In the Spotlight - Round 11

The rep season has officially rolled into town; a time when the Daily Telegraph and Courier Mail newspapers truly come into their own.

State of Origin fever has hit yours truly hard, and I'm like a puppy in a bone yard.Before I start froffin' too hard, let's review Round 10 of ITS.

Darius ‘the best finisher since Mortal Kombat' Boyd sealed his spot on the end of the Queensland backline with a solid showing in Brisbane's 31-20 defeat in sunny Townsville. Barring injury or a reluctance to do any pre/post-match media, Boydy will be lining up come next Wednesday night as the Maroons face the unusual prospect of having to win a trophy back.

My old mate Jeff Robson put in a real 1985 Toyota Corolla performance as the Sharkies beat the Titans in golden point. I mean, he was there and he didn't break down completely, but he didn't look great and he was blowing after 80 minutes. One young gun with a huge future and an epic porn star name, Valentine Holmes, made sure Robbo's night wasn't a write-off with a match-winning field goal. No word on whether Mr Holmes cleaned any pools that night, but you'd be stupid to rule it out.

Round legs-eleven, step right up.

Blake Austin

The biggest test when gauging a player's mental toughness is to see how they react when they were talked up for a rep spot and didn't get one.*

*Well, that and a broken leg. That's a fair test too.

Blake's Raiders went down to the Dragons last weekend and play host to the faltering 2014 grand finalists, the Doggies. The blue-and-whites head down the Hume busted, bereft of confidence and low on troops. Yep, bereft as, mate.

I expect Blake to get back to his best at GIO Stadium, and put his hand up in case Mitchell Pearce can't improve on his spectacular 3-9 Origin win/loss ratio.

James Tedesco

Despite having a surname eerily similar to that of a British supermarket, Teddy is a serious footy player. Another youngster lauded as a future Origin star, James has a chance to fill his boots against an under-strength Cowboys unit missing both of its in-form halves and both of its in-form props. The Tiges are only missing the services of Aaron Woods, who will be hoping to give Qld fans the middle finger if NSW can triumph in game one.

L8r m8.