Source : the age
Key posts
Parramatta halfback Mitchell Moses is set to edge out Jarome Luai for the NSW No.6 jersey and partner Nathan Cleary in the halves for the Blues.
Luai is set to close out the round with the Wests Tigers on Sunday night, but sources with knowledge of information regarding the NSW team selection told this masthead that Moses is the preferred option leading into the final game of the weekend.
Jarome Luai and Mitchell Moses.Credit: Nick Moir
Moses has been in good form since returning from a foot injury a few weeks ago and was one of NSW’s best players in the two games he played in last year’s series.
While Daley is a big fan of Luai, the returning Blues coach believes Moses’ kicking game and control will take pressure off Cleary and allow him more time and freedom on the ball.
As it stands: Predicted NSW team
Fullback: Dylan Edwards is the frontrunner to get the No.1 jersey given his combination with Cleary.
Wingers: With Jacob Kiraz out of contention with a calf injury, Zac Lomax and Brian To’o appear to have the inside running. Tom Trbojevic’s fitness is a concern for Daley, who is worried about the Manly superstar fullback’s form and fitness. A final decision will be made later in the day.
Centres: Latrell Mitchell needs to get through Sunday night’s game against the Wests Tigers to claim the left centre position. He will partner Stephen Crichton in the centres for the Blues. Campbell Graham is on standby.
Five-eighth: Mitchell Moses is the preferred candidate over Jarome Luai, who has one last chance to sway selectors on Sunday night.
Halfback: Nathan Cleary will wear the No.7 jersey.
Props: Payne Haas and Mitch Barnett are certain selections. Spencer Leniu will be on the bench. The final prop position is a fight out between Canterbury’s Max King and Melbourne’s Stefano Utoikamanu after Jacob Saifiti picked up an injury over the weekend.
Bulldogs prop Max King is in line for an Origin debut.Credit: Getty Images
Second-rowers: Angus Crichton, Liam Martin and Hudson Young will be in the team. Young just has to get through Sunday’s game against the Titans. Daley is contemplating using Martin in the middle to get Hudson Young into the game.
Lock: Isaah Yeo will wear the No.13 jersey.
Utility: Connor Watson will win the utility spot on the bench.
Brisbane and St George Illawarra are going at it up at Suncorp Stadium by the way, and Ezra Mam has just scored in his return from a nine-week suspension for drug driving.
It was the type of try you expect from the Broncos five-eighth, stepping through defenders from half a chance, and the Broncos are up 12-4 going into halftime.
Mam also laid on Brisbane’s first four-pointer with a very questionable (read blatantly) forward pass for Gehamat Shibasaki to score, with the Dragons just hitting back via Tyrell Sloan.
Dragons back-rower Dylan Egan has suffered a suspected ACL rupture as well to add to the visitors woes.
Daly Cherry-Evans is Queensland’s captain and halfback and is heading straight to Brisbane as his Manly teammates fly home from Townsville.
No real surprise here given DCE has been the Maroons skipper and No.7 since 2019. But his middling form of late had raised the suggestion Tom Dearden could replace him at the scrumbase.
Billy Slater never bought into that chat and Dearden is almost certainly his No.14 with Ben Hunt out injured. Canterbury’s Kurt Mann is being sized up as a second mobile body on the bench.
Daly Cherry-Evans and Tom Dearden: rival captains to Queensland teammates.Credit: Getty Images
Slater did go with two smaller bodies for Origin I and it worked a treat, Selwyn Cobbo came in and played almost the full game once Reece Walsh was belted into a different postcode by Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii.
Tom Dearden and Kurt Mann, are both playing to the standard of this footy team,” Slater said on The Sunday Footy Show.
“And if they were wearing a Maroons jersey come Wednesday week I don’t think any Queenslanders would be concerned.”
For all the options NSW have to choose from, they have been dwindling in recent times.
Bulldogs winger Jacob Kiraz is the latest to go down just as the Origin period lands, picking up a calf injury in Friday night’s comeback win over the Roosters. Kiraz was a smokey for a NSW debut and probably an outsider once Zac Lomax returned in such impressive fashion for Parramatta.
But he’s a very handy option out wide with Brian To’o and Tom Trbojevic’s fitness still a question mark.
Kiraz is facing up to a month out, and Canterbury play their fourth game in 19 days against the Dolphins on Thursday. Skipper Stephen Crichton is also one to watch given he wasn’t able to train before the Roosters thriller with what’s believed to be a quad or groin issue. He did play the house down of course though.
