As we get closer to the naming of the Origin team lists for 2018, it becomes clear that Brad Fittler has a number of monumental selection headaches in his first year as NSW coach.

Arguably the most prominent of these troubles is the selection of a centres pairing, given the current form and history of incumbents Josh Dugan and Jarryd Hayne. This means we will almost guaranteed a brand-new centre pairing for the upcoming series.

A number of contenders are already putting their hands up for positions, with James Roberts and Euan Aitken impressing in a push for representative honours. But the name that for many seems to be a lock for the left centre position has been Roosters young gun Latrell Mitchell.

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However, I personally can’t see Latrell in this year’s side.

Now I’m not out to bag the kid. I think he’s a great young talent and at 20 years of age he still has a very long time to develop and create his opportunities for future representative selection. But he’s not the type of player NSW need in the position right now.

Enter Jarrod Croker.

Since making his debut in 2009, Croker has somewhat flown under the radar despite his success, which has included top point scorer honours in 2012, 2015 and 2016 as well as being named Dally M Captain of the Year in 2016. For a player to received those accolades when they are rivalled by potential future Immortals like Johnathan Thurston and Cameron Smith and a variety of other high calibre players in those categories is no easy feat.

Croker’s achievements should speak for themselves as far as his claim to representative football is concerned, but it appears the majority of punters are still unconvinced as to why he should get the nod over a dynamic player such as Latrell Mitchell.



In the past half-decade of NSW’s Origin campaigns centres such as the aforementioned incumbents Hayne and Dugan were constantly wearing the pressure of producing flashy, match-winning plays based on their reputation and failed to live up to the expectations of the state, with these attempts often resulting in crucial mistakes.

Again, no desire to bag Latrell here, but as a representative player at this time in his career he would be expected to fill the same mould, whereas a proven, solid player like Croker would be given a no-frills job and stick to it. That’s just the kind of player he is.

Even this year’s stats are in favour of Croker. Croker has six line breaks to Latrell’s five, and 80.2 per cent tackle efficiency to Latrell’s 79.7 per cent. Croker even has a higher conversion rate (81.2% to 80.4%.)

In a series where New South Wales could be looking to blood as many as ten debutants, the team needs as much experience as possible. With PM’s XIII, City versus Country and World All Stars games under his belt, as well as over 200 NRL games compared to Latrell’s 58, it’s clear that Croker is the type of player this team needs.