Orford gives Finch the nod for Origin II PDF Print E-mail
Written by Daniel   
Friday, 06 January 2006 10:00

June 1, 2006 - 8:09PM

Manly halfback Matt Orford has turned up the heat ahead of Sunday's NRL clash with Penrith playmaker Craig Gower by declaring Brett Finch the man to guide NSW in Origin II.

On the day Gower moved a step closer to returning to the Origin fold following knee surgery last week, Orford said Finch was deserving of the opportunity to build on his game one heroics.

Despite spending less than 24 hours in camp with the Blues after his late call-up to the squad, Finch capped a stunning display by kicking the winning field goal in the dying minutes to hand NSW a 17-16 win.

"He did a great job, coming in in those circumstances and to play as well as what he did, he probably deserves first crack," Orford said.

Orford and Gower were the hard luck stories of Origin one - Gower was forced out on match eve after a training mishap with Manly veteran Steve Menzies while Orford was in line to make his Origin debut only to be ruled out by a hip flexor injury.


Finch was then brought in and the rest is history.

But Gower's improbable bid to reclaim the NSW No.7 jumper for the Suncorp Stadium re-match is looking more and more a reality after the former Panthers skipper ran for the first time since surgery at Penrith training on Thursday.

While he didn't go at 100 per cent, Gower remains confident of proving his fitness to NSW selectors by taking on the Sea Eagles.

"It feels fine at the moment. I got through the first stage of it, so we'll just see how it feels tomorrow," Gower said.

"Obviously you're going to feel something, it's just been operated on, it just depends on if it swells.

"Hopefully I'll run full pace tomorrow. If I can do that without no pain I'll start with some agility stuff and go from there."

He is sure to be primed for a big performance against Orford, who still holds out hope that a big performance against Gower will see him sneak past both his Penrith rival and Finch and into the NSW side.

"I've still got my fingers crossed and I just want to put a good performance this week and see what happens," Orford said.

Meanwhile, South Sydney is reportedly set to launch their recruitment drive for next season by offering New Zealand Test centre Nigel Vagana a massive three-year deal to join the club.

According to a report on the Ten Network, incoming Souths boss Peter Holmes a Court will meet with the Sharks three-quarter, who comes off contract at the end of this season, and his manager Gavin Orr in Sydney on Wednesday night.

It is believed the Rabbitohs see Vagana as the type of high-profile recruit that will assist the club in attracting more high-quality players to the club next season.

The Rabbitohs are also rumoured to be in the hunt for Parramatta backrower Dean Widders and Bulldogs lock and former South Sydney junior Reni Maitua.