When CABE NSW Under 19s coach Josh Jackson was assembling his staff for the State of Origin Under 19s match on the Sunshine Coast tomorrow night, he thought about some of the players who had been with him throughout his own career and the impact they could have.
Firstly, there were True Blues and former Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs teammates Trent Hodkinson and Josh Reynolds, who he’d won the 2014 Origin series with to end Queensland’s eight-year winning streak. Then there was also True Blue and former Bulldogs teammate too Dale Finucane, one of the toughest and hardest-working forwards to play the game.
“I was asked who I wanted on staff and I wanted some ex-Origin players to be part of it so I could share their experiences,” Jackson said.
“’Grubby’ (Reynolds) and I worked together, he helped me out last year when I was coaching Flegg so he was first on the list.
“He’s a great connector of people so I knew having him on the staff would be really beneficial.
“’Hokko’ (Hodkinson) was pretty obvious, being part of that 2014 NSW-winning series that broke the eight-year drought. These guys here would have been quite young but I reckon a lot of them still will remember that game.
“Up until that point, the first eight years of their lives, NSW hadn’t won a series so that would be a pretty cool memory for them.
“Having Dale in here has been great too, he’s a good connector of people as well and has been great throughout the week helping the middles and forwards.”
Jackson, who retired from playing in 2022 with 241 NRL games under his belt, has already had success as a coach after steering the Bulldogs to a Jersey Flegg Cup (Under 21s) premiership last year.
The offer to take on the CABE NSW Under 19s job came from Westpac NSW Blues coach Laurie Daley – who had coached Jackson himself to the memorable Origin series win in 2014 – and it was an easy answer after his previous experience in camp with former Under 19s coach Andrew Ryan.
“I helped out ‘Bobcat’ a few years ago, I ran the blue shirt when they played at Redcliffe, which was awesome,” Jackson said.
“I really enjoyed the week, it was a great experience, and I really enjoyed watching the boys that had played in the game go on over the last few years and play some regular first grade.
“It’s rewarding, that’s why I enjoy the pathways coaching so much.”
Jackson has five players who took part in the gritty 14-10 win over Queensland in the same match at Leichhardt Oval in Sydney last year – Connor Votano, Hayden Buchanan, Mitchell Woods, Jacob Halangahu and Cody Hopwood – while Zane Harrison was 18th player.
He also has three players from UNE SG Ball Cup premiers Sydney Roosters – Toby Rodwell, Jaxson Allen and Kanaan Magele – Jezaiah Funa-Iuta from Grand Finalists Parramatta, as well as some of the brightest rising stars of the game.
“It’s made it easier that a lot of them have played together before because they’ve already had that connection through their schoolboys careers, and a few of them played together in this game last year as well,” Jackson said.
“Getting them to gel has probably been the biggest focus of the week. Players come from different systems, and they’re used to playing differently, so building the combinations and connection was the most important thing really.
“Dale and a few of the boys spoke about their experiences when they played in a similar game for NSW and he’s still got great memories from the week and from the players and that’s what I’d like these players to get out of it too.”
“Obviously we’re here to do a job and we want to win but I also want them to enjoy the week and hopefully learn a little bit from the coaches as well.”