From May to Blacklock: TEN recent State of Origin snubs that didn't make sense

State of Origin. What a concept. Mate vs mate. State vs state! The best of the best in front of the biggest crowds, in the biggest arenas, played before the biggest television audience. The biggest snubs? It sounds like a terrible reality TV show but boy howdy have their been some big name players overlooked in recent years. Below we look at ten from recent seasons. Of course this will depend on your interpretation of "snub" and "recent" but below are 10 players I can't believe weren't picked for an Origin series, or two. Let us know in the comments of players you believed were unfairly overlooked for rep honours: Terrell May (2025) The reason this list was put togethers. Simply put, I cannot believe that Terrell May was overlooked for the 2025 Origin opener. We've heard all the "reasons". "Bad defense", "character concerns", "others in better form" ... all nonsense! May has better defensive stats, despite bigger minutes, than anyone other than Payne Haas. The Blues currently have two players on media bans due to past incidents the players, rightfully, don't want trudged up at every opportunity. There is a reason May was not selected and it's 100% not football related. Someone needs to come out and say why, or just pick him! Nathan Blacklock (multiple seasons) The fact that Nathan Blacklock never represented the NSW Blues is one of league's biggest travesties. I didn't want to just name players but honestly, pick a season between 1999 and say 2002. Any of those seasons will do! That the try scoring freak winger had to convert to rugby union to play for New South Wales is almost embarrassing. No hate on the players who were selected on the wing during those years but I'm still yet to hear a legit reason as to why Blacklock was never picked. Nathan Merritt (2011) Nathan Merritt remains the victim of the biggest Origin stitch up of all time. He was thrown a jersey in 2013 but his time should have come much earlier. Unfortunately his less than stellar effort on the night has the doubters yelling "see" as to why he wasn't picked earlier. Pick a season: 2006 where he topped scored in one of the worst sides of all time. 2009, 2010!? Any of those would have been a good season to blood him. I picked 2011 cause I believe Merritt was at the peak of his powers in that season. I guarantee he would have played far better in that series than he did when finally chosen. Ben Barba (2016) Ben Barba was robbed of his spot in the 2016 Dally M team of the year despite polling higher than James Tedesco. He was also robbed of an Origin jersey by Darius Boyd. Ok the QLD'ers won the series but Boyd, an Origin weapon on the wing, should have made way. I know a lot will be lost to history due to Barba's off-field incidents since, but the Sharks don't get close to that 2016 title without their star fullback. Barba was the best player on a team who won 15 straight games and the form fullback all season. John Sutton (2012) Sutton is another one you could have slapped the "many seasons" tag on but we'll sit in 2012 here. Todd Carney, who was in ok form for the Sharks, played 5/8 beside Mitchell Pearce. He went ok but it felt like Sutton's time. Sutton won the Bunnies best and fairest that season in a magical season. The Blues would lose the decider by a point. Carney would miss seven tackles that night. Meanwhile Sutton was playing a few nights earlier and helping the Bunnies to a 38-12 win over Penrith. David Klemmer (2020) If not for Terrell May's recent snubbing this Klemmer incident would be the most glaring overlook of a prop forward in recent years. This was the Covid year where Origin was played at the end of season. Klemmer averaged 172 run metres and tackled at over 97%. He was overlooked for the likes of Nathan Brown and Dale Finucane. Both good players but neither were anywhere near the level of Klemmer in 2020. This will be lost to time as we try and forget 2020/2021 but Klemmer was robbed blind and should have ran out with Payne Haas that series. David Peachey (2001) The Sharks were magnificent in 2001 and a large part of their success came due the form of their legendary fullback David Peachey. It was expected he would add to his sole Origin (not counting Super League) from the previous season. Yet he would be overlooked for Mark Hughes. No disrespect to Hughes, who himself had the Knights flying in the early rounds, but Peachey was the man for the job. Unfortunately neither would represent their state moving forward but to this day I'm not sure how they didn't name the Peach. Jarome Luai (2025) Back to current day and Laurie Daley has made a second decision that doesn't seem to be sitting too well with the NRL community. Mitch Moses was incredible in last year's series, while Nathan Cleary is widely viewed as the best player in the game. That said, Luai was massive in the series win last year and has stood beside Nathan Cleary in five straight Grand Finals, including four Premiership wins. Given Moses is only a few games back from a long-term injury, the Luai selection would have reunited two guys with a hundred games together side by side. Matt Orford (2007) The Blues entered the 2007 series with a halves pairing of Braith Anasta and Jarrod Mullen. In 2007 Matt Orford was leading his team to a Grand Final. Game Two the Blues went for Kimmorley at seven to partner Anasta. Even in the third game, a dead rubber with the series lost, Orford was overlooked for Kimmorley and Bird. Orford would be a Dally M medal in 2008. He didn't get picked for that series either. I don't remember Orford having any holes in his game or being any sort of off-field distraction. I absolutely would have picked him at some stage during this series. Jarrod Croker (2015) Croker is another one who could have made his Origin debut across multiple seasons yet retired without a single Origin jersey to his name. 2015 stands out for me though as NSW lost the opener, Josh Morris ran for only 44 metres, Croker's name was linked with a spot and then he was overlooked. Morris, in game two ran for 21 metres. The decider, in which the Blues were pumped, Morris would record 38 run metres. Hindsight is wonderful but I have to imagine Croker's efforts would have surpassed that. Croker's best season was probably 2016 but by then his papers were stamped. 2015 was the season, for mine.

		P	W	L	PTS	+/-
1	CAN	13	11	2	28	98
2	CBR	15	12	3	26	100
3	MEL	13	9	4	24	172
4	NZW	14	10	4	24	25
5	BRI	14	7	7	18	50
6	CRO	15	8	7	18	20
7	SYD	14	7	7	18	16
8	PEN	14	6	7	17	1

From May to Blacklock: TEN recent State of Origin snubs that didn’t make sense

How did these players miss selection?

1. Terrell May (2025)

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