Blues coach Laurie Daley says that he would like to pick guys that have ideally played more than one or two games in recent weeks due to injury, but it won’t stop him from selecting incumbents if they can prove their fitness in the final round before the teams for the Origin opener are named.
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That’s good news for Eels winger Zac Lomax, who returns after missing six weeks with a foot injury. The 2024 NSW rookie is set to have one game against the Knights to prove he’s ready to go for the match on May 28.
Fellow incumbent winger Brian To’o has played just four games for Penrith this season due to a couple of hamstring injuries, with the Panthers star returning last week after being out since round 4.
The Panthers have the bye, so To’o won’t have the chance to impress selectors this weekend, while Origin hopefuls Tom Trbojevic, Latrell Mitchell and Dylan Edwards are the other members of the backline who have been injured this season.
“That’s a good question because we’re hoping that Zac would play this weekend so that we could have a look at Zac,” Daley replied when asked if he was concerned by the lack of minutes some of the outside backs have played.
“Obviously, we can’t look at Brian anymore.
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“They were two influential members of the team last year. It has been something that we’ve discussed because we know that wingers these days do a lot of work, so you’ve got to make sure that they can do the workload that’s required.
“Ideally, you’d want them to have a couple of games under their belt, but we don’t live in an ideal world.
“We’ll weigh that all up and see how everyone performs on the weekend, and then we’ll make that decision.”
If Daley isn’t convinced by Lomax’s fitness, Sea Eagles fullback Tom Trbojevic could shift to the wing.
It’s a position he hasn’t played since the 2018 Origin series, with Daley not afraid to fit guys into the backline as long as they’ve had some experience in that role.
“You might see a player or two picked out of position, but they’re also players that have played a little bit in that position for their clubs throughout their careers,” he said, with Souths fullback Mitchell likely to play left centre.
“We don’t see it as a total risk.
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“It might be a risk if they’ve never done it before, but some of the players that we’re looking at to play in a different position to what they do for their club, they’ve played in that position before.”
Daley is bracing for some tough calls at fullback and for the captaincy role, while it looks to be a straight shootout between Mitch Moses and Jarome Luai to partner Nathan Cleary in the halves.
“It’s hard because if you don’t get picked, you want to know the reasons why. Sometimes it’s difficult because there’s no reason other than that other people are playing better than what you are,” he said.
“It’ll be a tough decision with what the combination in the halves will be, but it’s a good position to be in if they’re all fit and available.”
