“It’s all a gamble, isn’t it? That’s what it’s all about and I can see that teams are intimidated by him,” Brad Fittler said after plucking Tevita Pangai Junior out of obscurity to play in the State of Origin series opener for New South Wales last year.
The former Canterbury enforcer was a bolter designed to strike fear through Queensland’s camp with the forward picked with the intention of shaking things up in Adelaide.
In the end, the move backfired with all of the worst traits of Pangai Jr being exposed on the big stage as he conceded a silly penalty and was responsible for a risky offload which the Maroons made him pay for during their tight Game I victory.
MORE STATE OF ORIGIN COVERAGE
The prop was shunned for the rest of the series and went on to walk away from his deal at the Bulldogs in order to pursue a professional boxing career with Fittler’s gamble failing to come off.
There was similar sentiment around Michael Maguire’s decision to pick Spencer Leniu for the first game of the series this year.
Should Spencer Leniu start for New South Wales in Game 2? Michael Maguire set for Origin selection decision
It took Leniu just four cameos of around 40 minutes, primarily off the interchange bench, to catch the eye of the new Blues chief.
The former Penrith premiership winner made his Chooks debut in Las Vegas before being sidelined for eight weeks after being charged for a racial comment aimed at Ezra Mam.
Any hopes the 23-year-old would have had of pulling on the Sky Blue jersey appeared to have evaporated.
Yet Maguire kept tabs on the Samoan international and rewarded him with a call-up after being impressed with just three stints off the pine for the Chooks.
In his first game back from suspension, Leniu featured against the New Zealand Warriors in a 41-minute stint which saw him make 66 running metres from six carries.
In his following two appearances he kicked up a gear and amassed 82 and 125 running metres to go with 11 tackle busts across the two games.
His raw display against Canberra on the eve of Origin selection drew plenty of praise and was enough to see him jump ahead of the queue of other contenders for a spot on the pine for NSW.
The firebrand entered the fray for his Blues debut at the worst possible time though with his side a man down after Joseph Suaalii’s send-off and with a healthy deficit already to chase.
Although Leniu immediately set about trying to flip the momentum.
His first carry yielded a set restart deep in enemy territory before he then went close to crashing over only for Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow to pull off a miraculous defensive play on his own line.
The 23-year-old constantly troubled the Maroons with his leg speed and brute strength as he churned through 111 run metres from his 12 carries.
Amidst the nightmare result for the state, Leniu provided a rare bright spot for Maguire heading into Game II in Melbourne.
But now the coach faces a difficult decision on whether to keep Leniu on the bench or possibly throw him into the starting lineup at the MCG.
Will Jake Trbojevic remain as NSW Blues captain?
Jake Trbojevic was appointed as the side’s new skipper but was afforded a limited period of time on the pitch with co-captain Isaah Yeo assuming leadership over the team while the Manly forward was benched.
Trbojevic played for the first 25 minutes before returning for the final four minutes of the match.
His output was way down on his teammates in the engine room with Payne Haas clocking 100 run metres and 32 tackles compared to Trbojevic’s 32 run metres and 24 tackles, while Leniu provided the impetus for a Blues fightback.
“Through circumstance,” Maguire explained post-match for Trbojevic’s limited minutes.
“Jakey did some great things at the start, but the rotation of what we had just didn’t allow us to get him back on. We had to cover the backrowers and plug the edges.”
Despite his impressive display, Leniu is unlikely to be given a starting spot in the side for Game II as he has made the role of ‘impact player’ uniquely his own during his career.
Maguire isn’t expected to rip his plans up and start again after the horror defeat on home soil with Trbojevic likely to keep his starting spot and captaincy.
So, without the personnel on the bench changing all that much, it makes sense to keep Leniu back before unleashing him on the Maroons once again.
Only this time, NSW will be hoping they will still have 13 players on the pitch and not be behind on the scoreboard when he steps onto the field.
