So is there any reason why Mark Gasnier can't play in Origin III?

Everyone else has had a go, including, at long last, New South Wales's best centre, Michael Jennings, who had to wait behind six others to get his turn. He must be too quick for the eyes of Bob McCarthy, Bob Fulton, Geoff Gerard and Laurie Daley. As is Nathan Merritt, whose additional problem is surely that he scores too many tries.

This year, 30 men will have passed through the revolving door of Blues selection, equalling the record the same selectors set last year. At this rate, the main argument against using NSW Former Origin Greats is that they won't be able to fit into one stadium.

It's hard to think of any NRL players who haven't figured in Origin selection discussions at some point, which makes a mockery of one proposed salary cap model, which is to give Origin players a set rating. The way NSW hands out jerseys, it would be easier to give salary cap concessions to clubs who can find a player who hasn't worn the Blue.

My BPL colleague Steve Mascord compared the Blues the other week to the Washington Generals, the basketball team that gave travelling opposition to the Harlem Globetrotters. I can think of a much more apt and frightening comparison. The Blues remind me of nobody more than the English cricket team (that is, the English cricket team from 1989-2005).

Like the English, NSW's selectors have a mind-addling wealth of options to choose from. If one player has a bad game, there are five others competing for his position. Give them a go! One at a time, if need be!

Like the English in Ashes series, NSW have to face an opponent who absolutely loathes them. Some scales of tribal hatred are so heavily out of balance that only years of success can even them up. In cricket, Australia needed 16 years of dominance to stop hating the English quite as much. Queensland will need, oh, say 50 successive Origin wins before they start to feel a little bit sorry for NSW.

Another way out of this mess is to do as the English have done and scour the world for players. It doesn't matter where they come from - it's never mattered to Queensland, so why should it to NSW?

If the Blues are going to be the sport's answer to the English cricket team, they might as well go the whole hog. Surely Sam Burgess qualifies for NSW now. And Benji Marshall, he's been in Balmain longer than Greg Inglis ever spent in Queensland. Isaac Luke and Steve Matai speak with Aussie accents. Why not Sonny Bill? He's not doing anything other than belting some fatty.

So for a start, please, bring in Le Gaz, who, après tout, is a Sacre Bleu from way back.