Tevita Pangai Jr’s emotion & aggression to be tested in Origin

It looms as the NSW’s biggest selection gamble in years but will Blue’s coach Brad Fittler change his mind about pitching firebrand prop Tavita Pangai Junior into the heated opening minutes for his State of Origin debut in Adelaide?

Pangai Junior has been the focus of intense media hype since Fittler made the call to him on Sunday that he would be starting for NSW in the Origin opener at Adelaide Oval next Wednesday night.

It’s a massive occasion for the 27-year-old Bulldogs utility forward who has always shown immense talent but has been held back at times by his inability to control his emotions and aggression which has often landed him in trouble.

Those characteristics, which to his credit he has worked hard on improving with the help of former Blue’s power forward Willie Mason, will be thoroughly tested on Wednesday night.

Former Queensland Origin captain Gorden Tallis, who played with fire and aggression not unlike Pangai Junior, said while he could be a gamble for NSW, he could also do some damage if he controlled his emotions.

Rumours out of the Blues camp suggest Fittler could make a last-minute change and start with the Origin with damaging ball-runner, Junior Paulo, upfront, rather than risk Pangai Junior becoming caught up in the explosive start.

Fittler and NSW can ill-afford a Pangai Junior brain snap in the opening minutes of an Origin battle if the Canterbury enforcer can’t keep a lid on his emotions given what will come his way.

Fitter is a big fan of Pangai Junior’s but his selection to replace NSW workhorse Jake Trbojevic in the middle still came as a big shock and carries an element of risk given his judiciary rap sheet in recent seasons which includes a three-week ban in 2021 and a number of unsavory incidents in 2022.

Still, he brings what Fitter wants, power, physicality, aggression, and a fearless style of carrying the ball, after the Blue’s forwards were dominated by Queensland in the deciding game of last year’s series.

“If it’s a risk let’s throw all the chips in and gamble.” Said Fittler, confident Pangai Junior will be able to harness his aggression.

READ: State of Origin team selections – Game 1, 2023

Pangai Junior’s provocative pre-game declaration “I know why I have been picked” immediately revived memories of NSW picking a fiery young Penrith forward named Mark Geyer to “do a job on Queensland” in the second game of the 1991 series.

Geyer was a madman on the field, running amok, throwing punches and elbows at anything wearing a maroon jumper.

At half time Queensland captain Wally Lewis confronted Geyer in the middle of the field in an iconic Origin moment, the two of them standing face-to-face yelling at each other while referee David Manson tried to quell their tempers.

Geyer later revealed he had been told by NSW officials to go out and create mayhem and he would be “looked after”.

But he was hit with six charges from the game and later suspended for a long stretch and never played Origin again.

Geyer was swamped by journalists after the game for comment, thinking he’d been named player of the match.

“When the media throng burst through the double doors and came straight towards me, I thought I got man of the match because I did what they (the NSW coaches) told me to do, and when they said you’ve been cited on six different occasions I went, ‘Oh well, that’s Origin,’” said Geyer.

“I said to the judiciary that I was told to run amok and I wouldn’t be sent off or cited.”

Meanwhile, Queensland could make their own late change to its pack with Maroons coach Billy Slater considering pitching Reuben Cotter into the battle from the opening whistle ahead of Dolphin, Tom Gilbert.

Slater is also said to weighing up his hooking options with Ben Hunt, who has been named to start, and Harry Grant, both under consideration.

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