Phil Gould says Queensland's decision to axe Daly Cherry-Evans is a mistake
NSW's greatest coach Phil Gould says Queensland mentor Billy Slater has made a grave mistake by sacking Daly Cherry-Evans as the psychological mind games intensified ahead of Origin II.
Slater made the biggest call of his coaching career by axing Cherry-Evans and installing Tom Dearden as his halfback for the return bout in Perth on Wednesday week.
But Gould, the man who presided over the Blues' greatest Origin dynasty, has taken aim at Slater, saying Cherry-Evans should never have been dropped and questioned Dearden's ability to step up to save the series.
'I wouldn't have dropped Daly Cherry-Evans,' Channel 9 expert analyst Gould said.
'I respect his right to do that, he (Slater) is the coach, he has to make the big decisions and that's why he is going to be a great coach as time goes on.
'People will realise he is a great coach and has a great knowledge of the game, because it's a big call.
'I'm just wondering what Tom Dearden can provide that Daly Cherry-Evans couldn't.
'He doesn't play the Cherry-Evans role for his club side, now he has to walk into Origin with Queensland 1-0 down in the series against a very good NSW side.'
Gould says the real problem was Queensland's misfiring forward pack and he is not convinced Dearden has the experience that 26-game champion Cherry-Evans possesses to get the Maroons out of trouble.
'I don't think any halfback, let alone a rookie, is going to function behind a forward pack that was beaten as badly as them,' Gould said.
'I'm thinking, if that happens again, Daly Cherry-Evans at this stage of his career is far more equipped to deal with that (NSW dominating) than throwing in a kid now and having to deal with that if it (Blues forwards winning the ruck) happens again.
'If NSW dominate in the forwards again (in Game Two) and Dearden can't get into the game, how does that affect his development going forward?'
The one concern is whether Dearden has the long-range kicking game to put the boot into the Blues, but Slater is confident the 24-year-old can straighten Queensland's attack and unlock their speed out wide.
'We certainly want to play to our players' strengths,' Slater said.
'You earn every opportunity to play in this jersey and we just feel that Tom Dearden has earnt the opportunity to play in the No.7 jersey.
'At the end of the day, when you're in this position to make decisions, you have to think what's best for the footy team.
'We just feel Tom is the right person for the No.7 jersey right now.
'We feel it's the right thing for the footy team.'
New Queensland skipper Cameron Munster backed his halves partner Dearden to prove Gould and his critics wrong.
'He's been playing some great footy,' he said.
'Unfortunately one of my good mates had to be left out (Cherry-Evans).
'I'm really excited to see what combination we can bring on Wednesday and we all know what Tommy brings.
'He's always in effort areas, always working off the ball, he's saved a lot of tries this year from little things and little effort areas that he's got in his game and that's the reason why he's in this team.
'He can definitely lead this team around and I'm really excited to see where we can go.'
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