Jacob Saifiti (calf) won’t be an option as bench prop and Jake Trbojevic (concussion stand down) was long odds even as incumbent captain. Bradman Best (hamstring) of course didn’t play for the Knights and is facing multiple weeks out as well.
Ex-NSW coach Brad Fittler has labelled Terrell May’s comments about his Blues selection chances as “pathetic” ahead of a final Origin audition the Tigers prop believes is already redundant.
May raised eyebrows late last week on his video gaming platform Twitch when he told another gamer that he wouldn’t be picked based on reports he suggested were leaked from within NSW camp.
The 26-year-old has been one of the NRL’s best front-rowers to put himself in the frame for an Origin debut, though Laurie Daley has reportedly been weighing up believed defensive issues in May’s game.
May’s live gaming broadcast included him telling another gamer: “You know that Blues jersey I bought you? Chuck it in the bin.
“It’s not the media. How do you think it got leaked? You think they’re not just playing Chinese whispers?
“[I] might have to switch my allegiance [to Queensland].”
Daley will lock in the Blues Origin I squad after May plays against the Rabbitohs in the last game of round 11 on Sunday night.
With Newcastle’s Jacob Saifiti (calf) and incumbent skipper Jake Trbojevic (concussion stand down) both unavailable, May, Melbourne’s Stefano Utoikamanu and Canterbury prop Max King are vying for a bench spot.
Fittler took aim at May’s comments on The Sunday Footy Show, referencing Haumole Olakau’atu’s regret over supporting Queensland in a 2022 social media post before eventually making his Blues debut two years later.
“Haumole Olakau’atu a couple of years ago something very similar, and then last year I went into Manly and he came up and apologised and sat there and just spoke about how he was immature,” Fittler said.
“I really respected things he was speaking about and how light he was about it.
“I reckon maybe Terrell May should maybe ring Haumole and humble up a little bit.
“Seriously. What are these blokes thinking? There’s people at home who just love this game. They just love it.
“And you sit there playing a game and all of a sudden you want to just talk like this. How blasé. Pathetic.”
Nathan Cleary will be given a licence to roam in Origin I as NSW coach Laurie Daley considers playing two genuine halfbacks in the series opener.
Daley also insists he will not ask Blues coaching advisor Craig Bellamy how to stop Storm pair Cameron Munster and Harry Grant, who loom as Queensland’s main danger men.
One of the coach’s biggest selection headaches will be whether to partner Cleary with Parramatta’s Moses, or his four-time premiership-winning five-eighth mate Jarome Luai, who left Penrith for the Tigers at the end of last year.
MItchell Moses tries to stop Nathan Cleary during the 2022 grand final. Could they play together in Origin I?Credit: Getty Images
Daley played down any concerns about Moses having to play second fiddle to Cleary, despite being the dominant playmaker at Parramatta.
He also said Moses was more than capable of playing on the left side for NSW, rather than his preferred right side for his club.
“Nathan will be the dominant half, and whoever we go with at No.6, they’ll be in that support role,” Daley said on Saturday. “Mitch was a five-eighth in his junior years, and there’s no reason he can’t do it.
“What I can tell you is Nathan will be given the chance to roam. That final 20 minutes in the [2023] grand final, Nathan played his best game, and he spent the majority of time on the left side of the field. He also did it again at Magic Round a couple of weeks ago when he tore the Broncos apart.
“Either way, I’ve got no doubts the Cleary and Moses combination will work. I also know the Cleary and Luai combination has already worked, with those two enjoying success at all levels.”
Read the full story here.
Welcome one, welcome all to the busiest news day of the rugby league calendar that doesn’t specifically involve the Wests Tigers.
It’s Origin selection day baby. Strap in, lock the kids outside (they’ll be fine) and put a pot of coffee on, because we’re going to be here for a while, and it’s going to be worth it.
The key Origin players: Laurie Daley, his advisor Craig Bellamy, rival Billy Slater and superstar Latrell Mitchell.Credit: Nathan Perri
Returning NSW Blues coach Laurie Daley is weighing up several key calls across his playmaking spine and front-row ahead of the May 28 series opener, while Billy Slater has decisions to make all out wide and on the edges too coming off the first series loss of his Queensland coaching career.
Michael Chammas is doing what he does best – finding out things and telling people about them. I’ll do what I do best – gibber – and we’ll meet somewhere in the middle with three games for your Sunday as well.
As they say in the classics, let’s go.
