Is there anything better than a State of Origin bolter?
That pick that comes, seemingly, out of nowhere and shocks us all. The selection that messes up all of our predicted sides and creates chaos across social media.
Over the years there have been some memorable ones. Today we'll focus on those made since 2010.
This came about due to a left field pick made for the opener. Where does the selection of Tevita Pangai Junior rank among the top five selection surprises since 2010?
1. Michael Jennings (2012)
Michael Jennings represented the NSW Blues on 18 occasions throughout his illustrious career.
Four of those appearances came prior to 2012, the selection that I have listed here as number one as the biggest "shock" since 2010.
This is due to the simple fact that he wasn't playing particularly well at the time.
In fact when he was selected he was playing for Penrith's feeder club Windsor in the NSW Cup.
He became the first player in 30 years to be selected from reserve grade for the Blues. This was due to a mixture of underwhelming performances and a supposed rift with Penrith higher ups.
Jennings would go on to play all three games in the 2012 series. He'd even score a try in his first game back from his Wentworth appearance - a game played in New Zealand in front of a reported 100-or-so fans.
Ricky Stuart has always been known as a coach who geos about his business with little care for what people think. This selection absolutely proved it.
I can't possibly think of a situation where a player could be selected from NSW or QLD Cup other than say if a former rep player coming back from injury needed a hit out in "ressies".
It was a massive shock at the time that Jennings was deemed good enough to play for his state but not for a club sitting in 15th place come Round 12.
