The first test against England at Wembley is still more than ten weeks away.
But Phil Gould has added his considerable voice to the selection credentials of 20-year-old Canberra Raiders playmaker, Ethan Strange.
Speaking on the Six Tackles with Gus podcast, Gould threw his support behind recent comments by Raiders coach Ricky Stuart that Strange should not only be on the Kangaroo Tour at the end of the season, but is also in line to become a future NSW Blues five-eighth.
“I spoke with Ricky Stuart after the Raiders’ win over Manly and he said ‘I expect him (Strange) to go on the Kangaroo Tour and I expect him to be NSW five-eighth’,” Gould recounted.
MORE: Who will play for Australia in the Ashes series against England?
“I went ‘wow’, but I also looked at the game and the things Strange did—I thought ‘he could play Origin’, he has that Origin look about him, he can make people miss and he’s not scared of the collision,” he continued.
‘Rep honours should be a reward for the best players’
Gould went on to explain Strange has been performing at a high level all season, something he deserves to be rewarded for despite being in just his second full year of NRL.
“They (Canberra) are leading the competition, by a long way, and it’s no fluke with the football they’ve been playing, and he’s been a massive part of that,” Gould said.
“I don’t buy into a lot of the incumbency stuff, it (rep honours) should be a reward for the best players—and he’s been one of the best players all year, his team is at the top of the competition.
“That should be what representative football is all about, if they play in the grand final and win the competition, you need to look at who’s responsible for that and reward those players with representative jerseys.”
Of course, the Bulldogs boss could well be making exactly the same case for many of his own players should Cameron’s Ciraldo’s men make the NRL decider on Sunday October 5.
“What are they going to do? Pick some bloke from a team that’s run 14th and hope he can be ready in six week’s time to play in a test match?” Gould asked.
“That’s not what it should be about, you could virtually pick your Australian team out of this year’s grand final.”