I'd simply select players who are in form..regardless of age.. I appreciate incumbency..but if the incumbent is playing crap and there's another guy playing outstanding you pick them.. If the incumbent is going ok you stick with em.. The side would naturally evolve.. One thing you don't do though..which Daley is guilty of..is guarantee players positions before the season starts..
A few points on this topic:
1.Agree Mr 95%. How can you know if a player is in form or not if you pick them before a ball is even kicked? Even the best can have a rough patch and Origin is not the time to see if their form will come good. If the game is supposedly the best vs. the best then that should be on current performance.
2.Ideally as you say; look at incumbents but also at players coming through. Age is no barrier as Qld has proven time and time again. Assess form and if the incumbent is playing well select him. If not, pick an available player in that position who is playing well.
3.Origin occurs just before the halfway point in the season so it is not as if any coach who has a football brain cannot see if player X is performing at their best or player Y is better leading up to the first SOO game.
4.The coach who presumes that the same players will be in the same form the following year is most certainly not smart. If he has the preconceived idea that he knows exactly who he will pick and that player for example, gets injured a week before the team for game one is announced or he is suspended etc. he then has to formulate a sound plan B. In Daley's situation he couldn't. We saw that Pearce was the flavour of the month prior to his little indiscretion and when that meant his selection was in jeopardy Daley had no real clue as to who he would select to fill the halfback role.
5.Tactics used in a game should be to the strengths of your own players and to the weaknesses of your opponent.
6.He also stated that he did not want to throw young fellas into the cauldron at Suncorp but he had no choice but to. Consequently , Jack Bird who has been in good form for his club this year only got 26 minutes but he did make an impact in his time on the field. Why not use Maloney and Bird as the half five eighth combination for game 3?
