Mansour looms as Blues bolter for Origin

NSW State of Origin coach Laurie Daley isn’t interested in rocks and diamonds.

Newcastle superstar Akuila Uate was dropped from Origin last year for a handful of errors and hasn’t been mentioned since.

Whether it’s trying to defuse the kicking games of Johnathan Thurston, Daly Cherry-Evans and Cameron Smith, or defending against Greg Inglis and Darius Boyd, there’s nowhere to hide for a NSW winger.

That’s why with the goal of breaking into Origin prominent on his mind, Penrith flyer Josh Mansour went back to the drawing board this pre-season to overhaul the one obvious “flaw” in his game – his work under the high ball.

The game’s top tackle buster’s timing has been good, with Daley now on the search for a new right winger to replace the injured Brett Morris for game two.

Mansour has revealed his pre-season started with him going straight to Panthers assistant coach Shane Elford for advice and asking five-eighth Jamie Soward to bomb him at training until the sky fell.

In a blunt self-assessment of his own game, Mansour told Elford he felt he was “rocks and diamonds” and needed to eradicate mistakes in order to climb to the next level.

Elford and Mansour identified the errors were coming as a result of nerves and poor concentration.

So the 23-year-old got to work, and has intensive sessions two days out from every game.

“I’m not the tallest winger going around in the NRL, so it’s been a bit of a flaw of mine if you want to say,” said Mansour.

“But I’ve been practicing a lot during the season.

“I’m pretty confident – it’s been the biggest improvement in my game.

“Shane Elford has been giving me great advice given he was an outside back during his time playing footy and Jamie Soward – he’s got pretty big bombs so if you take those they give you big confidence.”

Mansour has managed to relax and focus under the high ball – and believes he’s good enough to fill the sizeable void left by Morris, who also stands at 183cm.

Another big performance against Gold Coast this weekend could rocket Mansour from outside chance to contender.

“I’d take it with both hands definitely,” said Mansour, who has nine tries from nine games in 2014.

“I’ve been feeling great to be honest.

“It’s every player’s dream to play Origin on the big stage. Everyone watches it and has been a big goal of mine.”

Meanwhile, NSW back-rower Greg Bird is confident superstar Jarryd Hayne can dominate State of Origin regardless of where’s he’s picked.

With Josh Morris also ruled out of Origin II with a knee injury, speculation suggests Blues coach Laurie Daley is contemplating moving Hayne from fullback to fill the void.

That’s despite Hayne’s sensational man-of-the-match performance in NSW’s game one 12-8 victory.

Bird, who will return to the Blues line-up from suspension in Sydney, says Hayne has shown he can influence games from anywhere on the park.

Hayne played centre for Australia in last year’s World Cup, starring for the Kangaroos in the final against New Zealand.

“Everyone saw what he was capable of … in England,” Bird said.