders who will get a taste of finals action this year.
And Queensland’s record-breaking coach says he likes what he sees.
With a bevy of Queenslanders spread across pretty much all of the top eight contenders this year, Mal says the young Maroons hopefuls have the perfect opportunity to show Origin powerbrokers they have what it takes to join “the family”.
“I am really excited by what I have seen from the guys this year, and also very excited to see what they can deliver in the finals,” Mal said.
“The finals are another step in their football education, and certainly from an Origin point of view, I will be watching them all very closely to see how they handle it.
“Being able to maintain their standards when the competition goes to another level is really important, because it shows that they will be mentally capable of handling the huge step up to Origin if we need to call on them in the future.
“Seeing how they perform in the finals will be like a little test of their Origin capabilities, so I am really looking forward to seeing how they go.”
Meninga says he will be watching the likes of Cronulla’s Valentine Holmes, Cameron Munster at the Storm and Canterbury’s Moses Mbye who are enjoying wonderful seasons, to see how they handle the step-up in class.
“Really for us Queenslanders, there is a lot of interest across all of the clubs,” Mal said. “You know, at the Roosters, I am really looking forward to watching how Jake Friend responds to taking on more responsibility as captain and without Mitchell Pearce in the side.
“At the Cowboys, there are guys like Ethan Lowe, Jake Granville and Kyle Feldt who are improving all the time, alongside a guy like Gavin Cooper who I think is a fantastic footballer and getting so close to an Origin call up.
“At Brisbane, Anthony Milford and Ben Hunt have been great this year, but I am interested to see if they can take a game by the scruff of the neck when the intensity goes up.
“They’ve also got guys like Dale Copley and Corey Oates who are on our radar and keep impressing.
“We know all of these guys are good players, but the challenge for them now is to show they can take their game to another level when their team needs to and the quality of the opposition dictates it.
“I have no doubts they can, and that is due in part to the foundations we have built with the Emerging Origin program.
“The guys are in and around our system, they know they are being watched and that their standards matter.
“They have trained and played alongside a lot of other like-minded players, so they know what is required to succeed.
“The challenge for them is to have the consistency in their performance and show that they are genuine big-match players.”
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