By George Al-Akiki
The highly controversial 18th man rule in State of Origin has once more cost the Bulldogs a star for this week鈥檚 important Round 18 clash against the Brisbane Broncos this Friday.
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The side have been constantly burned by the problem, losing key players like Matt Burton and Kurt Mann previously without them even getting a run of rep footy.
Mann was the Maroons Reserve in Game 1, while Burton was the same for NSW in Game 2 and other occasions in past years.
This time, its metre-eating winger Jacob Kiraz whose selection by coach Laurie Daley as a precautionary back-up for Brian To鈥檕 will cost the Dogs significant yardage carries and a pair of safe hands.
The Penrith winger played through a knee injury in his sides tight win over Canterbury last week, but scan results have cleared To鈥檕 of any concern, meaning it is highly unlikely Kiraz will take to the field come Wednesday.
Brisbane find themselves in a similar problem, running out against the Bulldogs without superstar Reece Walsh who fills the Maroons 18th man slot and has been in great form since returning from injury.
鈥淚t鈥檚 ridiculous…Jacob Kiraz and Reece Walsh, they should be allowed to play in their club teams,鈥 Mark Geyer said on 2GB.
鈥淲e don鈥檛 play (Origin) until next Wednesday. In fact, I think it鈥檚 time in Origin for us to bring in an 18th and 19th man to sit on the bench 鈥 a forward and a back.
鈥淐ome on, we鈥檝e outgrown that 鈥18th man can鈥檛 play鈥 thing.
鈥淚t鈥檚 just a bit of a bug bear of mine. The 18th man should be allowed to play for his club team.
Coach Billy Slater鈥檚 decision to shift Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow to fullback to replace the injured Kalyn Ponga leaves Michael Maguire with their own equally devastating Origin casualty list.
In Game 2 it was Ezra Mam.
鈥淚t鈥檚 interesting the 18th man rule, I don鈥檛 think anyone agrees with the way it is,鈥 Daley said on the Sky Sports radio on Monday.
鈥淢att (Burton) I think has been selected as 18th man five times, missed club games and hasn鈥檛 played a part in the Origin games themselves.
鈥淭he reason why I picked Jacob, we鈥檝e got one bloke who is in a bit of doubt and that鈥檚 Brian To鈥檕.
鈥淲e want to give him every chance to play and because the Bulldogs are playing on the Friday night we want to make sure if Brian is ruled out than Jacob has had a full 11 days preparation with us.鈥
Team performance manager Frank Ponissi on Triple M weighed in on the topic, suggesting on Wednesday that picking an 18th man solely from a team with the bye isn鈥檛 solution for picking the optimal player.
鈥淲hat makes it difficult is the draw is unbalanced, so you don鈥檛 know who鈥檚 going to play. Some weeks that situation 鈥 it may favour NSW more than QLD because there鈥檚 more NSW players not playing that weekend compared to QLD,鈥 he said.
鈥淲e鈥檝e got to get the draw right before we get this particular issue correct.
鈥淥rigin has to be played in the middle of the season, it鈥檚 so big and massive for our game. It鈥檚 what we do with the NRL around the Origin period, we鈥檝e got to get that right. So when we can sort that out, I think the 18th man and everything else will fall in line.鈥
Whether the NRL makes any changes to the 18th man rule following the series is yet to be seen as the discussion grows.
鈥淚f the clubs come to me about it, we鈥檒l put it in the end of year review,鈥 NRL鈥檚 CEO Andrew Abdo said.