The Manly halfback held off the likes of Slater, Smith, Campese and Gidley, all of which I would argue stood out far more prominently than Orford this season. I just can't accept that a half with such terrible fifth tackle options and questionable kicking game can win such a prestigious award. Not to mention that he's never been considered good enough to play Origin. At times watching Orford plough the ball over the dead ball line on the last I have to do a double take to make sure I'm not actually watching Daniel Holdsworth. He's not the worst half in the game but there are at least 12 others I'd pick in the 6/7 before him. And there were at least five others that the NSW selectors put ahead of him. And it must also be pointed out that his kicking game is one of the main reasons they have dropped their last three against Melbourne. So Matt Orford, congratulations on joining such esteemed company!
1 comment:
I think you are fighting a battle with the wrong man here.
I don't think Orford is overrated. Noone thinks he is terribly good. He won the Dally M because the voting system is fucked.
Manly win a lot of games. Manly are a terribly BORING football side. Orford does some good things and some very shitty things and for that reason is about the only guy that anyone remembers when voting time comes. How many manly games have you seen this year? They are a fucking yawn.
The system is fucked. 3-2-1 points are fucked.
Slater et al at Melbourne suffer from playing on a good team with many good players.
Campese suffers from not winning enough games.
The Dally M was always coming from a team that wins a lot of games with a yawn inducing team. Manly, Cronulla or to a lesser extent Sydney.
If it was Manly, Orford.
If it was Cronulla???
In hindsight, the best thing to do is treat this as a learning experience and smash 2009's Orford on the punt.
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