International game eating at Origin status

Mal Meninga named a predictable Queensland team. Photo / Getty Images

For so long State of Origin was seen as the pinnacle of the game but it won't be too long before the international game takes over.

And so it should.

Origin will still have an important place on the calendar but more Australian players will prioritise playing for their country, especially if the Kiwis can continue to enjoy success.

They will be hurting to have lost three in a row and been knocked off the top of the world rankings, and players and fans will increasingly put more stock on the international game.

Loyalty is a big thing in Australian rugby league and it will come back to bite them eventually.

We're seeing that with the Australian team and I expect a massive clearout when a new coach eventually takes over from Tim Sheens.

It's a problem for Sheens now and was a problem when he was at the Wests Tigers. There were other issues but his faith in the players around him meant there was a massive hole when a lot left. Only now are the Tigers starting to get things together again.

Queensland coach Mal Meninga is another loyal coach and he picked an entirely predictable side to take on New South Wales in this year's first Origin match on Wednesday. It was so predictable, in fact, even Baby Charlotte could have picked that Maroons team.

It's an ageing team, yes, but it's not a problem yet. They still are, with the odd exception (there are better players than Nate Myles around), the best available.

They will desperately want to win after last year's results, when they lost a series for the first time in eight years, and building for the future will not have entered their minds.

A week ago, I would have said Queensland would have blitzed this year's State of Origin 3-0 but now I'm not so sure. I think it will be a lot closer than many might think.

I'm a Maroons fan and it looked like they would were going to have a side that was far superior to NSW.

The Blues are going to be without Paul Gallen and Greg Bird, highly influential figures, there was doubt around how their halves combination coped if they went with Trent Hodkinson and Adam Reynolds, Robbie Farah isn't the player he was five years ago, Trent Merrin isn't as good as people have made him out to be and Aaron Woods is over-rated.

But looking at the team NSW coach Laurie Daley has assembled has made me doubt my convictions.

NSW have a stronger bench, five-eighth Mitchell Pearce is the form half of the competition and outsides Josh Dugan and Michael Jennings have been in terrific form.

It was good to see Cowboys halfback Michael Morgan make the Queensland side.

He's been really impressive over the last few weeks and is someone I think the Warriors should be chasing.

The only problem with his selection, however, is the fact he will no longer be the cheap buy the Warriors might have been looking for.